Certificate Creation Tool (Makecert.exe)
The Certificate Creation tool generates X.509 certificates for testing purposes only. It creates a public and private key pair for digital signatures and stores it in a certificate file. This tool also associates the key pair with a specified publisher's name and creates an X.509 certificate that binds a user-specified name to the public part of the key pair.
Makecert.exe includes basic and extended options. Basic options are those most commonly used to create a certificate. Extended options provide more flexibility.
Certificate private keys generated by this tool should never be stored in .snk files. If you need to store a private key, you should use a key container. For more on how to store a private key in a key container, see How to: Store Asymmetric Keys in a Key Container.
Warning
You should use a certificate store to securely store your certificates. The .snk files used by this tool store private keys in an unprotected manner. When you create or import a .snk file, you should be careful to secure it during use and remove it when you are done.
makecert [options] outputCertificateFile
| Argument | Description |
|---|---|
outputCertificateFile |
The name of the .cer file where the test X.509 certificate will be written. |
Basic Options
| Option | Description |
|---|---|
-n x509name |
Specifies the subject's certificate name. This name must conform to the X.500 standard. The simplest method is to specify the name in double quotes, preceded by CN=; for example, "CN=myName". |
-pe |
Marks the generated private key as exportable. This allows the private key to be included in the certificate. |
-sk keyname |
Specifies the subject's key container location, which contains the private key. If a key container does not exist, it will be created. |
-sr location |
Specifies the subject's certificate store location. Location can be either currentuser (the default), or localmachine. |
-ss store |
Specifies the subject's certificate store name that stores the output certificate. |
-# number |
Specifies a serial number from 1 to 2,147,483,647. The default is a unique value generated by Makecert.exe. |
-$ authority |
Specifies the signing authority of the certificate, which must be set to either commercial (for certificates used by commercial software publishers) or individual (for certificates used by individual software publishers). |
-? |
Displays command syntax and a list of basic options for the tool. |
-! |
Displays command syntax and a list of extended options for the tool. |
Extended Options
| Option | Description |
|---|---|
-a algorithm |
Specifies the signature algorithm. Must be either md5 (the default) or sha1. |
-b mm/dd/yyyy |
Specifies the start of the validity period. Defaults to the certificate's creation date. |
-cy certType |
Specifies the certificate type. Valid values are end for end-entity, authority for certification authority. |
-d name |
Displays the subject's name. |
-e mm/dd/yyyy |
Specifies the end of the validity period. Defaults to 12/31/2039 11:59:59 GMT. |
-eku oid[,oid] |
Inserts a list of comma-separated, enhanced key usage object identifiers (OIDs) into the certificate. |
-h number |
Specifies the maximum height of the tree below this certificate. |
-ic file |
Specifies the issuer's certificate file. |
-ik keyName |
Specifies the issuer's key container name. |
-iky keytype |
Specifies the issuer's key type, which must be signature, exchange, or an integer that represents a provider type. By default, you can pass 1 for an exchange key and 2 for a signature key. |
-in name |
Specifies the issuer's certificate common name. |
-ip provider |
Specifies the issuer's CryptoAPI provider name. |
-ir location |
Specifies the location of the issuer's certificate store. Location can be either currentuser (the default) or localmachine. |
-is store |
Specifies the issuer's certificate store name. |
-iv pvkFile |
Specifies the issuer's .pvk private key file. |
-iy pvkFile |
Specifies the issuer's CryptoAPI provider type. |
-l link |
Links to policy information (for example, a URL). |
-m number |
Specifies the duration, in months, of the certificate validity period. |
-nscp |
Includes the Netscape client-authorization extension. |
-r |
Creates a self-signed certificate. |
-sc file |
Specifies the subject's certificate file. |
-sky keytype |
Specifies the subject's key type, which must be signature, exchange, or an integer that represents a provider type. By default, you can pass 1 for an exchange key and 2 for a signature key. |
-sp provider |
Specifies the subject's CryptoAPI provider name. |
-sv pvkFile |
Specifies the subject's .pvk private key file. The file is created if none exists. |
-sy type |
Specifies the subject's CryptoAPI provider type. |
Examples
The following command creates a test certificate issued by the default test root and writes it to testCert.cer.
makecert testCert.cer
The following command creates a certificate issued by the default test root and saves it to a certificate store.
makecert -ss testCertStore
The following command creates a certificate issued by the default test root and saves it to a certificate store. It explicitly places the certificate in the currentuser store.
makecert -ss testCertStore -sr currentuser
The following command creates a test certificate and writes it to textXYZ.cer, using the subject's key container and the certificate subject's X.500 name.
makecert -sk XYZ -n "CN=XYZ Company" testXYZ.cer
The following command creates a certificate issued by the default test root, creates a .pvk file, and outputs the certificate to both the store and the file.
makecert -sv testCert.pvk -ss testCertStore testCert.cer
The following command creates a certificate issued by the default test root, creates a key container, and outputs the certificate to both the store and the file.
makecert -sk myTestKey -ss testCertStore testCert.cer
The following command creates a self signed certificate, specifies a subject name of "CN=XYZ Company", specifies start end ending validity periods, places the key in the my store, specifies and exchange key, and makes the private key exportable.
makecert -r -pe -n "CN=XYZ Company" -b 01/01/2005 -e 01/01/2010 -sky exchange -ss my
The following commands create certificates and save them to stores. The first command creates a certificate using the default test root and saves the certificate to a store. The second command creates another certificate using the newly created certificate and saves the second certificate to another store.
makecert -sk myTestKey -ss testCertStore
makecert -is testCertStore -ss anotherTestStore
The following commands create certificates and save them to stores. The first command saves the certificate to the my store. The second command creates another certificate using the newly created certificate. Because there is more than one certificate in the my store, the second command identifies the first certificate using its common name.
makecert -sk myTestKey -n "CN=XXZZYY" -ss my
makecert -is my -in "XXZZYY" -ss anotherTestStore
The following commands create certificates and save them to files and stores. The first command creates a certificate using the default test root and saves the certificate to the my store and to a file. The second command creates another certificate using the newly created testCert.cer certificate. Because there is more than one certificate in the my store, the second command uniquely identifies the first certificate using the certificate file name.
makecert -sk myTestKey -n "CN=XXZZYY" -ss my testCert.cer
makecert -is my -ic testCert.cer -ss anotherTestStore
See Also
Reference
.NET Framework Tools
Software Publisher Certificate Test Tool (Cert2spc.exe)
SDK Command Prompt