X509Certificate2.SerialNumber Property

Definition

Namespace:

System.Security.Cryptography.X509Certificates

Assembly:

System.Security.Cryptography.dll

Source:

X509Certificate2.cs

Gets the serial number of a certificate as a big-endian hexadecimal string.

public:
 property System::String ^ SerialNumber { System::String ^ get(); };

public string SerialNumber { get; }

member this.SerialNumber : string

Public ReadOnly Property SerialNumber As String

Property Value

String

The serial number of the certificate as a big-endian hexadecimal string.

Examples

The following code example creates a command-line executable that takes a certificate file as an argument and prints various certificate properties to the console.

#using <System.dll>

using namespace System;
using namespace System::Security::Cryptography;
using namespace System::Security::Permissions;
using namespace System::IO;
using namespace System::Security::Cryptography::X509Certificates;

//Reads a file.
array<Byte>^ ReadFile( String^ fileName )
{
   FileStream^ f = gcnew FileStream( fileName,FileMode::Open,FileAccess::Read );
   int size = (int)f->Length;
   array<Byte>^data = gcnew array<Byte>(size);
   size = f->Read( data, 0, size );
   f->Close();
   return data;
}

[SecurityPermissionAttribute(SecurityAction::LinkDemand, Unrestricted = true)]
int main()
{
   array<String^>^args = Environment::GetCommandLineArgs();

   //Test for correct number of arguments.
   if ( args->Length < 2 )
   {
      Console::WriteLine( "Usage: CertInfo <filename>" );
      return  -1;
   }

   try
   {
      System::Security::Cryptography::X509Certificates::X509Certificate2 ^ x509 =
            gcnew System::Security::Cryptography::X509Certificates::X509Certificate2;

      //Create X509Certificate2 object from .cer file.
      array<Byte>^rawData = ReadFile( args[ 1 ] );

      x509->Import(rawData);

      //Print to console information contained in the certificate.
      Console::WriteLine( "{0}Subject: {1}{0}", Environment::NewLine, x509->Subject );
      Console::WriteLine( "{0}Issuer: {1}{0}", Environment::NewLine, x509->Issuer );
      Console::WriteLine( "{0}Version: {1}{0}", Environment::NewLine, x509->Version );
      Console::WriteLine( "{0}Valid Date: {1}{0}", Environment::NewLine, x509->NotBefore );
      Console::WriteLine( "{0}Expiry Date: {1}{0}", Environment::NewLine, x509->NotAfter );
      Console::WriteLine( "{0}Thumbprint: {1}{0}", Environment::NewLine, x509->Thumbprint );
      Console::WriteLine( "{0}Serial Number: {1}{0}", Environment::NewLine, x509->SerialNumber );
      Console::WriteLine( "{0}Friendly Name: {1}{0}", Environment::NewLine, x509->PublicKey->Oid->FriendlyName );
      Console::WriteLine( "{0}Public Key Format: {1}{0}", Environment::NewLine, x509->PublicKey->EncodedKeyValue->Format(true) );
      Console::WriteLine( "{0}Raw Data Length: {1}{0}", Environment::NewLine, x509->RawData->Length );
      Console::WriteLine( "{0}Certificate to string: {1}{0}", Environment::NewLine, x509->ToString( true ) );
      Console::WriteLine( "{0}Certificate to XML String: {1}{0}", Environment::NewLine, x509->PublicKey->Key->ToXmlString( false ) );

      //Add the certificate to a X509Store.
      X509Store ^ store = gcnew X509Store;
      store->Open( OpenFlags::MaxAllowed );
      store->Add( x509 );
      store->Close();
   }
   catch ( DirectoryNotFoundException^ )
   {
      Console::WriteLine( "Error: The directory specified could not be found." );
   }
   catch ( IOException^ )
   {
      Console::WriteLine( "Error: A file in the directory could not be accessed." );
   }
   catch ( NullReferenceException^ )
   {
      Console::WriteLine( "File must be a .cer file. Program does not have access to that type of file." );
   }

}

using System;
using System.Security.Cryptography;
using System.Security.Permissions;
using System.IO;
using System.Security.Cryptography.X509Certificates;

class CertInfo
{
    //Reads a file.
    internal static byte[] ReadFile (string fileName)
    {
        FileStream f = new FileStream(fileName, FileMode.Open, FileAccess.Read);
        int size = (int)f.Length;
        byte[] data = new byte[size];
        size = f.Read(data, 0, size);
        f.Close();
        return data;
    }
    //Main method begins here.
    static void Main(string[] args)
    {
        //Test for correct number of arguments.
        if (args.Length < 1)
        {
            Console.WriteLine("Usage: CertInfo <filename>");
            return;
        }
        try
        {
            byte[] rawData = ReadFile(args[0]);
            //Create X509Certificate2 object from .cer file.
            X509Certificate2 x509 = new X509Certificate2(rawData);

            //Print to console information contained in the certificate.
            Console.WriteLine("{0}Subject: {1}{0}", Environment.NewLine, x509.Subject);
            Console.WriteLine("{0}Issuer: {1}{0}", Environment.NewLine, x509.Issuer);
            Console.WriteLine("{0}Version: {1}{0}", Environment.NewLine, x509.Version);
            Console.WriteLine("{0}Valid Date: {1}{0}", Environment.NewLine, x509.NotBefore);
            Console.WriteLine("{0}Expiry Date: {1}{0}", Environment.NewLine, x509.NotAfter);
            Console.WriteLine("{0}Thumbprint: {1}{0}", Environment.NewLine, x509.Thumbprint);
            Console.WriteLine("{0}Serial Number: {1}{0}", Environment.NewLine, x509.SerialNumber);
            Console.WriteLine("{0}Friendly Name: {1}{0}", Environment.NewLine, x509.PublicKey.Oid.FriendlyName);
            Console.WriteLine("{0}Public Key Format: {1}{0}", Environment.NewLine, x509.PublicKey.EncodedKeyValue.Format(true));
            Console.WriteLine("{0}Raw Data Length: {1}{0}", Environment.NewLine, x509.RawData.Length);
            Console.WriteLine("{0}Certificate to string: {1}{0}", Environment.NewLine, x509.ToString(true));
            Console.WriteLine("{0}Certificate to XML String: {1}{0}", Environment.NewLine, x509.PublicKey.Key.ToXmlString(false));

            //Add the certificate to a X509Store.
            X509Store store = new X509Store();
            store.Open(OpenFlags.MaxAllowed);
            store.Add(x509);
            store.Close();
        }
        catch (DirectoryNotFoundException)
        {
               Console.WriteLine("Error: The directory specified could not be found.");
        }
        catch (IOException)
        {
            Console.WriteLine("Error: A file in the directory could not be accessed.");
        }
        catch (NullReferenceException)
        {
            Console.WriteLine("File must be a .cer file. Program does not have access to that type of file.");
        }
    }
}

Imports System.Security.Cryptography
Imports System.Security.Permissions
Imports System.IO
Imports System.Security.Cryptography.X509Certificates

Class CertInfo

    'Reads a file.
    Friend Shared Function ReadFile(ByVal fileName As String) As Byte()
        Dim f As New FileStream(fileName, FileMode.Open, FileAccess.Read)
        Dim size As Integer = Fix(f.Length)
        Dim data(size - 1) As Byte
        size = f.Read(data, 0, size)
        f.Close()
        Return data

    End Function 

    <SecurityPermission(SecurityAction.LinkDemand, Unrestricted:=True)> _
    Shared Sub Main(ByVal args() As String)
        'Test for correct number of arguments.
        If args.Length < 1 Then
            Console.WriteLine("Usage: CertInfo <filename>")
            Return
        End If
        Try
            Dim x509 As New X509Certificate2()
            'Create X509Certificate2 object from .cer file.
            Dim rawData As Byte() = ReadFile(args(0))
            
            x509.Import(rawData)

            'Print to console information contained in the certificate.
            Console.WriteLine("{0}Subject: {1}{0}", Environment.NewLine, x509.Subject)
            Console.WriteLine("{0}Issuer: {1}{0}", Environment.NewLine, x509.Issuer)
            Console.WriteLine("{0}Version: {1}{0}", Environment.NewLine, x509.Version)
            Console.WriteLine("{0}Valid Date: {1}{0}", Environment.NewLine, x509.NotBefore)
            Console.WriteLine("{0}Expiry Date: {1}{0}", Environment.NewLine, x509.NotAfter)
            Console.WriteLine("{0}Thumbprint: {1}{0}", Environment.NewLine, x509.Thumbprint)
            Console.WriteLine("{0}Serial Number: {1}{0}", Environment.NewLine, x509.SerialNumber)
            Console.WriteLine("{0}Friendly Name: {1}{0}", Environment.NewLine, x509.PublicKey.Oid.FriendlyName)
            Console.WriteLine("{0}Public Key Format: {1}{0}", Environment.NewLine, x509.PublicKey.EncodedKeyValue.Format(True))
            Console.WriteLine("{0}Raw Data Length: {1}{0}", Environment.NewLine, x509.RawData.Length)
            Console.WriteLine("{0}Certificate to string: {1}{0}", Environment.NewLine, x509.ToString(True))

            Console.WriteLine("{0}Certificate to XML String: {1}{0}", Environment.NewLine, x509.PublicKey.Key.ToXmlString(False))

            'Add the certificate to a X509Store.
            Dim store As New X509Store()
            store.Open(OpenFlags.MaxAllowed)
            store.Add(x509)
            store.Close()

        Catch dnfExcept As DirectoryNotFoundException
            Console.WriteLine("Error: The directory specified could not be found.")
        Catch ioExpcept As IOException
            Console.WriteLine("Error: A file in the directory could not be accessed.")
        Catch nrExcept As NullReferenceException
            Console.WriteLine("File must be a .cer file. Program does not have access to that type of file.")
        End Try

    End Sub
End Class

Remarks

The serial number of the certificate is part of the original X.509 protocol. The serial number is a unique number issued by the certificate issuer, which is also called the Certificate Authority (CA).