OPENSSL-CRL2PKCS7(1ossl)

📦
version 15.1 · 2 versions
, in freebsd 15.1

💅 OPENSSL-CRL2PKCS7 💅

okay so bestie, welcome to openssl-crl2pkcs7 — that's the OpenSSL manpage name, and honestly the title kinda says it all: it makes a PKCS#7 structure out of a CRL plus some certificates. glamorous? no. useful? absolutely. let's get into it 🎀

✨ SYNOPSIS ✨

openssl crl2pkcs7 [-help] [-inform DER|PEM] [-outform DER|PEM] [-in
filename] [-out filename] [-certfile filename] [-nocrl] [-provider name]
[-provider-path path] [-provparam [name:]key=value] [-propquery propq]

🌸 DESCRIPTION 🌸

so what does it do? it takes an optional CRL and one or more certificates, and converts them into a PKCS#7 degenerate "certificates only" structure. that's the whole plot. no signers, no drama, just a little bundle of certs 🫶

💖 OPTIONS 💖

  • -help — prints out a usage message. classic. the "wait what were the flags again" button 👑
  • -inform DER|PEM — the input format of the CRL. the default is PEM. for the deets, go see openssl-format-options(1) ✨
  • -outform DER|PEM — the output format of the PKCS#7 object. default is PEM. again, openssl-format-options(1) has you covered 💜
  • -in filename — tells it the input filename to read a CRL from. if you don't specify this option, it reads from standard input. no filename? stdin it is 🦋
  • -out filename — specifies the output filename to write the PKCS#7 structure to. by default it goes to standard output 💫
  • -certfile filename — specifies a filename containing one or more certificates in PEM format. all the certificates in that file get added to the PKCS#7 structure. and plot twist: you can use this option more than once to read certificates from multiple files. stack 'em, bestie 📚
  • -nocrl — normally a CRL is included in the output file. with this option, no CRL is included in the output file, and a CRL is not read from the input file. so it's a full CRL blackout, both directions 🚫
  • -provider name, -provider-path path, -provparam [name:]key=value, -propquery propq — these ones are grouped together in the original, and they say: see "Provider Options" in openssl(1), provider(7), and property(7). that's the whole note, fr fr 🧚

🔥 EXAMPLES 🔥

want a PKCS#7 structure from a certificate and a CRL? say less:

openssl crl2pkcs7 -in crl.pem -certfile cert.pem -out p7.pem

and this one creates a PKCS#7 structure in DER format with no CRL, pulling from several different certificates:

openssl crl2pkcs7 -nocrl -certfile newcert.pem
       -certfile demoCA/cacert.pem -outform DER -out p7.der

see how -certfile shows up twice? that's the "more than once" thing in action. iconic 💅

⭐ NOTES ⭐

okay important vibe check on what you're actually getting: the output file is a PKCS#7 signed data structure containing no signers and just certificates and an optional CRL. yes, "signed data" with zero signers. that's the degenerate part, iykyk 😭

this command can be used to send certificates and CAs to Netscape as part of the certificate enrollment process. that involves sending the DER encoded output as MIME type application/x-x509-user-cert. very retro, very "the 90s called" 👑

also! the PEM encoded form with the header and footer lines removed can be used to install user certificates and CAs in MSIE using the Xenroll control. take the header and footer off, that's the move 🙈

🦋 SEE ALSO 🦋

Copyright 2000-2021 The OpenSSL Project Authors. All Rights Reserved.

Licensed under the Apache License 2.0 (the "License"). You may not use this file except in compliance with the License. You can obtain a copy in the file LICENSE in the source distribution or at <https://www.openssl.org/source/license.html>.

and that's the whole page, bestie 🎀 this was version 3.5.6, dated 2026-04-07, and it's the OPENSSL-CRL2PKCS7(1ossl) manual — go forth and bundle those certs, you absolute main character 💖✨

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