Creating a .pem File for SSL Certificate With Trust Chain

By LotusshaneyTech

SSL .pem files (concatenated certificate container files), are frequently required for certificate installations when multiple certificates are being imported as one file.

This article contains multiple sets of instructions that walk through various .pem file creation scenarios.

Creating a .pem with the Entire SSL Certificate Trust Chain

  1. Log into your DigiCert Management Console and download your Intermediate (DigiCertCA.crt), Root (TrustedRoot.crt), and Primary Certificates (your_domain_name.crt).
  2. Open a text editor (such as wordpad) and paste the entire body of each certificate into one text file in the following order:
    1. The Primary Certificate – your_domain_name.crt
    2. The Intermediate Certificate – DigiCertCA.crt
    3. The Root Certificate – TrustedRoot.crt

    Make sure to include the beginning and end tags on each certificate. The result should look like this:

    —–BEGIN CERTIFICATE—–
    (Your Primary SSL certificate: your_domain_name.crt)
    —–END CERTIFICATE—–
    —–BEGIN CERTIFICATE—–
    (Your Intermediate certificate: DigiCertCA.crt)
    —–END CERTIFICATE—–
    —–BEGIN CERTIFICATE—–
    (Your Root certificate: TrustedRoot.crt)
    —–END CERTIFICATE—–

    Save the combined file as your_domain_name.pem. The .pem file is now ready to use.

Creating a .pem with the Server and Intermediate Certificates

  1. Log into your DigiCert Management Console and download your Intermediate (DigiCertCA.crt) and Primary Certificates (your_domain_name.crt).
  2. Open a text editor (such as wordpad) and paste the entire body of each certificate into one text file in the following order:
    1. The Primary Certificate – your_domain_name.crt
    2. The Intermediate Certificate – DigiCertCA.crt

    Make sure to include the beginning and end tags on each certificate. The result should look like this:

    —–BEGIN CERTIFICATE—–
    (Your Primary SSL certificate: your_domain_name.crt)
    —–END CERTIFICATE—–
    —–BEGIN CERTIFICATE—–
    (Your Intermediate certificate: DigiCertCA.crt)
    —–END CERTIFICATE—–

    Save the combined file as your_domain_name.pem. The .pem file is now ready to use.

Creating a .pem with the Private Key and Entire Trust Chain

  1. Log into your DigiCert Management Console and download your Intermediate (DigiCertCA.crt) and Primary Certificates (your_domain_name.crt).
  2. Open a text editor (such as wordpad) and paste the entire body of each certificate into one text file in the following order:
    1. The Private Key – your_domain_name.key
    2. The Primary Certificate – your_domain_name.crt
    3. The Intermediate Certificate – DigiCertCA.crt
    4. The Root Certificate – TrustedRoot.crt

    Make sure to include the beginning and end tags on each certificate. The result should look like this:

    —–BEGIN RSA PRIVATE KEY—–
    (Your Private Key: your_domain_name.key)
    —–END RSA PRIVATE KEY—–
    —–BEGIN CERTIFICATE—–
    (Your Primary SSL certificate: your_domain_name.crt)
    —–END CERTIFICATE—–
    —–BEGIN CERTIFICATE—–
    (Your Intermediate certificate: DigiCertCA.crt)
    —–END CERTIFICATE—–
    —–BEGIN CERTIFICATE—–
    (Your Root certificate: TrustedRoot.crt)
    —–END CERTIFICATE—–

    Save the combined file as your_domain_name.pem. The .pem file is now ready to use.