SOLVED: How To See What Information Is In A .PEM Certificate File

.PEM files (Privacy Enhanced Mail) are often used to store cryptographic keys. They can contain a private key, a public key, or both. It’s important to note that if a .pem file contains a private key, it should be kept secure to prevent unauthorized access.

The .pem file format is flexible and can be used to store various types of cryptographic material, so it’s always a good idea to verify what a specific .pem file contains.

To find out the contents of a .PEM file:

1. Download the “light” version of OpenSSL from https://slproweb.com/products/Win32OpenSSL.html
   • Note that you can install the full version, but you don’t need to
2. Open the WIN64 OPENSSL COMMAND PROMPT
   • Just click the START button and type WIN64 OPEN
3. Change directory to the folder that contains your .PEM file
   • In my case that was in C:\TEMP\CERT
4. Enter the command openssl x509 -in [name-of-cert].pem -text -noout
   • In my case that was openssl x509 -in 7c59126f6ee608.pem -text -noout
5. Read the output