Where does ROOT AGENCY come from?

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dustinbreese - 30 Aug 2006 20:00 GMT

The makecert.exe tool signs certificates with the ROOT AGENCY.

Couple of questions --

1. Who created this ROOT AGENCY "CA"? Microsoft, I presume?

2. Does the ROOT AGENCY cert contain the same serial #/thumbprints
across all versions of Windows? (XP and 2003 appears to be the same)

3. If it is signing things, where is the private key located?

Thanks,
Dustin

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Pablo Cibraro [MVP] - 05 Sep 2006 16:07 GMT

Hi Dustin,

I think it is hardcoded CA, but I am not sure at all. You can also create
self-signed certificates with that tool (Or use a valid CA certificate to
sign them).

For example,

makecert -pe -n CN=MyCARoot -ss Root -sr LocalMachine -a sha1 -sky
signature -r "Authority.cer" (It creates a self-signed certificate for the
CA)

makecert.exe -sr LocalMachine -ss My -a sha1 -n CN=MyCert -sky
exchange -pe -is Root -ir LocalMachine -in MyCARoot (It signs the
certificate with the CA certificate).

Regards,
Pablo Cibraro.
http://weblogs.asp.net/cibrax

> The makecert.exe tool signs certificates with the ROOT AGENCY.
>
[quoted text clipped - 9 lines]
> Thanks,
> Dustin

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Where does ROOT AGENCY come from?

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