Do you understand how HTTPS works? Most Java developers will answer, “yes” to this question without much hesitation. In general they’re correct. Public-key cryptography is such a ubiquitous Internet technology that comprehending the theory behind digital certificates and key exchanges is commonplace.

Configuring Resin for HTTP with either OpenSSL or JSSE isn’t terribly complicated either, and the Resin documentation provides a decent reference when you need it. But what most people don’t understand is what all those different key-pair and certificate file formats are, which ones OpenSSL uses compared to JSSE, and how to convert from one format to the other.

The objective of this discussion really isn’t to show you how to create certificates and configure Resin for HTTPS, although that’s included. What I really want to do is review the file formats and encodings used to store keys and certificates, compare and contrast OpenSSL with JSSE, and discuss how to convert from OpenSSL to JSSE and back.
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