How to View the Contents of a Certificate

ID: Q216830

The information in this article applies to:

Microsoft Internet Information Server version 4.0

SUMMARY

The Windows NT Option Pack ships with a tool called CertUtil, which can be used to display information about certificates. Most certificates are in one of two formats, either Base64-encoded or DER-encoded binary. CertUtil cannot handle the former directly, but it does have an option for converting the file from Base64 to binary.

MORE INFORMATION

If the file is Base64 encoded, you will first need to convert it. You can check the file to see if it's Base64 encoded or not. If it is Base64 encoded, it will look similar to the following:

To convert to binary, type CertUtil -decode cert.txt cert.cer .

Note:Cert.txt refers to the BASE64 file and Cert.cer is the name of the new binary file in this example.

Now that you have the file converted, you can query its contents by typing CertUtil cert.cer .

You should then see something similar to the following output:


PKCS7 Message Certificates:
================ Begin Nesting Level 1 ================
X509 Certificate:
Version: 3
Serial Number: 25f51e4e0000115a
Signature Algorithm:
  Algorithm ObjectId: 1.2.840.113549.1.1.4
  Algorithm Parameters:
	05 00                                              ..
Issuer: CN=MS CertSrv Test Group CA, OU=Windows NT, O=Microsoft, L=Redmond, S=WA, C=US
NotBefore: 10/23/1998 3:33 PM
NotAfter: 10/23/1999 3:33 PM
Subject: CN=Name (Signing), OU=IASG, O=Microsoft, L=Redmond, 
                                      S=WA, C=US, E=name@domain.com
Public Key Algorithm:
  Algorithm ObjectId: 1.2.840.113549.1.1.1
  Algorithm Parameters:
	05 00                                              ..
PublicKey: UnusedBits=0
	30 48 02 41 00 d4 c1 0e  6f 0b 86 54 b8 9b 08 de   0H.A....o..T....
	41 87 b5 e8 62 83 a6 42  a6 63 de 5a 9e cc 17 f6   A...b..B.c.Z....
	72 95 52 1f 56 7a 95 ad  33 f0 8e c2 e8 c6 d4 95   r.R.Vz..3.......
	0d ce c4 7a 1a f3 10 28  ca 15 46 4e 48 52 8c 89   ...z...(..FNHR..
	87 f8 5d 0d 1b 02 03 01  00 01                     ..].......
Certificate Extensions: 6
  2.5.29.15: Flags = 0(), Length = 4
    Key Usage
        Digital Signature, Key Encipherment, Data Encipherment, Key Agreement(B8)
  2.5.29.37: Flags = 0(), Length = c
    Enhanced Key Usage
        Client Authentication(1.3.6.1.5.5.7.3.2)

  2.5.29.35: Flags = 0(), Length = a9
    Authority Key Identifier
        KeyID=2A58 2026 5B9F CFB1 E328 F42A EA4D F8CA 19CB F3C4
        Certificate Issuer:              Directory Address:
                  CN=MS CertSrv Test Group CA
                  OU=Windows NT
                  O=Microsoft
                  L=Redmond
                  S=WA
                  C=US
        Certificate SerialNumber=1113 6100 AA00 2B86 11D2 5EF8 DDA0 99B4

  2.5.29.31: Flags = 0(), Length = 91
    CRL Distribution Points
        [1]CRL Distribution Point              Distribution Point Name: 
    Full Name:                        
    URL=http://CERTSRV/CertSrv/CertEnroll/MS CertSrv Test Group CA.crl
    [2]CRL Distribution Point              Distribution Point Name:                   
    Full Name:                        
    URL=file://\\CERTSRV\CertSrv\CertEnroll\MS CertSrv Test Group CA.crl 
  2.5.29.19: Flags = 0(), Length = 2
    Basic Constraints
        Subject Type=End Entity         Path Length Constraint=None 
  1.3.6.1.5.5.7.1.1: Flags = 0(), Length = 56
    Authority Information Access
        [1]Authority Info Access              
    AccessMethod=Certification Authority Issuer(1.3.6.1.5.5.7.48.2)  
    Alternative Name:                   
    URL=http://CERTSRV/CertSrv/CertEnroll/CERTSRV_MS CertSrv Test Group CA.crt 
Non-root Certificate

Note: This certificate was modified to fit in this window.

For information on how to read the contents of a certificate, see the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

Q216831 How to Read and Analyze a Client Certificate

Additional query words:


Keywords          : 
Version           : winnt:4.0
Platform          : winnt 
Issue type        : kbhowto