Visual Basic 6.0

Set the Decryption Certificate for an Email

Demonstrates the Chilkat Email.SetDecryptCert method, which explicitly provides a certificate (with access to its private key) for decrypting a received encrypted email. Set the certificate before loading the encrypted message so Chilkat can decrypt it automatically. This example loads the certificate from a PFX, sets it, and then loads an encrypted email.

Background: Decrypting S/MIME email requires the recipient's private key. On Windows and macOS, Chilkat can find an installed certificate automatically, but when the key lives in a standalone PFX file you provide it explicitly with SetDecryptCert. A PFX (PKCS#12) bundles the certificate and its private key in one password-protected file. If the certificate and key are in separate files, use SetDecryptCert2 instead.

Chilkat Visual Basic 6.0 Downloads

Download Chilkat for Visual Basic 6.0

Visual Basic 6.0

Dim success As Long
success = 0

'  Demonstrates the SetDecryptCert method, which explicitly provides a certificate (with
'  access to its private key) for decrypting a received encrypted email.  Set the cert
'  before loading the encrypted email so it can be decrypted automatically.

Dim email As New ChilkatEmail

'  Load a certificate together with its private key from a PFX file.
Dim cert As New ChilkatCert
success = cert.LoadPfxFile("qa_data/certs/decryption.pfx","pfx_password")
If (success = 0) Then
    Debug.Print cert.LastErrorText
    Exit Sub
End If

'  Provide the certificate to use for decryption.
success = email.SetDecryptCert(cert)
If (success = 0) Then
    Debug.Print email.LastErrorText
    Exit Sub
End If

'  Load the encrypted email; Chilkat decrypts it using the certificate.
success = email.LoadEml("qa_data/eml/encrypted.eml")
If (success = 0) Then
    Debug.Print email.LastErrorText
    Exit Sub
End If

Debug.Print "ReceivedEncrypted = " & email.ReceivedEncrypted
Debug.Print "Decrypted = " & email.Decrypted

'  Note: Paths such as "qa_data/..." are relative local filesystem paths,
'  relative to the current working directory of the running application.