The PKCS #12 operation failed for unknown reasons

[VictorMiller]

I have a new PKI certificate as a .p12 file which I want to import
into firefox and thunderbird on a RedHat system. However, every time
I try an import I get the above error message. If I log onto an MS
Windows machine I can get IE to import it without a problem. I've
tried all sorts of things, such as moving all of my .db files
in .thunderbird out of the way, and letting thunderbird create new
ones. I've even tried moving my whole .thunderbird directory out of
the way. Nothing works. Here's a strange thing -- even if I
deliberately give the wrong password for the encrypted .p12 file I
still get the same stupid error message. Any suggestions as to how to
debug this?

Victor

[Nelson B Bolyard]

My guess is that your .p12 file has no "friendly name" in it. The utility
program pk12util can confirm or refute this. If that's it, the solution is
to create a new .p12 file with the same certs/keys and a printable ASCII
friendly name.


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[VictorMiller]

Thanks, I ran pk12util. It lists three certificates in the .p12
file. Two of them have a "Friendly name" listed before the
certificate, but the third doesn't. That one's for "Signature
Algorithm: PKCS #1 SHA-1 With RSA Encryption". If I want to add a
friendly name, how do I do it?


Victor

[VictorMiller]

On Feb 24, 7:57 pm, Nelson B Bolyard <nel...@bolyard.me> wrote:

Here's some more information. When I try to import the certificate
using pkutil -i I get the following error message:

PKCS12 decode import bags failed: Unable to find the certificate or
key necessary for authentication.

I've checked that I have the certificates for all the right
authorities (I've checked with my help desk to find out which ones),
and that in FF and thunderbird I have all the boxes checked. This is
really maddening.

Victor

[Nelson B Bolyard]

On 2012/02/27 09:47 PDT, VictorMiller wrote:
>
> On Feb 24, 7:57 pm, Nelson B Bolyard <nel...@bolyard.me> wrote:

> Here's some more information. When I try to import the certificate
> using pkutil -i I get the following error message:
>
> PKCS12 decode import bags failed: Unable to find the certificate or
> key necessary for authentication.

Sounds like your p12 file doesn't contain the necessary private key.

> I've checked that I have the certificates for all the right
> authorities (I've checked with my help desk to find out which ones),
> and that in FF and thunderbird I have all the boxes checked. This is
> really maddening.
>
> Victor

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