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Introduction

This article is for tests purpose only, the best way to sign code is Mobile2Market, Versign etc...
With WM5 Microsoft has implements a new security schema on PocketPC too.
The new schema requires that the applications must be signed with a valid certificate to run without problems on devices. 
For simple applications the schema is not a problem, you'll get some borings popup to run the applications or to install cabs the first time. We have more problems when we try to deploy services or drivers, our dlls or applications will not run because the schema is loaded after service.exe and device.exe processes!
In this article i'll explain how we can deploy our own certificate on device and sign our code.

Step 1 - Create the certificate

The first step is create our certificate.  To do this we'll use the utility makecert.exe:
makecert -r -sv MyCert.pvk -n "CN=MyCert" -b 01/01/2000 -e 01/01/2099 MyCert.cer 
For more information about makecert.exe parameters refer to MSDN library.
Now we have our certificate (MyCert.cer) and private key (MyCert.pvk) but we need of .pfx to pass it to signtool.exe, so go on step 2.

Step 2 - Create .pfx from the .cer

To create .pfx file from .cer file we've to run pvk2pfx.exe tool:
pvk2pfx.exe -pvk MyCert.pvk -spc MyCert.cer -pfx MyCert.pfx
The command will creates .pfx file (MyCert.pfx).

Step 3 - Create the provisioningdoc xml

Ok, now we are ready to build our cab which will installs our certificate on devices. To do this we've to create our wap-provisioningdoc xml.
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8" ?>
<wap-provisioningdoc>
<characteristic type="CertificateStore">
    <characteristic type="Privileged Execution Trust Authorities">
        <characteristic type="[cert_sha1]">
            <parm name="EncodedCertificate" value="[cert_base64]" />
        </characteristic>
    </characteristic>
</characteristic>
<characteristic type="CertificateStore">
    <characteristic type="SPC">
        <characteristic type="[cert_sha1]">
            <parm name="EncodedCertificate" value="[cert_base64]" />
            <parm name="Role" value="222" />
        </characteristic>
    </characteristic>
</characteristic>
</wap-provisioningdoc>
This is the standard schema for our provisioningdoc.
We've to fill [cert_sha1] and [cert_base64] with our values get from MyCert.cer. To obtain these values we've to use openssl.exe tool:
openssl sha1 MyCert.cer > MyCert_sha1.txt
openssl base64 -in MyCert.cer > MyCert_base64.txt
With these commands we get two files with sha1 and base64 values of our certificate. So create an empty file '_setup.xml' and past the content into:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8" ?>
<wap-provisioningdoc>
<characteristic type="CertificateStore">
    <characteristic type="Privileged Execution Trust Authorities">
        <characteristic type="30bc827f441fa4437b645163e49ade7226b362c3">
            <parm name="EncodedCertificate" value="MIIB7zCCAVigAwIBAgIQSZfc9OLump1HzDNpsZ2edTANBgkqhkiG9w0BAQQFADAR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" />
        </characteristic>
    </characteristic>
</characteristic>
<characteristic type="CertificateStore">
    <characteristic type="SPC">
        <characteristic type="30bc827f441fa4437b645163e49ade7226b362c3">
            <parm name="EncodedCertificate" value="MIIB7zCCAVigAwIBAgIQSZfc9OLump1HzDNpsZ2edTANBgkqhkiG9w0BAQQFADAR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" />
            <parm name="Role" value="222" />
        </characteristic>
    </characteristic>
</characteristic>
</wap-provisioningdoc>
We're ready to build our cab to deploy on our devices.

Step 4 - Build the .cab

This is the most simple step, we've to run makecab.exe tool:
makecab.exe _setup.xml mycert_cert.cab
Our certificate is now ready to install on devices!

Step 5 - Sing our application code

After we installed the certificate on our devices we can sign our code with MyCert.pfx our code to run as trusted.
We've to use signtool.exe tool:
signtool.exe sign /f MyCert.pfx *.exe *.cab

or

signcode -v MyCert.pvk -spc MyCert.cer *.exe 
With these simple five steps we've our certificate applications!

History

19/12/2005 - Initial article.
30/12/2005 - Corrected the command line on Step 5
31/12/2005 - Regenerated the certificate and updated zip file
15/11/2006 - Added command line in Step 5 and updated zip file with signcode.exe tool.

Related links

Windows Mobile 5.0 Application Security
Secure Windows Mobile Development and Deployment
A Practical Guide to the Smartphone Application Security and Code Signing Model for Developers
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GeneralLaunch certificate registration CAB without user intervention Pin
Gaspard
0:04 3 Apr '09  
QuestionPFX password Pin
chmod2222
22:41 20 Jul '08  
AnswerRe: PFX password Pin
chmod2222
22:57 20 Jul '08  
QuestionVb.Net [modified] Pin
hitesh sojitra
22:25 7 May '08  
Generalwhen I generate the cab file, and check it's contents, the xml data is missing? Pin
Member 2159554
5:10 12 Dec '07  
GeneralSimple EXE signing...? Pin
VitalyTomilov
2:52 10 Jan '07  
Questionsigning solution with several projects Pin
donkaiser
7:55 5 Dec '06  
AnswerRe: signing solution with several projects Pin
crino
8:10 5 Dec '06  
Questionwhat does the value 222 means? Pin
donkaiser
5:00 28 Nov '06  
AnswerRe: what does the value 222 means? Pin
crino
8:11 5 Dec '06  
QuestionDeploy application in Debug mode Pin
Drca
7:32 15 Nov '06  
AnswerRe: Deploy application in Debug mode Pin
crino
9:25 15 Nov '06  
GeneralI can't install certificate Pin
Rikardo
3:01 15 Nov '06  
GeneralRe: I can't install certificate Pin
crino
6:09 15 Nov '06  
GeneralRe: I can't install certificate Pin
Rikardo
7:08 16 Nov '06  
GeneralRe: I can't install certificate Pin
crino
9:39 16 Nov '06  
NewsDownload for CAPICOM Pin
ivarklung
22:54 1 Nov '06  
GeneralStill getting prompted? Pin
bobnob
10:55 19 Jun '06  
QuestionRe: Still getting prompted? Pin
gregariousgary
3:07 23 Mar '09  
GeneralPassword error [modified] Pin
thomasthethomas
5:22 22 May '06  
GeneralRe: Password error Pin
buchser
5:17 10 Aug '06  
GeneralRe: Password error [modified] Pin
crino
6:13 15 Nov '06  
GeneralThanks!! Pin
Narin
14:28 22 Apr '06  
GeneralSigned files dont work Pin
axbl
0:28 1 Apr '06  
GeneralRe: Signed files dont work Pin
crino
0:39 1 Apr '06  


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