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Sign binaries with SMCTL

DigiCert​​®​​ Signing Manager Controller (SMCTL) is a Command Line Interface (CLI) that facilitates manual and automated private key management, certificate management, and signing with or without the need for human intervention.

You can integrate third-party signing tools with SMCTL for simplified signing. For other SMCTL commands, refer to the SMCTL command manual.

Tipp

SMCTL does not support all characters in sign commands, review the following:

  • Supported characters: @ % ( ) - _ = [ ] { } ;

  • Unsupported characters: | ` $ > < # ! ' & + ^

    Note: Jarsigner supports the ^ character in sign commands.

To avoid errors, remove unsupported characters from file paths before attempting to sign or sign directly via the third party tool.

Prerequisites

Download and integrate third-party signing tools

Refer to the article below to identify the third-party signing tools that you require based on your operating system and the types of files you need to sign:

Integrate third-party signing tools

Set PATH environment variables

Operating systems use the environment variable called PATH to determine where executable files are stored on your system. Use the PATH environment variable to store the file path to your signing tools to ensure that the CLI can reference these signing tools.

Sync certificates (Windows only)

Before attempting to sign with Signtool, Mage, and NuGet using the certificate fingerprint, run this command to sync your certificates to the Windows certificate store.

To sync the default certificate associated with the specified keypair alias:

smctl windows certsync --keypair-alias=<keypair alias>

Anmerkung

For more information refer to the Windows command manual.

Sign with SMCTL

When you do not specify a signing tool in the sign command, SMCTL selects the default signing tool based on your operating system and the type of file you are trying to sign. Alternatively, specify the signing tool you want SMCTL to sign with.

Anmerkung

For more information refer to the sign command manual.

Sign with the default signing tool

You can sign using the keypair alias or the certificate fingerprint.

Tipp

Signing with the keypair alias is preferred because the certificate fingerprint is only compatible for signing with the KSP library and the certificate has been synced to the certificate store.

Keypair alias method

To sign using the keypair alias, use the following:

smctl sign --keypair-alias <keypair alias> --input <path to unsigned file or folder>

Command sample:

smctl sign --keypair-alias kp3 --input C:\Users\Name\Desktop\folder_or_files_to_sign

Anmerkung

Specifying the --certificate parameter in the sign command is required if you are using SMCTL version 1.20 or lower.

Certificate fingerprint method

To sign using the certificate fingerprint, use the following command:

smctl sign --fingerprint <certificate fingerprint> --input <path to unsigned file or folder>

Command sample

smctl sign --fingerprint aa42b7d92f826d0ad6d23aa0d778c8cbfab7d61d --input C:\Users\Name\Desktop\folder_or_files_to_sign

Sign and specific signing tool

To sign using a specific third-party tool:

smctl sign --keypair-alias <keypair alias> --certificate <path to code signing certificate> --input <path to unsigned file or folder> --tool <tool>

Command sample:

smctl sign --keypair-alias=dynamic-kp1 --certificate C:\Users\John.Doe\Desktop\smctl\certificate.pem --input C:\Users\John.Doe\Desktop\folder_or_files_to_sign --tool jsign

To sign using jarsigner, osslsigncode, apksigner, or jsign, include the PKCS11 library flag:

smctl sign --keypair-alias <keypair alias> --certificate <path to code signing certificate> --config-file <path to PKCS11 config file> --input <path to unsigned file or folder> --tool <tool>

Command sample:

smctl sign --keypair-alias=dynamic-kp1 --certificate C:\Users\John.Doe\Desktop\smctl\certificate.pem --config-file C:\Users\John.Doe\Desktop\smctl\pkcs11properties.cfg --input C:\Users\John.Doe\Desktop\folder_or_files_to_sign --tool jsign

Tipp

Multiple signatures may occur for different Android versions when you sign with Apksigner. To avoid multiple signatures, sign directly with Apksigner.

Verify signature with SMCTL

To find all files in the specified path and verify signatures, use:

smctl sign verify --input <path to signed file or folder>

Anmerkung

For more information refer to the verify signature command manual.

Remove signature with SMCTL

To find all files in the specified path and remove signatures based on the file, use:

smctl sign remove --input <path to signed file or folder>

Anmerkung

For more information refer to the remove signature command manual.

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