Generate RSA Public/Private Key Pair and Export to PEM

Visual Basic example code showing how to generate an RSA public/private key pair and export to PEM files.

Download 32-bit Chilkat RSA ActiveX (.msi)

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Dim rsa As New ChilkatRsa

Dim success As Long
success = rsa.UnlockComponent("Anything for 30-day trial")
If (success <> 1) Then
    MsgBox "RSA component unlock failed"
    Exit Sub
End If

'  Generate a 1024-bit key.  Chilkat RSA supports
'  key sizes ranging from 512 bits to 4096 bits.
success = rsa.GenerateKey(1024)
If (success <> 1) Then
    MsgBox rsa.LastErrorText
    Exit Sub
End If

'  Keys are exported in XML format:
Dim publicKeyXml As String
publicKeyXml = rsa.ExportPublicKey()
Text1.Text = Text1.Text & publicKeyXml & vbCrLf

Dim privateKeyXml As String
privateKeyXml = rsa.ExportPrivateKey()
Text1.Text = Text1.Text & privateKeyXml & vbCrLf

'  Save the private key in PEM format:
Dim privKey As New PrivateKey
privKey.LoadXml privateKeyXml
privKey.SaveRsaPemFile "privateKey.pem"

'  Save the public key in PEM format:
Dim pubKey As New PublicKey
pubKey.LoadXml publicKeyXml
pubKey.SaveOpenSslPemFile "publicKey.pem"