Exporting your key pair for use by Globus grid-proxy-init

• Export or 'backup' your certificate. The interface for this varies from browser to browser. Internet Explorer starts with "Tools -> Internet Options -> Content"; Netscape Communicator has a "Security" button on the top menu bar; Mozilla starts with "Edit -> Preferences -> Privacy and Security -> Certificates". The exported file will probably have the extension .p12 or .pfx.
• Guard this file carefully. Store it off your computer, or remove it once you are finished with this process.
• Copy the above PKCS#12 file to the computer where you will run grid-proxy-init.
• Extract your certificate (which contains the public key) and the private key:
  • Certificate:
    openssl pkcs12 -in YourCert.p12 -clcerts -nokeys -out $HOME/.globus/usercert.pem
  • To get the encrypted private key :
    openssl pkcs12 -in YourCert.p12 -nocerts -out $HOME/.globus/userkey.pem
    You must set the mode on your userkey.pem file to read/write only by the owner, otherwise grid-proxy-init will not use it(chmod go-rw $HOME/.globus/userkey.pem).