What does .PEM extension mean?

Privacy Enhanced Mail
Privacy Enhanced Mail (PEM) files are a type of Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) file used for keys and certificates. PEM, initially invented to make e-mail secure, is now an Internet security standard.

Why PEM file is used?

PEM files are used to store SSL certificates and their associated private keys. Multiple certificates are in the full SSL chain, and they work in this order: The end-user certificate, which is assigned to your domain name by a certificate authority (CA). This is the file you use in nginx and Apache to encrypt HTTPS.

Is a PEM file a private key?

A PEM file may contain just about anything including a public key, a private key, or both, because a PEM file is not a standard. In effect PEM just means the file contains a base64-encoded bit of data.

How do I use a PEM file?

Connect to your EC2 Instance

  1. Open your terminal and change directory with command cd, where you downloaded your pem file.
  2. Type the SSH command with this structure: ssh -i file.pem username@ip-address.
  3. After pressing enter, a question will prompt to add the host to your known_hosts file.
  4. And that’s it!

How does PEM file look like?

A PEM encoded file includes Base64 data. The private key is prefixed with a “—–BEGIN PRIVATE KEY—–” line and postfixed with an “—–END PRIVATE KEY—–“. Certificates are prefixed with a “—–BEGIN CERTIFICATE—–” line and postfixed with an “—–END CERTIFICATE—–” line.

How can I get private key from PEM file?

Generate SSH Keys in PEM Format to Connect to a Public or On-Premises sFTP Server

  1. Verify the key by opening the file in Notepad. The key must start with the following phrase.
  2. Use -m PEM with ssh-keygen to generate private keys in PEM format: Copy ssh-keygen -t rsa -m PEM.

What is PEM file in SSL?

Resolution. Privacy Enhanced Mail (PEM) files are concatenated certificate containers frequently used in certificate installations when multiple certificates that form a complete chain are being imported as a single file. They are a defined standard in RFCs 1421 through 1424.

What is PEM file in SSL certificate?

PEM or Privacy Enhanced Mail is a Base64 encoded DER certificate. PEM certificates are frequently used for web servers as they can easily be translated into readable data using a simple text editor. Generally when a PEM encoded file is opened in a text editor, it contains very distinct headers and footers.