XmlCertVault Rust Reference Documentation

XmlCertVault

Current Version: 11.6.1

Chilkat.XmlCertVault

Collect certificates, certificate chains, PEM data, and PFX private keys in an XML vault.

Chilkat.XmlCertVault stores certificates and private-key material in a portable XML-based certificate vault. It can add individual certificates, certificate chains, DER or encoded certificates, PEM files, certificate strings, and PFX/PKCS12 data from files, memory, encoded text, or existing Chilkat objects. The vault can then be exported as XML, loaded from XML, or saved to an XML file for later reuse by other Chilkat certificate and TLS workflows.

Add certificates

Add certificates from Cert objects, files, PEM strings, binary DER bytes, or encoded data such as Base64 or hex.

Add certificate chains

Import an entire CertChain when related issuer and intermediate certificates should be kept together in the vault.

Add PEM content

Load PEM files containing one or more certificates and/or private keys, including encrypted PEM content when a password is supplied.

Add PFX / PKCS12

Add PFX data from a Pfx object, file, byte array, or encoded string, using the PFX password to import private-key material.

Master password protection

Use MasterPassword to protect access to private keys stored in the vault.

Load and save XML

Export the vault with GetXml, load it with LoadXml or LoadXmlFile, and persist it with SaveXml.

Common pattern: Create an XmlCertVault, set MasterPassword when the vault will contain private keys, add certificates or PFX/PEM material, then save the vault with SaveXml or keep the XML string from GetXml. Later, reload the same vault with LoadXml or LoadXmlFile and provide the same master password before using private keys.
Security note: Certificates are stored unencrypted, but private keys are stored using 256-bit AES encryption. The individual PFX passwords are also stored encrypted with the vault's MasterPassword, which is required to access any private keys contained in the XML vault.

Object Creation

// Cargo.toml:
//     [dependencies]
//     chilkat = "11.6"

use chilkat::XmlCertVault;

// Once per process, before any other Chilkat call:
chilkat::unlock_bundle("Anything for 30-day trial")?;  // shorthand for Global::new().unlock_bundle(..)

let xml_cert_vault = XmlCertVault::new();
// ... the native object is freed when `xml_cert_vault` goes out of scope.
pub fn new() -> XmlCertVault

Creates the underlying native Chilkat object (XmlCertVault also implements Default). Every method takes &self, so the object never needs to be declared mut. A XmlCertVault is Send but not Sync: it may be moved to another thread, but a reference to it cannot be shared between threads at the same time.

impl Drop for XmlCertVault

The native object is freed when the XmlCertVault is dropped — when it goes out of scope, or explicitly with drop(xml_cert_vault). There is no Dispose method to call.

Errors

Methods that can fail return chilkat::Result<T>, which is Result<T, chilkat::Error>: a method whose only outcome is success or failure returns Result<()>, a method producing a string or an object returns Result<String> or Result<XmlCertVault>. The error carries the object's LastErrorText at the time of the failure (Error::last_error_text), the class and method names, and implements std::error::Error, so ? works in any function returning chilkat::Result or a Box<dyn Error>. Properties never fail, and methods that answer a question (has_..., is_..., ...) return a plain bool.

match xml_cert_vault.some_method(...) {
    Ok(value) => println!("{value:?}"),
    Err(e) => eprintln!("{}", e.last_error_text()),
}

Properties

DebugLogFilePath
// read/write
pub fn debug_log_file_path(&self) -> String
pub fn set_debug_log_file_path(&self, value: &str)

If set to a file path, this property logs the LastErrorText of each Chilkat method or property call to the specified file. This logging helps identify the context and history of Chilkat calls leading up to any crash or hang, aiding in debugging.

Enabling the VerboseLogging property provides more detailed information. This property is mainly used for debugging rare instances where a Chilkat method call causes a hang or crash, which should generally not happen.

Possible causes of hangs include:

  • A timeout property set to 0, indicating an infinite timeout.
  • A hang occurring within an event callback in the application code.
  • An internal bug in the Chilkat code causing the hang.

More Information and Examples
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LastErrorHtml
// read-only
pub fn last_error_html(&self) -> String

Provides HTML-formatted information about the last called method or property. If a method call fails or behaves unexpectedly, check this property for details. Note that information is available regardless of the method call's success.

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LastErrorText
// read-only
pub fn last_error_text(&self) -> String

Provides plain text information about the last called method or property. If a method call fails or behaves unexpectedly, check this property for details. Note that information is available regardless of the method call's success.

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LastErrorXml
// read-only
pub fn last_error_xml(&self) -> String

Provides XML-formatted information about the last called method or property. If a method call fails or behaves unexpectedly, check this property for details. Note that information is available regardless of the method call's success.

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LastMethodSuccess
// read/write
pub fn last_method_success(&self) -> bool
pub fn set_last_method_success(&self, value: bool)

Indicates the success or failure of the most recent method call: true means success, false means failure. This property remains unchanged by property setters or getters. This method is present to address challenges in checking for null or Nothing returns in certain programming languages. Note: This property does not apply to methods that return integer values or to boolean-returning methods where the boolean does not indicate success or failure.

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MasterPassword
// read/write
pub fn master_password(&self) -> String
pub fn set_master_password(&self, value: &str)
Introduced in version 9.5.0.40

The master password for the vault. Certificates are stored unencrypted, but private keys are stored 256-bit AES encrypted using the individual PFX passwords. The PFX passwords are stored 256-bit AES encrypted using the master password. The master password is required to acces any of the private keys stored within the XML vault.

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VerboseLogging
// read/write
pub fn verbose_logging(&self) -> bool
pub fn set_verbose_logging(&self, value: bool)

If set to true, then the contents of LastErrorText (or LastErrorXml, or LastErrorHtml) may contain more verbose information. The default value is false. Verbose logging should only be used for debugging. The potentially large quantity of logged information may adversely affect peformance.

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Version
// read-only
pub fn version(&self) -> String

Version of the component/library, such as "10.1.0"

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Methods

AddCert
pub fn add_cert(&self, cert: &Cert) -> Result<()>
Introduced in version 9.5.0.40

Adds a certificate to the XML vault.

Returns Ok(()) for success, Err(chilkat::Error) for failure.

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AddCertChain
pub fn add_cert_chain(&self, cert_chain: &CertChain) -> Result<()>
Introduced in version 9.5.0.40

Adds a chain of certificates to the XML vault.

Returns Ok(()) for success, Err(chilkat::Error) for failure.

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AddCertEncoded
pub fn add_cert_encoded(&self, encoded_bytes: &str, encoding: &str) -> Result<()>
Introduced in version 9.5.0.40

Adds a certificate to the XML vault where certificate is passed directly from encoded bytes (such as Base64, Hex, etc.). The encoding is indicated by encoding.

Returns Ok(()) for success, Err(chilkat::Error) for failure.

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AddCertFile
pub fn add_cert_file(&self, path: &str) -> Result<()>
Introduced in version 9.5.0.40

Adds a certificate to the XML vault.

Returns Ok(()) for success, Err(chilkat::Error) for failure.

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AddCertString
pub fn add_cert_string(&self, cert_data: &str) -> Result<()>
Introduced in version 9.5.0.40

Adds a certificate from any string representation format such as PEM.

Returns Ok(()) for success, Err(chilkat::Error) for failure.

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AddPemFile
pub fn add_pem_file(&self, path: &str, password: &str) -> Result<()>
Introduced in version 9.5.0.40

Adds the contents of a PEM file to the XML vault. The PEM file may be encrypted, and it may contain one or more certificates and/or private keys. The password is optional and only required if the PEM file contains encrypted content that requires a password.

Returns Ok(()) for success, Err(chilkat::Error) for failure.

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AddPfx
pub fn add_pfx(&self, pfx: &Pfx) -> Result<()>
Introduced in version 9.5.0.40

Adds a PFX (PKCS12) to the XML vault.

Returns Ok(()) for success, Err(chilkat::Error) for failure.

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AddPfxEncoded
pub fn add_pfx_encoded(&self, encoded_bytes: &str, encoding: &str, password: &str) -> Result<()>

Adds a PFX to the XML vault where PFX is passed directly from encoded bytes (such as Base64, Hex, etc.). The encoding is indicated by encoding.

Returns Ok(()) for success, Err(chilkat::Error) for failure.

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AddPfxFile
pub fn add_pfx_file(&self, path: &str, password: &str) -> Result<()>
Introduced in version 9.5.0.40

Adds a PFX file to the XML vault.

Returns Ok(()) for success, Err(chilkat::Error) for failure.

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GetXml
pub fn get_xml(&self) -> Result<String>
Introduced in version 9.5.0.40

Returns the contents of the cert vault as an XML string.

Returns Err(chilkat::Error) on failure.

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LoadXml
pub fn load_xml(&self, xml: &str) -> Result<()>
Introduced in version 9.5.0.40

Loads from an XML string.

Returns Ok(()) for success, Err(chilkat::Error) for failure.

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LoadXmlFile
pub fn load_xml_file(&self, path: &str) -> Result<()>
Introduced in version 9.5.0.40

Loads from an XML file.

Returns Ok(()) for success, Err(chilkat::Error) for failure.

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SaveXml
pub fn save_xml(&self, path: &str) -> Result<()>
Introduced in version 9.5.0.40

Saves the contents to an XML file.

Returns Ok(()) for success, Err(chilkat::Error) for failure.

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