Default certificate could not be created. Publish aborting.
I get this error message when I try to publish a Windows form Application.

I tried to create a Test Certificate and I get the following message:
The system cannot find the file specified. (Exception from HRESULT: 0x80070002).

Could someone help ?

Thanks

I'm not optimistic posting here since this question has gone unanswered for almost a year, but I'm having the exact same problem.

I click on the Create Test Certificate... button, enter a password (or not)and get this error:

Certificate Creation Error

The system cannot find the file specified. (Exception from HRESULT: 0x80070002).

Heya.

Not too sure if you guys are watching this thread or not... but I ran into the same problem today and came across this posting... so for all those of you who run across this.. this is how I resolved the issue:

To tell the Publisher where to get the Certificate from:

1) From the Menu Bar, Click Project-> Properties

2) In the Project Properties, click the tab labeled "Signing"

3) Click the Checkbox labeled 'Sign the ClickOnce manifests'. This enables the sub-section (directly below the checkbox) where you can point to a certificate.

4) Click on the button labeled 'Select From File...". In the directory listing.. I found several .pfx files in my project directory. I choose a random one (ProjectName_TemporyKey.pfx). Click Open. You'll be brought back to the properties form again.

5) From the sub-section described in step 3, click the button labeled "More Details...". This will display the certificate you've selected.

6) Click the button labelled "Install Certificate" and follow the prompts.

7) Save Solution

8) Publish your Solution.

Hope this helps!

- Rob

Rob,

Thank you for taking the time to document the solution to this error. It worked like a charm!

Jim

I have a similar problem. When I select the pfx file, I'm prompted for a password, but I never assigned a password. I think this is related to the fact that I changed the password on my laptop. Publishing worked fine before that. I'm afraid I'll have to rebuild my project from scratch.

I've solved the problem.

I'm running vista. This problem started when i add my user account into the group of the GUESTS.
I've removed now this user group from me now, and also enabled the Administrator account.

Run the visual studio as administrator, and have no problem.

Hi All,
What if I do not have a .pfx file?
Tony

Go into the Signing tab and create a Test certificate. That will create a pfx file that is good for a year, and use it to sign your application.

RobinDotNet

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Click here to visit my ClickOnce blog!

when I click "Create Test Certificate", I get the error:

Key not valid for use in specified state. (Exception from HRESULT: 0x8009000B)

anybody found a way I can work around that? I downloaded my VB from a microsoft website. It was a three month trial, but after the trial you can activate it (with a windows live ID) and continue to use it. could the problem be that you can only publish one project with the trial version?

It is Visual Basic 2008 Express Edition, available for download at

http://www.microsoft.com/express/vb/Default.aspx

First, I doubt the problem has nothing to do with your Visual Basic Express.

Under the security tab, do you have "Enable ClickOnce Security Settings" checked?

Under the Signing tab, you're clicking on "Create Test Certificate" and you get the above error? What happens if you create your own certificate and then do a Select From File?

Rather than rewrite three pages of info here, check out the article in the zip file attached to this article. It shows exactly how to create your own certificates with your own specific expiration dates, to be used when signing your deployments.

http://robindotnet.wordpress.com/2009/03/30/clickonce-and-expiring-certificates/

RobinDotNet

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Click here to visit my ClickOnce blog!

yes, it is checked.

I'm sorry, but I am not very good at this, so I do not know exactly what that means in the zip file. Could you tell me which pages (12 page document) or copy and paste it onto this post?

Thanks.

It's okay. Open the Word document and search for the word "makecert". There is a section that explains how to use that to create your own test certificate without using Visual Studio, and set the length of it yourself.

You will need makecert.exe and pvk2pfx.exe, both of which should be in C:\Program Files\Microsoft SDKs\Windows\v6.0a\bin

RobinDotNet

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Click here to visit my ClickOnce blog!