Makecert.exe error

Question

I am trying to use Makecert.exe to create a signing certificate that I can use with our internal VS.NET applications, to be deployed using Clickonce on our local network

I have been following the MSDN guide MSDN: Certificate Expiration in ClickOnce Deployment

so I tried the below:

C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio 12.0>Makecert -sv DMTeam.pvk 
-n "CN=DMTeam" DMTeam.cer -b 03/04/2015 -e 12/31/2020

in order to have a certificate for our applications

When I run the above command using the VS command prompt, I get the below error:

Error: Unable to create file for the subject ('DMTeam.pvk')

Error: Can't create the key of the subject ('DMTeam.pvk')

Failed

so what am doing wrong?

Answer 1

The key is to run the command prompt with Administrator privileges.

I did something very similar, though I wrote the pvk and cer files to my c:\Temp folder:

C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft SDKs\Windows\v7.1A\Bin>MakeCert –sv C:\Temp\DMTeam.pvk –n “CN=DMTeam” c:\Temp\DMTeam.cer –b 03/04/2015 –e 12/31/2020 -r

Don't forget the "-r" option as it will "Create a self-signed certificate"! Without it the project will not build when you use the created pfx file.

I ran this under the VS2012 x86 Native Tools Command Prompt (with Run as Administrator) and it works just fine. Run without Administrative privileges and then it fails.

Then to create the pfx file do the following:

C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft SDKs\Windows\v7.1A\Bin>pvk2pfx –pvk C:\Temp\DMTeam.pvk –spc C:\Temp\DMTeam.cer –pfx –po PasswordForPFXFile

Here are some good references: See section: Test Certificates, MakeCert, RenewCert, and The Big Workaround https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ff369721.aspx

https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bfsktky3(v=vs.110).aspx

ClickOnce signer's certificate not valid for signing when using makecer/pvk2pfx

My ClickOnce app now builds fine in Visual Studio 2013.