Zig

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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const std = @import("std");
const chilkat = @import("chilkat");

pub fn main(init: std.process.Init) !void {
    const alloc = init.arena.allocator();

    // Load a private key to export.
    const priv_key = try chilkat.PrivateKey.init();
    defer priv_key.deinit();
    priv_key.loadPemFile("qa_data/private.pem") catch {
        std.debug.print("{s}\n", .{try priv_key.getLastErrorText(alloc)});
        return;
    };

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

    // Export as password-protected PKCS #8 PEM ("-----BEGIN ENCRYPTED PRIVATE KEY-----").  The
    // encryption cipher is selected by the Pkcs8EncryptAlg property.
    const pem = priv_key.getPkcs8EncryptedPem(alloc, password) catch {
        std.debug.print("{s}\n", .{try priv_key.getLastErrorText(alloc)});
        return;
    };

    std.debug.print("{s}\n", .{pem});
}