PKCS12_INIT(3ossl)

📦 version 3.5.0, in opensuse-leap 16.0

💖 PKCS12_INIT 💖

okay bestie, welcome to the PKCS12_INIT(3ossl) page — yes that's the manpage name, it's giving very "I live in section 3 of the OpenSSL docs" and honestly? iconic.

✨ NAME ✨

PKCS12_init, PKCS12_init_ex — create a new empty PKCS#12 structure 🎀

🌸 SYNOPSIS 🌸

#include <openssl/pkcs12.h>

PKCS12 *PKCS12_init(int mode);
PKCS12 *PKCS12_init_ex(int mode, OSSL_LIB_CTX *ctx, const char *propq);

like, that's the whole vibe. two functions, both returning a PKCS12 *, no cap. 💅

🦋 DESCRIPTION 🦋

so PKCS12_init() creates an empty PKCS#12 structure. that's it, that's the job. ✨

and here's the lil detail you cannot skip: any PKCS#7 authSafes you add to this structure get enclosed first within a single PKCS#7 contentInfo of type mode. currently the only supported type is NID_pkcs7_data — that's the one and only, periodt. 🫶

PKCS12_init_ex() also creates an empty PKCS#12 structure, but it's the main character version: it assigns the supplied ctx and propq to be used to select algorithm implementations for operations performed on the PKCS12 object. literally so it can pick its faves. 👑

💀 RETURN VALUES 💀

PKCS12_init() and PKCS12_init_ex() return a valid PKCS12 structure, or NULL if an error occurred. that's the whole deal — valid struct or NULL, no in-between, no "it depends". 😭

🔥 SEE ALSO 🔥

go read those too, iykyk 💜

⭐ HISTORY ⭐

PKCS12_init_ex() was added in OpenSSL 3.0. the OG PKCS12_init() was already there doing its thing, and then 3.0 said "let me add the ex version, slay". 🌈

Copyright 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>.

fr fr please actually read the license, bestie — "you may not use this file except in compliance with the License" is not a vibe, it's a rule. 🙈

and that's the page!! 🍓 this bad boy is from OpenSSL version 3.5.0, dated 2026-09-25, and it's filed under PKCS12_INIT(3ossl) in case you need to find it again. mwah, go forth and init your empty PKCS#12 structures 🧚💖

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