PEM format

All of the files that are used in these procedures are encoded in a binary format called ASN.1-DER. Before the time of email attachments, binary files had to be converted to printable ASCII to send them through SMTP servers. The PEM format for any file is an ASCII representation of the ASN.1-DER format.

This is provided as a convenience for users that cannot accept email attachments. Binary files can be sent as attachments or the PEM format can be cut and pasted into an email.

When the security administrator pastes this into the New Credentials dialog box, the certificate is saved as a .der file in the correct directory.

Although the PEM format is convenient, the preferred method is to send the ASN.1-DER file as a binary attachment. This method makes the file less prone to error.