Missing makecert.exe

Question

For some reason I am missing makecert.exe on my system. I searched the whole hard drive and it's not there. In particular, it's not in C:\Program Files\Microsoft SDKs\Windows\v6.0A\bin where I believe it's supposed to be. I haven't found any articles on this topic on the Internet. Any ideas what's going on?

Answer 1

makecert.exe is also installed as part of Windows SDKs. For example it is available under \Program Files\Microsoft SDKs\Windows\v7.0A\bin for the Windows 7.0A SDK.

Answer 2

Just to note this as to save you an hour or so of frustration. In Windows 8 SDK, the path is: \Program Files (x86)\Window Kits\8.0\bin\x64\makecert.exe. Note that my machine is 64-bit, so replace the folder names with the corresponding 32-bit version if it happens to be your machine. I was looking at the "\Program Files\Microsoft SDKs" folder, as I thought the folder structure of Windows 7 SDK is similar to Windows 8 SDK. How wrong I was.

Answer 3

I was tasked with deploying Azure Recovery Services and as such makecert.exe was required on all VMs.

The following worked for me:

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Azure VM Microsoft Windows Server 2012 R2 Datacentre:

• Download Microsoft Windows SDK for Windows 7 and .NET Framework 4 http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=8279

• Select .net Framework TOOLS only.

• Note makecert.exe installed to:

  C:\Program Files\Microsoft SDKs\Windows\v7.1\Bin\x64
  

• use the following to create the certificate using Powershell:

   "C:\Program Files\Microsoft SDKs\Windows\v7.1\Bin\x64\makecert.exe" -r -pe -n CN=CertificateName -ss my -sr localmachine -eku 1.3.6.1.5.5.7.3.2 -len 2048 -e 01/09/2017 machinename.cer
  

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Azure VM Microsoft Windows Server 2012 Datacentre:

• Windows Software Development Kit (SDK) for Windows 8.1 http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/desktop/bg162891.aspx

• downloaded all

• installed these 2 components only:

  • windows software development kit

  • net framework 4.5.1 software development kit

• Note makecert.exe installed to:

  C:\Program Files (x86)\Windows Kits\8.1\bin
  

• use the following to create the certificate using Powershell:

  "C:\Program Files (x86)\Windows Kits\8.1\Bin\x64\makecert.exe" -r -pe -n CN=CertificateName -ss my -sr localmachine -eku 1.3.6.1.5.5.7.3.2 -len 2048 -e 01/09/2017 machinename.cer
  

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Hope that helps someone.

Answer 4

here is a thread with many other locations on where the exe can be.

Answer 5

Currently, the MakeCert.exe is deprecated:

Note MakeCert is deprecated. To create self-signed certificates, use the Powershell Cmdlet New-SelfSignedCertificate.

You should use the new New-SelfSignedCertificate power shell cmlet.