Inf2Cat (Inf2Cat.exe) is a command-line tool that determines whether a driver package INF file can be digitally signed for a specified list of Windows versions, and, if so, generates the unsigned catalog files that apply to the specified Windows versions.

Inf2Cat /driver:PackagePath /os:WindowsVersionList [/nocat] [/verbose] [/?] [other options]

Parameters and Options

/driver:PackagePath

Supplies the path to the directory that contains the INF file for a driver package.

/os:WindowsVersionList

Configures Inf2Cat to verify that a driver package INF file complies with the signing requirements for the Windows versions that are specified by WindowsVersionList. WindowsVersionList is a comma-separated list of one or more of the following version identifiers.

Windows version	Version identifier
Windows Server 2008 x64 Edition	Server2008_X64
Windows Server 2008 Itanium Edition	Server2008_IA64
Windows Server 2008 x86 Edition	Server2008_X86
Windows Vista x64 Edition	Vista_X64
Windows Vista x86 Edition	Vista_X86
Windows Server 2003 x64 Edition	Server2003_X64
Windows Server 2003 Itanium Edition	Server2003_IA64
Windows Server 2003 x86 Edition	Server2003_X86
Windows XP x64 Edition	XP_X64
Windows XP x86 Edition	XP_X86
Windows 2000	2000

Inf2Cat ignores the case of the alphabetic characters of the version identifier strings. For example, vista_x64 and Vista_X64 are both valid identifiers for Windows Vista x64 Edition.

/nocat

Configures Inf2Cat only to verify that the driver package complies with the signing requirements for the specified Windows versions, but not to generate a catalog files.

/verbose

Configures Inf2Cat to display detailed information in a command window.

/?

Configures Inf2Cat to display help information in a command window.

other options

Configures Inf2Cat to add a DRM level catalog attribute or a PE catalog attribute to files, or to add page hashes to files. For more information, use the /? option.

Comments

The Inf2Cat tool replaces the Signability tool that was included in versions of the WDK prior to Windows Server 2008.

To use Inf2Cat, a user must be a member of the Administrators group on the system and run the command from an elevated command prompt.

Inf2Cat checks driver package INF files for structural errors and verifies that a driver package can be digitally signed. A driver package can be signed only if all of the files that are referenced in an INF file are present and the source files are in the correct location. If an INF file cannot be signed or if it contains structural errors, the driver package might not be installed correctly or might incorrectly display a driver signing warning dialog box during installation.

Inf2Cat generates a catalog file only if the catalog file is specified in the driver package INF file and the catalog file applies to one or more of the specified Windows versions. If the INF Version section of an INF file supplies only a CatalogFile=filename.cat directive, that catalog file applies to the entire driver package. To support cross-platform installations, the INF file should include CatalogFile.PlatformExtension=unique-filename.cat directives.

For more information about Inf2Cat, see the Microsoft Inf2Cat FAQ Web site.

The Inf2Cat tool is located in the ..\bin\SelfSign folder of the WDK.

Examples

In the following example, c:/MyDriver contains a driver package whose INF file is MyInfFile.inf and the INF Version section in the INF file includes only the following CatalogFile directive:

[Version]
. . .
CatalogFile=MyCatalogFile.cat
. . .

For this example, the following Inf2Cat command would verify whether the driver package can be signed for Windows 2000 and for the x86 versions of Windows Vista, Windows Server 2003, and Windows XP. If the package can be signed for these versions, Inf2Cat would create the unsigned catalog file MyCatalogFile.cat.

Inf2Cat /driver:C:\MyDriver /os:2000,XP_X86,Server2003_X86,Vista_X86

In the following example, c:/MyDriver contains a driver package whose INF file is MyInfFile.inf and the INF Version section in the INF file includes only the following two CatalogFile directives with platform extensions:

[Version]
. . .
CatalogFile.ntx86=MyCatalogFileX86.cat
CatalogFile.ntamd64=MyCatalogFileX64.cat
. . .

For this example, the following Inf2Cat command would verify whether the driver package can be signed for Windows 2000 and the x86 versions of Windows Vista, Windows Server 2003, and Windows XP. In addition, the command would verify whether the driver package can be signed for the x64 editions of Windows Vista, Windows Server 2003, and Windows XP. If the package can be signed for all of these versions, Inf2Cat will create the unsigned catalog files MyCatalogFileX86.cat and MyCatalogFileX64.cat.

Inf2Cat /driver:C:\MyDriver /os:2000,XP_X86,XP_X64,Server2003_X86,Server2003_X64,Vista_X86,Vista_X64

For more information about how to use Inf2Cat to create a catalog file, see Creating a Catalog File for a PnP Driver Package.