---
name: "pki---dn"
section: "1"
platform: "linux"
package: "strongswan"
version: "6.1.0-2"
release: "Arch Linux 2026-11-01"
platforms: ["linux"]
url: "https://new.carta.tech/pki---dn"
---

# pki---dn(1)

Extract the subject DN of an X.509 certificate

## NAME

pki --dn - Extract the subject DN of an X.509 certificate

## SYNOPSIS

**pki --dn** \[**--in** *file*\] \[**--format** *format*\] \[**--debug** *level*\]

**pki --dn** **--options** *file*

**pki --dn** **-h** \| **--help**

## DESCRIPTION

This sub-command of [**pki**(1)](/pki/1.md) extracts the ASN.1-encoded subject DistinguishedName (DN) of an X.509 certificate and exports it in different formats.  This may be useful when strongSwan's identity parser is unable to produce the correct binary encoding from a string.

## OPTIONS

- **-h, --help**

  Print usage information with a summary of the available options.

- **-v, --debug** *level*

  Set debug level, default: 1.

- **-+, --options** *file*

  Read command line options from *file*.

- **-i, --in** *file*

  Input file. If not given the input is read from *STDIN*.

- **-t, --format** *format*

  Output format. One of *config* (strongSwan configuration compatible), *hex* (hexadecimal encoding, no prefix), *base64* (Base64 encoding, no prefix), *bin* (raw binary data), defaults to *config*.

## SEE ALSO

[**pki**(1)](/pki/1.md)