How do I find the PublicKeyToken for a particular dll?

Question

Using PowerShell, you can execute this statement:

([system.reflection.assembly]::loadfile("C:\..\Full_Path\..\MyDLL.dll")).FullName

The output will provide the Version, Culture and PublicKeyToken as shown below:

MyDLL, Version=1.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=669e0ddf0bb1aa2a

Using sn.exe utility:

sn -T YourAssembly.dll

or loading the assembly in Reflector.

If you have the DLL added to your project, you can open the csproj file and see the Reference tag.

Example:

<Reference Include="System.Web.Mvc, Version=3.0.0.1, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=31bf3856ad364e35, processorArchitecture=MSIL" />

sn -T <assembly> in Visual Studio command line. If an assembly is installed in the global assembly cache, it's easier to go to C:\Windows\assembly and find it in the list of GAC assemblies.

On your specific case, you might be mixing type full name with assembly reference, you might want to take a look at MSDN.

Answer is very simple use the .NET Framework tools sn.exe. So open the Visual Studio 2008 Command Prompt and then point to the dll’s folder you want to get the public key,

Use the following command,

sn –T myDLL.dll

This will give you the public key token. Remember one thing this only works if the assembly has to be strongly signed.

Example

C:\WINNT\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v3.5>sn -T EdmGen.exe

Microsoft (R) .NET Framework Strong Name Utility  Version 3.5.21022.8
Copyright (c) Microsoft Corporation.  All rights reserved.

Public key token is b77a5c561934e089

I use Windows Explorer, navigate to C:\Windows\assembly , find the one I need. From the Properties you can copy the PublicKeyToken.

This doesn't rely on Visual Studio or any other utilities being installed.

Just adding more info, I wasn't able to find sn.exe utility in the mentioned locations, in my case it was in C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft SDKs\Windows\v7.0A\bin