Mac Tutorials - Herong's Tutorial Examples - v3.08, by Herong Yang
Review Private Key of My CA Certificate on macOS
This section provides a tutorial example on how to review my private and public key pair that was used in my self-signed root CA certificate on macOS using Keychain Access.
When I created a self-signed root CA certificate for myself with Certificate Assistant in Keychain Access, it actually generated 3 items:
- A pair of private key and public key for myself based on a given cryptography algorithm.
- A certificate that contains my public key and a signature with my private key. This certificate is called self-signed because I used my private key to sign my own public key.
Both the key pair and the certificate are stored in the "system" keychain, but in separate categories: "Keys" and "Certificates".
I have reviewed my certificate in the previous tutorial. Now let me review key pair.
1. Open "System" keychain and "Keys" category in Keychain Access. "Herong Yang's CA" keys listed there.
2. Double click "Herong Yang's CA" public key to open it. But it does not show much information.
3. Double click "Herong Yang's CA" private key to open it. But it does not show much information.
Table of Contents
Macintosh OS (Operating System) History
System and Application Processes
Keychain Access - Password Manager
►Keychain Access - Certificate Manager
Using Keychain Access as Certificate Manager
Listing of Trusted Root CA in macOS
Exporting Root Certificate to File from macOS
Delete/Untrust Certificates from macOS
Import Server Certificates to macOS
Create My Own Root CA on macOS
Review My Root CA Certificate on macOS
►Review Private Key of My CA Certificate on macOS
Generate CSR (Certificate Signing Request) on macOS
Issue New Certificate with My CA on macOS
Verify Certificate Signed by My CA on macOS
Manage Keychains with Commands
Keychain File Locations on macOS
CA Certificates at "/etc/ssl | /private/etc/ssl"