Step 2B: Extracting the Private Key from Your P12 Certificate {#restgs-security-extract-key}
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When you have your P12 certificate, extract the private key from the certificate. Use this key to sign your header when sending an API request.

> IMPORTANT  
> If you are using the SDK to establish communication, you do not need to extract the private key from the P12 certificate.

**Prerequisite**
:
You must have a tool such as OpenSSL installed on your system.

**Extract the Private Key**
:
Follow these steps to extract the private key using OpenSSL:

    1. Open the command-line tool and navigate to the directory that contains the P12 certificate.
       2. Enter this command:  
       `openssl pkcs12 -in [certificate name] -nodes -nocerts -out [private key name]`
       3. Enter the password for the certificate.  
       You set this password when you created the P12 certificate in the `Business Center`.

The new certificate is added to the directory with the private key name you supplied in Step 2.