Signing Page, Project Designer
This section has been updated for Visual Studio 2005 SP1.
Use the Signing page of the Project Designer to sign the application and deployment manifests and also to sign the assembly (strong-name signing).
Notice that the signing of application and deployment manifests is a process distinct from the signing of an assembly, though both tasks are done on the Signing page.
Also, the storage of key-file information differs for manifest signing and assembly signing. For manifest signing, key information is stored in your computer's cryptographic storage database and the current user's Windows certificate store. For assembly signing, key information is stored only in your computer's cryptographic storage database.
To access the Signing page, select a project node in Solution Explorer, then on the Project menu, click Properties. When the Project Designer appears, click the Signing tab.
Application and Deployment Manifest Signing
This section has been updated for Visual Studio 2005 SP1.
Note |
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| In Visual Studio 2005 SP1, Web application projects have been added to Visual Studio 2005. The manifest signing options on the Signing page are disabled for Web application projects because these applications do not use ClickOnce deployment. For more information about Web application projects, see Web Application Projects Overview. |
- Sign the ClickOnce manifests
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Select this check box to sign the application and deployment manifests with a public/private key pair. For more information on how to do this, see How to: Sign Application and Deployment Manifests.
- Select from Store
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Allows you to select an existing certificate from the current user's personal certificate store.
- Select from File
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Allows you to select a certificate from an existing key file.
- Create Test Certificate
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Allows you to create a certificate for testing purposes.
- Timestamp server URL
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Specifies the address of a server that timestamps your signature. When you provide a certificate, this external site verifies the time that the application was signed.
Assembly Signing
- Sign the assembly
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Select this check box to sign the assembly and create a strongly named key file. For more information on signing the assembly using the Project Designer, see How to: Sign an Assembly (Visual Studio).
This option uses the Assembly Linker (Al.exe) provided by the .NET Framework SDK to sign the assembly. For more information on using Al.exe, see How to: Sign an Assembly with a Strong Name.
- Choose a strong name key file
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Specifies a new or existing strongly named key file used to sign the assembly. Select <New...> to create a new file using the Create Strong Name Key Dialog Box. (If you specify a password, a .pfx file is created; if you do not specify a password, an .snk file is created. Select <Browse...> to select an existing key file.
- Change Password
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Click this button to bring up the Change Key Password dialog box and change the password of your key file. The password information is stored in current user's Windows certificate store.
- Delay sign only
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Select this check box to enable delay signing. For more information, see How to: Delay Sign an Assembly (Visual Studio).
Note that a delay signed project will not run and cannot be debugged. You can, however, use the Strong Name Tool (Sn.exe) with the -Vr option to skip verification during development.
In This Section
Select a Certificate Dialog Box
Create Test Certificate Dialog Box
Enter Password to Open File Dialog Box
See Also
Tasks
How to: Sign Application and Deployment ManifestsHow to: Sign an Assembly (Visual Studio)
How to: Delay Sign an Assembly (Visual Studio)
How to: Sign an Assembly with a Strong Name
Concepts
Strong-Name Signing for Managed ApplicationsStrong-Named Assemblies
Other Resources
Projects, User Interface ElementsManaging Assembly and Manifest Signing
Signing ClickOnce Manifests
Note