VB.NET

Set a TLS Client Certificate for IMAP

Demonstrates the Chilkat Imap.SetSslClientCert method, which supplies a client certificate for TLS client-certificate authentication. The only argument is a Cert object that must provide access to its private key. Call it before connecting. This example loads the certificate from a PFX file.

Note: The certificate path is relative to the application's current working directory. Supply the path to your own certificate file.

Background: Most IMAP servers authenticate with a username and password only. A few high-security deployments additionally require mutual TLS, where the client presents its own certificate during the handshake. Because that happens as part of connecting, the certificate must be set before Connect — setting it afterward has no effect on the already-established connection.

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Dim success As Boolean = False

'  Demonstrates the Imap.SetSslClientCert method, which supplies a client certificate for TLS
'  client-certificate authentication.  The only argument is a Cert object.  It must be called
'  before connecting.

Dim imap As New Chilkat.Imap

imap.Ssl = True
imap.Port = 993

'  The PFX password is not hard-coded in source.  Insert code here to obtain it from an
'  interactive prompt, environment variable, or a secrets vault.
Dim pfxPassword As String

'  Load the client certificate (and its private key) from a PFX file.
Dim cert As New Chilkat.Cert
success = cert.LoadPfxFile("qa_data/client.pfx",pfxPassword)
If (success = False) Then
    Debug.WriteLine(cert.LastErrorText)
    Exit Sub
End If


'  Provide the client certificate BEFORE connecting.
success = imap.SetSslClientCert(cert)
If (success = False) Then
    Debug.WriteLine(imap.LastErrorText)
    Exit Sub
End If


success = imap.Connect("imap.example.com")
If (success = False) Then
    Debug.WriteLine(imap.LastErrorText)
    Exit Sub
End If

success = imap.Login("user@example.com","myPassword")
If (success = False) Then
    Debug.WriteLine(imap.LastErrorText)
    Exit Sub
End If


success = imap.Disconnect()
If (success = False) Then
    Debug.WriteLine(imap.LastErrorText)
    Exit Sub
End If