How to convert existing keystore.jks file to PEM file format for newer version of Web Help Desk

Starting with version 2026.2, Web Help Desk no longer uses the keystore.jks file and now use the PEM file format. The files needed are the cert.pem file containing the certificates (with root and intermediate), and the key.pem which contains the private key. The cert.pem file contains the actual certificate and the keychain that includes the root and/or intermediate certificates. These instructions apply only to the Windows installation.

Using OpenSSL
Follow the steps in Convert third-party SSL certificates after upgrading to WHD 2026.2.

Using Portecle

Note: Rename the existing key.pem to key.pem.old and cert.pem to cert.pem.old before performing the steps below.

1) Navigate to C:\Program Files\WebHelpDesk.

2) Right-click on Portecle.bat and select Run as Administrator.

3) Click on File and select Open Keystore File.

4) Navigate to the location of the old keystore.jks file, then select the keystore.jks file and click Open.

5) Enter the password of the keystore file and click OK.

6) Right-click on the keypair named tomcat as Alias, then click on Export.

7) In Export type, select Private key and Certificates. In the Export Format, select PEM encoded, then click OK.

8) Enter the keypair password again, and click OK. It will ask you for the Private Key Export Password, leave them blank and click OK.

9) Save the PEM file to the conf folder with your desired name. In this example, it is named SSL_cert.pem. Click Export.

10) Export should be successful.

11) Navigate to C:\Program Files\WebHelpDesk\conf folder.

12) Open the OpenSSL_cert.pem file using Notepad or Notepad ++ if installed.

13) Open another instance of Notepad and copy the contents of SSL_cert.pem from:

-----BEGIN RSA PRIVATE KEY-----'

to

-----END RSA PRIVATE KEY-----

14) Save it as key.pem in the C:\Program Files\WebHelpDesk\conf folder.

15) Open another instance of Notepad and copy the contents of SSL_cert.pem from:

-----BEGIN CERTIFICATE-----

to

-----END CERTIFICATE-----

Make sure to copy all the contents from BEGIN to END as it will contain multiple entries comprising the host certificate, root and/or intermediate certificates.

16) Save it as cert.pem in the C:\Program Files\WebHelpDesk\conf folder.

17) Restart the Web Help Desk by right-clicking whd_restart.bat and running it as Administrator.

18) You should now be able to access the Web Help Desk with the correct certificate bound to the HTTPS port.

Using a third-party application called Keystore Explorer

If the Portecle application is not available or is unable to run as the Web Help Desk is installed in a non-default location, you may download and install a third-party freeware application called Keystore Explorer.  You can download it here:

https://keystore-explorer.org/downloads.html

It is recommended to download the installer that includes the custom Java runtime.

To convert the existing keystore.jks file, you may follow the following steps:

1) Open the keystore.jks file and enter the keystore password.

2) You will see the key pair named tomcat.

3) Right-click on the keypair, and you will see the  following:

4) Click on Export and Export Key Pair.

5) Enter the tomcat password.

6) Select PEM format and choose the directory and filename of the PEM file. Click Export. Leave the password blank.

8) Navigate to the file and open it using Notepad or Notepad++.

9) Copy the contents of the file beginning with -----BEGIN PRIVATE KEY----- and ending -----END PRIVATE KEY-----

example:

10) Paste the contents into another notepad instance and save it as key.pem.

11) Go back to the previous pem file and copy the contents beginning with -----BEGIN CERTIFICATE----- and ending -----END CERTIFICATE----- at the end of the file to copy the certificate and the root and/or intermediate certs.

example:

12) Paste the contents into another Notepad instance and save it as cert.pem.

13) Copy the two files to the C:\Program Files\WebHelpDesk\conf directory and restart the Web Help Desk service.