Sign the ClickOnce manifests checkbox keeps defaulting to checked on publish

Question

I am trying to get a .NET solution to publish using ClickOnce without signing the manifests in Visual Studio 2008 SP1, but I am having no joy. Specifically the check box called "Sign the ClickOnce manifests" keeps getting re-checked every time I publish. Strangely, another developer says he can publish on the same solution and leave this unchecked.

I saw the other Stack Overflow question, How to not sign a ClickOnce manifest. But I thought you are supposed to be able to publish using ClickOnce without signing in Visual Studio 2008 SP1 per Microsoft's post, How to: Sign Application and Deployment Manifests.

But no amount of re-publishing and un-checking allows me to continue without generating some sort of certificate.

Answer 1

I had the same problem, and I never figured out how to "fix" this problem. My solution has been to sign every publish. However, the certificate that I associate with the application is a "dummy" one that I allow Visual Studio to generate, with the expiration date set to the maximum available date.

Your application will still be signed, but you should have to worry about your user's having to uninstall & re-install your application when the certificate expires.

Answer 2

I eventually found a fix.. By right clicking the certificate file from the original publish machine and installing it. I don't know why this was required. Maybe there was a mismatch in the certificate first used to publish (by a different developer) and my VS was generating another.

Answer 3

I had the same problem. It turns out my certificate had expired, which I could verify by using the "Certificates" snap-in in MMC. I created a new test certificate for another year and used that, and it's all good now.