How to Convert File Encodings (DER, JKS, PEM) for TLS/SSL Certificates and Keys
Client and server processes require specific file formats for certificates, keys, and other digital artifacts used for TLS/SSL encryption. For example, when TLS is enabled, Cloudera Manager Server presents Java KeyStore (JKS) formatted key and certificate to requesting Cloudera Manager Agent hosts. The Hue client also connects to Cloudera Manager Server, but Hue requires a PEM-formatted key and certificate, rather than JKS. The PEM format used by Cloudera Manager is PKCS #8, which handles certificates and keys as individual Base64-encoded text files.
If you receive binary DER files from your certificate authority, you must convert them to the
appropriate format. Since neither Java Keytool nor OpenSSL work directly with PKCS format,
many of the configuration tasks detailed in How to Configure TLS Encryption for Cloudera
Manager
involve converting formats, or extracting keys or certificates from an artifact in one format
to another.
Certificates issued by a CA in one format (encoding) can be used to create certificates in a different format using Java Keytool and OpenSSL as detailed below.
Converting DER Encoded Certificates to PEM
OpenSSL can be used to convert a DER-encoded certificate to an ASCII (Base64) encoded certificate. Typically, DER-encoded certificates may have file extension of .DER, .CRT, or .CER, but regardless of the extension, a DER encoded certificate is not readable as plain text (unlike PEM encoded certificate).
A PEM-encoded certificate may also have file extension of .CRT or .CER, in which case, you can simply copy the file to a new name using the .PEM extension:
cp hostname.cer hostname.pem
openssl x509 -inform der -in hostname.cer -out hostname.pem
For example:
openssl x509 -inform der -in /opt/cloudera/security/pki/hostname.cer -out /tmp/hostname.pem
Converting JKS Key and Certificate to PEM
This process uses both Java keytool and OpenSSL
(keytool
and openssl
, respectively,
in the commands below) to export the composite private key and
certificate from a Java keystore and then extract each element into its
own file.
The PKCS12
file created below is an interim file
used to obtain the individual key and certificate files.
Replace hostname-keystore, cmhost, hostname, and password with values from your system.
- Export the private key and certificate command line:
$ keytool -importkeystore -srckeystore /opt/cloudera/security/jks/hostname-keystore.jks \ -srcstorepass password -srckeypass password -destkeystore /tmp/hostname-keystore.p12 \ -deststoretype PKCS12 -srcalias hostname -deststorepass password -destkeypass password
- Extract the certificate file from the resulting
PKCS12
file:
This extracted certificate can be used, as is, but you can additionally extract the private key from the keystore as detailed in the next section.$ openssl pkcs12 -in /tmp/hostname-keystore.p12 -passin pass:password -nokeys \ -out /opt/cloudera/security/pki/hostname.pem
Extracting the Private Key from PKCS Keystore
$ openssl pkcs12 -in /tmp/hostname-keystore.p12 -passin pass:password \
-nocerts -out /opt/cloudera/security/pki/hostname.key -passout pass:password
$ openssl rsa -in /tmp/hostname-keystore.p12 -passin pass:password \
-nocerts -out /opt/cloudera/security/pki/hostname.pem
Converting PEM Key and Certificate to JKS
Replace
hostname
in the commands below with the FQDN of the
host whose certificate is being imported.
- Convert the
openssl
private key and certificate files into aPKCS12
file.$ openssl pkcs12 -export -in /opt/cloudera/security/pki/hostname.pem \ -inkey /opt/cloudera/security/pki/hostname.key -out /tmp/hostname.p12 \ -name hostname -passin pass:password -passout pass:password
- Import the
PKCS12
file into the Java keystore.$ keytool -importkeystore -srckeystore /tmp/hostname.p12 -srcstoretype PKCS12 \ -srcstorepass password -alias hostname -deststorepass password \ -destkeypass password -destkeystore /opt/cloudera/security/jks/hostname-keystore.jks