Backing up Comodo Personal Certificate from Firefox

PKI Tutorials - Herong's Tutorial Examples

∟Backing up Comodo Personal Certificate from Firefox

This section provides a tutorial example on how to backup a personal certification with a private key from Firefox to an external file in PKCS12 format and with password protection.

After installing and viewing my personal certificate in Firefox, I need to create a backup copy and keep it separately in a secure place:

1. Open the Certificate Manager in Firefox as described in the previous tutorial.

2. Click the "Your Certificates" tab. I see my personal certificate listed under "COMODO CA Limited".

3. Select my certificate and click "Backup..." button. The save file dialog box shows up.

4. Enter find a folder, enter a file name like "MyPrivateKeyCert.p12", and keep "PKCS12" as the file type.

5. Click "Save" button. The certificate backup password dialog box shows.

6. Enter a new password and click "OK". My personal certificate is backed up to a file now.

Here is my understanding of what happened:

Certificates on the "Your Certificates" tab contain private keys. Since I am the owner of those certificates, I should have own their private keys.
Firefox supports "Backup" function on certificates with the private keys, which copies the entire certificate including the private key to an external file in PKCS12 format with password protection.
The regular "Export" function is still available on the "Details" tab after open the certificate. The export function only copies the certificate of your public key to an external file.