Exporting a code signing certificate to a PFX file
If you have ordered a code signing certificate using one of the more recent browsers such as Internet Explorer 7 running under Windows Vista, you may find that the certificate is downloaded to the browser's certificate store instead of being saved to a file on your hard drive. This is not very convenient to back up, and some code signing tools - including Tech-Pro CodeSign cannot use it in this format. You will need to export the certificate to a file in Personal Information Exchange (.pfx) format before you can use it.
To export a code signing certificate to a PFX file:
- Open Control Panel, Internet Options.
- Select the Content tab.
- Under Certificates click Certificates....
You should find the code signing certificate on the Personal tab.
- Select the code signing certificate and click Export.
The Certificate Export Wizard will start.
- Click Next.
- Select Yes, export the private key.
- Click Next.
- Ensure that the Personal Information Exchange format is selected.
- Select Include all certificates in the certification path if possible.
- Select Export all extended properties.
- Unless you wish to leave a copy of the certificate in the browser's certificate store, select Delete the private key if the export is successful.
- Click Next.
- Specify a password for the private key file. Note: in Windows Vista it is not possible to leave the password blank.
- Click Next.
- Specify a name for the output .pfx file.
- Click Next.
- Click Finish to complete the Certificate Export Wizard.
You should now have your code signing certificate in a Personal Information Exchange (.pfx) file ready to use with Tech-Pro CodeSign using signtool.exe or signpad.exe. This file may also be converted to a .pvk and .spc file pair, for use with the older Microsoft code signing utilities.
