Sun Java KeyManagerFactory and null passwords

Question

We are having a problem with the KeyManagerFactory in the Sun JRE 1.6. We are using code similar to the following to upload and use a certificate in p12 format:

Answer 1

Because PKCS12 contains private key, you should always have a password. I think Sun accidentally enforces this :)

For all Keystore API, password is required for the store and private keys. If you don't really want deal with the configuration or user-interaction, just use the default password "changeit" everywhere.

Answer 2

This is a bug:

http://bugs.sun.com/bugdatabase/view_bug.do?bug_id=6415637

Workaround is to set a password.