Code signing of Windows Store App 8.1

Question

I need help on code signing of my windows store app to deploy to target audience. When i try to change default certificate provided by visual studio at the time of Windows Store 8.1 project creation to my company certificate. Visual studio is throwing error "The Manifest designer could not import the certificate.The certificate you selected is not valid for signing because it is either expired or has another issue. "

Is there any way for code signing in windows store 8.1 i see most of the blog targeted for windows 8. I need any info targetting in windows 8.1

My end goal is to deploy my windows store (LOB) without any developer license.

Answer 1

The certificate publisher name needs to match the publisher name defined in your app manifest. This means you will likely need to make a new certificate. You can, however, install the new certificate on your devices, including using something like a group policy (if they're all on the same domain).

Answer 2

We were getting that same error when trying to sign our packages with our existing code-signing certs. We resolved the issue by modifying our code-signing certificate template to include the "Basic Constraints Extension".

After changing the template and issuing a new certificate, we were able to sign the windows app package with the new certificate, and install the app on domain computers.

Here is the walkthrough that put us on the right path:

Side Loading Deployment of Windows Store Apps in Enterprises – Step by Step

We didn't exactly follow these steps... all we did was modify our template (as he does) and then requested a new certificate from the old certsrv asp page like we've been doing for years.