Problem with TemporaryKey.pfx I don't have the password

Question

Hi,

A client of mine has a problem. He had a Microsoft CRM developper and he left. Now the project remains uncomplete. I've downloaded the source code of the custom applications and I'm not trying to continue the development. I've tried the ClickOne deployment and it pops me with a password input box related to the myapp_TemporaryKey.pfx. I've tried to install on a computer on the network and launch in debugging mode, and I get the same problem, it says :

"Cannot import the following key file: . The key file may be password protected. To correct this, try to import the certificate again or import the certificate manually into the current user's personal certificate store."

And a second error is: "Importing key file "myapp_TemporaryKey.pfx" was canceled

Do you know what can be done to fix that? I have the .PFX file, but not the password.

Answer 1

If PFX is password-protected, you can do little about this if you don't have a password. PFX contains a certificate with corresponding private key and optionally one or more CA certificates. Was the certificate in question self-signed or it was issued by some CA? I guess it was self-signed, considering it's file name. So you just create another certificate and use it instead of the old file.