Exporting certificates is the process of creating a backup of a digital certificate, including the highly sensitive private key. Certificate backups are protected with a user-defined password, providing a means of protection for this sensitive file. This backup copy is encrypted with the user-defined password, and saved to a file. This file can then be imported into any machine, as long as the representative performing the import knows the password used to encrypt the file.
Exportability is an attribute of the digital certificate, and is set at the time of creation by the representative.
Exportable certificates allow the representative to make a copy of the digital certificate, combined with the private key. Once backed up, it can be installed on one or more computers. It is by this means that a "shared certificate" can be created.
A shared certificate allows a generic user to be created with some basic (low security) authorization attributes, and it can be installed on multiple locations. Shared certificates, however, come with a loss of accountability.
The procedure Exporting a Certificate describes how to export certificates.
All certificates are exportable in the Firefox web browser. Please read the Backing Up a Certificate topic for instructions on exporting certificates in Firefox.
Certificates in Internet Explorer may be flagged as non-exportable. A non-exportable certificate will not allow for the private key to be exported. This adds an additional layer of security at the cost of convenience.