PowerShell

Load an Encrypted Private Key from PEM Text

Demonstrates the Chilkat PrivateKey.LoadEncryptedPem method, which loads a private key from PEM text, using a password when the PEM is encrypted. The first argument is the PEM string and the second is the password. Unencrypted PEM is also accepted.

Background: An encrypted PEM protects the key material at rest — a stolen file is useless without the passphrase — which is why encrypted keys are preferred for anything shipped or stored. This loader supplies that passphrase to decrypt a BEGIN ENCRYPTED PRIVATE KEY block (and gracefully handles unencrypted PEM too), so it is a safe default when a PEM might be either. The password should come from a secure source, never a hard-coded literal.

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Add-Type -Path "C:\chilkat\ChilkatDotNet47-x64\ChilkatDotNet47.dll"

$success = $false

#  Demonstrates the PrivateKey.LoadEncryptedPem method, which loads a private key from PEM text.
#  The 1st argument is the PEM string and the 2nd is the password (used when the PEM is
#  encrypted).  Unencrypted PEM is also accepted.

$privKey = New-Object Chilkat.PrivateKey

#  The PEM text of an encrypted private key.
$pemText = "-----BEGIN ENCRYPTED PRIVATE KEY-----`nMIIFHzBJ...`n-----END ENCRYPTED PRIVATE KEY-----"

#  The key password is not hard-coded in a real application; obtain it from an interactive
#  prompt, environment variable, or a secrets vault.
$password = "myKeyPassword"

$success = $privKey.LoadEncryptedPem($pemText,$password)
if ($success -eq $false) {
    $($privKey.LastErrorText)
    exit
}

$("Loaded a " + $privKey.KeyType + " private key.")