CodeSign C Reference Documentation

CodeSign

Current Version: 11.7.0

Markdown version of this page for AI tools (v 11.7.0) · all AI docs

Chilkat.CodeSign

Sign, verify, inspect, and remove Authenticode signatures on Windows executables, installers, and scripts.

Chilkat.CodeSign works directly with Authenticode signatures on Windows executable files such as .exe and .dll, and, starting in v11.7.0, on Windows Installer packages (.msi), PowerShell files (.ps1, .psm1, .psd1), and VBScript files (.vbs). It provides functionality for applying a code-signing signature, validating whether a signed executable can be trusted, extracting signature information, retrieving the signer certificate, and removing an existing signature.

Sign executables, installers, and scripts

Apply Authenticode signatures to EXE, DLL, MSI, PowerShell, and VBScript files using a certificate and associated private key.

Validate trust

Check whether a signed executable has a valid signature and whether the signing certificate chain can be trusted.

Inspect signatures

Extract details about the Authenticode signature, including signer information and signature-related metadata.

Retrieve signer certificates

Get the certificate used to sign the executable and inspect it with Chilkat.Cert.

Remove signatures

Remove an existing Authenticode signature from a signed file when an unsigned output file is required.

Diagnostics

Use detailed diagnostic output to troubleshoot signing, certificate, trust-chain, timestamping, or validation problems.

Common pattern: Load or provide a code-signing certificate that has access to its private key, sign the target file, optionally add timestamping if supported by the signing workflow, then verify the resulting signature and inspect diagnostics if validation does not succeed.

For an extended overview, see CodeSign Class Overview.

Create/Dispose

HCkCodeSign instance = CkCodeSign_Create();
// ...
CkCodeSign_Dispose(instance);

HCkCodeSign CkCodeSign_Create(void);

Creates an instance of the HCkCodeSign object and returns a handle ("void *" pointer). The handle is passed in the 1st argument for the functions listed on this page.

void CkCodeSign_Dispose(HCkCodeSign handle);

Objects created by calling CkCodeSign_Create must be freed by calling this method. A memory leak occurs if a handle is not disposed by calling this function. Also, any handle returned by a Chilkat "C" function must also be freed by the application by calling the appropriate Dispose method, such as CkCodeSign_Dispose.

Callback Functions

void CkCodeSign_setAbortCheck(HCkHttp cHandle, BOOL (*fnAbortCheck)(void));

Gives your application a chance to cancel a method call while it is running. Return TRUE to abort the operation in progress, or FALSE to let it continue.

This callback fires periodically, at the interval set by the HeartbeatMs property. For example, set HeartbeatMs to 200 to receive five AbortCheck callbacks per second. If HeartbeatMs is 0, no callbacks are made and the operation cannot be aborted.

C Example using Callback Functions ↗

void CkCodeSign_setPercentDone(HCkHttp cHandle, BOOL (*fnPercentDone)(int pctDone));

Reports how far along a method call is, as a percentage. It applies to methods that involve network communication or time-consuming processing, and fires only when a percentage completed can actually be measured and it makes sense to express progress that way.

The pctDone argument is a value from 1 to 100. Methods that finish very quickly may produce only a few callbacks, but the final callback always reports 100. Long-running operations produce at most one callback per percentage point (for example: 1, 2, 3, … 98, 99, 100).

This callback also counts as an AbortCheck callback. When PercentDone fires, it replaces the AbortCheck callback that would otherwise have occurred at that moment.

The return value controls whether the method call continues. Return TRUE to abort, or FALSE to proceed.

void CkCodeSign_setProgressInfo(HCkHttp cHandle, void (*fnProgressInfo)(const char *name, const char *value));

A general-purpose callback that reports name/value pairs describing what is happening at various points during a method call. The information provided varies by method, and some methods provide none at all. To see what a particular method reports, write a handler that logs each name/value pair. Most are self-explanatory.

void CkCodeSign_setTaskCompleted(HCkHttp cHandle, void (*fnTaskCompleted)(HCkTask hTask));

Called when an asynchronous task finishes. This callback runs in the background thread rather than the thread that started the task. (While an async method is running, all callbacks occur in the background thread.)

Properties

DebugLogFilePath

void CkCodeSign_getDebugLogFilePath(HCkCodeSign cHandle, HCkString retval);
void CkCodeSign_putDebugLogFilePath(HCkCodeSign cHandle, const char *newVal);
const char *CkCodeSign_debugLogFilePath(HCkCodeSign cHandle);

If set to a file path, this property logs the LastErrorText of each Chilkat method or property call to the specified file. This logging helps identify the context and history of Chilkat calls leading up to any crash or hang, aiding in debugging.

Enabling the VerboseLogging property provides more detailed information. This property is mainly used for debugging rare instances where a Chilkat method call causes a hang or crash, which should generally not happen.

Possible causes of hangs include:

A timeout property set to 0, indicating an infinite timeout.
A hang occurring within an event callback in the application code.
An internal bug in the Chilkat code causing the hang.

More Information and Examples

Option	Effect
`codesign-allow-expired-cert`	Prevents Authenticode verification from failing solely because the signing certificate is expired.
`codesign-allow-cert-padding`	Starting in v11.7.0. Prevents verification of an EXE or DLL from failing solely because the PE certificate table fails the strict check (extra data or entries outside the verified signature). The failed check is still reported in `LastErrorText`. Use only for files known to carry such data, such as some installers that store configuration data in the certificate table.

File type	Extensions	Where the signature is stored
Windows PE images	`.exe`, `.dll`, and other PE files such as `.sys` and `.ocx`	The PE certificate table. PE files are identified from the file content, not the extension.
Windows Installer packages (starting in v11.7.0)	`.msi`	The package's digital signature stream.
PowerShell scripts, modules, and data files (starting in v11.7.0)	`.ps1`, `.psm1`, `.psd1`	A comment block appended to the file (`# SIG # Begin signature block` ... `# SIG # End signature block`). The file's text encoding (UTF-8, UTF-8 with BOM, or UTF-16) is kept.
VBScript files (starting in v11.7.0)	`.vbs`	A comment block appended to the file (`'' SIG '' Begin signature block` ... `'' SIG '' End signature block`).

JSON member	Purpose
`hashAlg`	Selects the file-digest algorithm, such as `sha256`.
`timestampToken.enabled`	Enables an RFC 3161 timestamp token.
`timestampToken.tsaUrl`	Specifies the timestamp authority URL.
`timestampToken.requestTsaCert`	Requests inclusion of the timestamp authority certificate.
`timestampToken.hashAlg`	Selects the timestamp-request digest algorithm, such as `sha256`.

CodeSign C Reference Documentation

CodeSign

Current Version: 11.7.0

Sign, verify, inspect, and remove Authenticode signatures on Windows executables, installers, and scripts.

Sign executables, installers, and scripts

Validate trust

Inspect signatures

Retrieve signer certificates

Remove signatures

Diagnostics

Create/Dispose

Properties

DebugLogFilePath

HeartbeatMs

LastErrorHtml

LastErrorText

LastErrorXml

LastMethodSuccess

UncommonOptions

Utf8

VerboseLogging

Version

Methods

AddSignature

AddSignatureAsync (1)

GetSignerCert

RemoveSignature

VerifySignature

AddSignatureAsync ⁽¹⁾