Certificates in Visual Studio

[foamy]

Hi all,

How do you create a certificate from Visual Studio with a "custom" name. When I use the "Create Test Certificate" button, the name on the certificate ends up being my Windows Domain login name, which isn't really that nice to look at on a client machine.
Furthermore, could I also make a certificate that does not expire after one year?

Also, when I install my add-in it appears to be published by HP because my Visual Studio is (by mistake) registered to HP ... How do I change this?

Thanks :)

[MNovy]

You need a "real" certificate.
All those test certificates have no value and are not trusted. Makes no sense.

If you are interested in trusted certificates, you have to pay for it.
And as usual, each certificate has a specific duration, which is reasonable:

Just image (hard example):
having a life-time certificate, which is stolen one day, can produce a
lot of trouble, because there is no protection anymore for the rest
of your life. Anyone could sign some bad code with your stolen certificate
over many years.

But you can sign any code with a time stamp, which makes your code running
though the certificate is not valid anymore (one day). Without time stamping
your code will not run as soon the certificates expires.

[foamy]

thanks for the reply :)

I can understand the concept, but the reason I need the certificate is simply to install an add-in for MS Outlook, which I don't want to some day just stop working.

Any ideas?

[dglienna]

If the client wants to download your software, he can open your secured site, and download the certificate to his machine (once). Then, he won't be prompted

[foamy]

And when the certificate expires? Will the software stop working or will I simply need to renew it to allow new clients to install it?

Thanks for the reply :)