Rust

Export an Encrypted PKCS #8 Private Key as PEM

Demonstrates the Chilkat PrivateKey.GetPkcs8EncryptedPem method, which exports the key as password-protected PKCS #8 PEM (-----BEGIN ENCRYPTED PRIVATE KEY-----). The only argument is the password; the cipher is selected by the Pkcs8EncryptAlg property.

Note: The file paths are relative to the application's current working directory. Absolute paths may also be used. Supply the paths appropriate to your own environment.

Background: This is the safe way to export a key for storage or transfer — the private material is encrypted under a passphrase, so a leaked file is not immediately usable. It is the format to reach for whenever a key leaves your process. Control the encryption cipher with Pkcs8EncryptAlg, and source the password securely rather than hard-coding it.

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Rust


// Load a private key to export.
let priv_key = chilkat::PrivateKey::new();
if priv_key.load_pem_file("qa_data/private.pem").is_err() {
    println!("{}", priv_key.last_error_text());
    return;
}

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

// Export as password-protected PKCS #8 PEM ("-----BEGIN ENCRYPTED PRIVATE KEY-----").  The
// encryption cipher is selected by the Pkcs8EncryptAlg property.
let Ok(pem) = priv_key.get_pkcs8_encrypted_pem(&password) else {
    println!("{}", priv_key.last_error_text());
    return;
};

println!("{}", pem);