Ok I got the certificate from the CA, now what do I do with it?
That's an excellent question. One that I wondered too since the certificates I received did not come with directions!
If you receive a spc file and a pvk file, the spc file is your certificate. The pvk file contines your private key that makes the certificate work. You will need to create a PFX file with your spc and pvk files.
You do this by using pvk2pfx which came with the Net Framework 2.0. You can do this by going to the Visual Studio command prompt and typing the following
pvk2pfx -pvk [pvkfile location] -spc [spcfile location] -pfx [pfxfiletocreate] -pi [pvkpassword] -po [pfxpassword] -f
You can also call the PFX a P12. They are the same file format.
Another way they are delivered is to have them installed in the browser. For IE you need to go to the certificate store under content in IE options.
Click certificates.
Then choose to export your certificate.
Click Next to begin the process. Then you'll be asked if you want to export the private key.
You should choose to export the private key.
Click Next
Choose Personal Information exchange and check include all certificates in the certification path if possible and to export all extended properties.
Click next and assign a password to the certificate.
enter the password and then you'll be asked to save it. Choose a location that you'll be able to find.
Now you have a certificate that you can use for signing