PFX (original format)
From Just Solve the File Format Problem
- Most .pfx files are in PKCS12 format, not the obsolete PFX format described in this article.
PFX (Personal Information Exchange) is a cryptographic container format developed by Microsoft. It has been criticized for being complex and poorly-designed. I was replaced by a (somewhat improved?) successor format, PKCS12.
PFX is used for crypto keys, certificates, and other objects. Multiple objects may be stored in a single file.
Links
- Wikipedia: PKCS #12 - also discusses PFX
- OpenSSL PKCS#12 Program FAQ
- PFX - How Not to Design a Crypto Protocol/Standard [Ed. note: It's not clear how much of this article is about PFX, and how much is about PKCS12.]
