PFX (original format)


 * Most .pfx files are in PKCS12 format, not the obsolete PFX format described in this article.

PFX (Personal Information Exchange) is a cryptographic container format developed by Microsoft. It has been criticized for being complex and poorly-designed. I was replaced by a (somewhat improved?) successor format, PKCS12.

PFX is used for crypto keys, certificates, and other objects. Multiple objects may be stored in a single file.

Links

 * Wikipedia: PKCS #12 - also discusses PFX
 * OpenSSL PKCS#12 Program FAQ
 * PFX - How Not to Design a Crypto Protocol/Standard [Ed. note: It's not clear how much of this article is about PFX, and how much is about PKCS12.]