How to generate .pfx certificate using Microsoft Management Console (MMC)

Introduction

Security plays an important role in any application and .pfx helps us to strengthen the application’s security.

In the article, we are going to see how to generate a .pfx file using Microsoft Management Console (MMC).

We will cover,

1. What is a .pfx file?
2. How to generate a .pfx file using MMC(Microsoft Management Console)?

What is a .pfx file?

Pfx stands for Personal Information Exchange.

A personal Information exchange(.pfx) file is a password-protected file that has a collection of cryptographic keys, the digital certificate, and the intermediate authority’s certificate.

This certificate is mainly used for Code Signing of your application.

.pfx file is a PKCS12 archive format certificate that supports many cryptography objects in a single file. eg. X509 public key certificates, X509 Private Keys, X509 CRLS etc.

In addition, a .pfx file can contain the certificate in different formats, including .cert, .crt, and .pem. And the private and public keys can be in the X.509 format.

The below image gives you a brief idea of the .pfx file,

How to generate a .pfx file using MMC(Microsoft Management Console)?

Please follow the steps to create and export the .pfx certificate file.

Step 1. “mmc” in the search box.

Step 2. Select File -> Add/Remove Snap-in.

Step 3. Select Certificates in the left-hand side options.

Step 4. Click on the Add button in the previous screen and select "My User account". 

Based on the account selection, certificates will be stored.

Step 5. Click on the Finished button. The below screen appears after that screen.

As we have selected "My user account", your certificate will be stored in the "Personal -> certificate folder".

Step 6: Select "Local Computer account" or "Service account" in Step 4. You will see the below screens.

Click on Next button,

Select a local computer or Another computer as per your requirements and click on the Finish button.

As we have selected "Local Computer account" or "Service account", the successfully created certificate will be stored in the “Personal” or "WebHosting" folders.

That’s all for this article, we will learn how to export a certificate in the next article.