What's the keystore file?

Question

A keystore file contains one or more pairs of a private key and signed certificate for its corresponding public key. The keystore should be strongly protected with a password, and stored (either on the file system or elsewhere) so that it is accessible only to administrators.

What is a keystore file?

A keystore file is an encrypted version of a private key which can be password protected and used in its place. Keystore files are files with JSON (JavaScript Object Notation) format, with the filename usually in UTC + format.

What does keystore file contains?

It can be used to identify the author of an Android app during a build and when publishing to Google Play or in SSL encryption. Since a KEYSTORE file contains valuable data, the file is encrypted and protected by a password to secure the file from unauthorized parties.

How do I open a keystore file?

In order to open an existing KeyStore, click on Menu File > Open > Open KeyStore or use the default keyboard shortcut CTRL+O . A file chooser dialog box will be opened in order to select the desired KeyStore file. The supported file extensions have the following default filters: cacerts; *.

Where is the keystore file?

You can find the keytool program from a bin subfolder of a Java Developer Kit (JDK) installation folder (in the same location as javac). The keytool program is a command-line based application, so you need to run it using command-prompt. The new keystore file has been created under the current working directory.

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