case of "UnrecoverableKeyException: DER input, Integer tag error"?

[Jon Dornback]

I have a keystore object that I added a public key to, as follows:
storage.setKeyEntry("mypublickey" ,pubkey,"pubkeypassword".toCharArray(), null);
I then try to pull the public key back out with this line:
pubkey = (PublicKey)storage.getKey("mypublickey","pubkeypassword".toCharArray());
but the call throws an exception:
java.security.UnrecoverableKeyException: DER input, Integer tag error"
anyone know what causes this? i can get an enumeration of the aliases and list the key just fine, but cannot get it out of the keystore.
thanks,
jon

[Jon Dornback]

after searching the net for hours, it turns out the problem is how the KeyStore is initialized. the java tutorial on the sun site says that the default provider should be fine, but it's not.

keystore = KeyStore.getInstance("JCEKS","SunJCE");// USE THIS
// keystore = KeyStore.getInstance("JKS","SUN"); // not this!

hope that saves someone some agony.
Jon

[Iain Mcleod]

hope that saves someone some agony.
Jon[/QB]

GOD BLESS YOU JON!!!
I can pass one further tip on for using keystores...
Don't try and create one manually the first time. It don't work!
I got this from somewhere else on the web - here is my function for creating keystores - it basically invokes the keystore tool and then picks up the output.
You may have to edit it a little...
Again, hope it helps someone, like Jon helped me :-)

protected KeyStore makeKeyStore(String stringIdentity, String password) throws GrumpsException {
        try{
            
            String stringName = null;
            
            //Causes bug!
            //Sun's documentation is WRONG.  This does not work
            //String stringKeyStoreType=KeyStore.getDefaultType();
            //keystore = KeyStore.getInstance("JCEKS","SunJCE") is what works.
            String stringKeyStoreType="JCEKS";
            
            // Create home directory.  This is a very portable way
            // to create a home directory, but it has its problems --
            // the various flavors of Microsoft Windows put the directory
            // in widely different locations in the directory hierarchy.
            String stringHome = System.getProperty("user.home") + File.separator + "grumps";
            File fileHome = new File(stringHome);
            if (fileHome.exists() == false)
                fileHome.mkdirs();
            
            // Create keystore.  We must run an external process to create the
            // keystore, because the security APIs don't expose enough
            // functionality to do this inline.  I haven't tested this widely enough
            // to know how portable this code is, but it works on everything I
            // tried it on.
            // :-()
            String stringKeyStore = stringHome + File.separator + "keystore";
            File fileKeyStore = new File(stringKeyStore);
            if (fileKeyStore.exists()) {
                fileKeyStore.delete();
            }
            if (debug){
                System.err.println("Creating keystore...");
            }
            byte [] arb = new byte [16];
            //SecureRandom securerandom = SecureRandom.getInstance("SHA1PRNG");
            //securerandom.nextBytes(arb);
            //stringName = new String(Base64.encode(arb));
            String [] arstringCommand = new String [] {
                System.getProperty("java.home") + File.separator + "bin" + File.separator + "keytool",
                "-genkey",
                "-alias", stringIdentity,
                "-keyalg", "RSA", //just make any key, we won't use it... we add our own keys to the store
                "-keysize", "512",
                "-dname", "CN="+stringIdentity,
                "-keystore", stringKeyStore,
                "-keypass", password,
                "-storetype", stringKeyStoreType,
                "-storepass", password
            };
            Process process = Runtime.getRuntime().exec(arstringCommand);
            process.waitFor();
            //see superclass for debug.
            DebugThread debugThread1=null;
            DebugThread debugThread2=null;
            if (debug){
                debugThread1=new DebugThread(process.getErrorStream());
                debugThread1.start();
                debugThread2=new DebugThread(process.getInputStream());
                debugThread2.start();
            }
            if (process.exitValue() != 0)
                throw new GrumpsException("Keystore generator terminated with exceptions.");
            
            
            // Once the application has created/located the keystore, it
            // opens it and creates a KeyStore instance from the data
            // in it.
            char [] archPassword = password.toCharArray();
            FileInputStream fileInputStream = new FileInputStream(stringKeyStore);
            KeyStore keystore = KeyStore.getInstance(stringKeyStoreType);
            try {
                keystore.load(fileInputStream, archPassword);
            }
            catch (IOException ioexception) {
                throw new GrumpsException("Cannot load keystore.  Password may be wrong.");
            }
            if (keystore.containsAlias(stringIdentity) == false) {
                throw new GrumpsException("Cannot locate identity in keystore.");
            }
            fileInputStream.close();
            fileKeyStore.delete();
            if (debug){
                debugThread1.kill();
                debugThread2.kill();
            }
            return keystore;
        }
        catch (Exception e){
            throw new GrumpsException(e);
        }
    }

IM
(I edited the post to fix the typo involved in the code tags -- JAM)
[ August 25, 2003: Message edited by: Joel McNary ]

[Joel McNary]

Welcome to JavaRanch, Iain! We are glad that we could be of assistance, and thanks for the methods.