SignTool.exe Sporadically Fails with Exit Code 1

cruisecontrol.net digital-certificate signtool
ashes999 picture ashes999 · Feb 21, 2012 · Viewed 8.7k times · Source

As part of our build system, we use signtool.exe with a certificate to sign our binaries once they've been built. Occasionally (it's hard to tell when it will strike), the signing fails:

 error MSB3073: The command "C:\Program Files\Microsoft Visual Studio 8\SDK\v2.0\bin\signtool.exe" [...] exited with code 1.

According to the MSDN, an exit code of 1 means that there was an error signing the file. I can verify that the file didn't get signed.

I've also noticed that occasionally, the timestamp portion times out with a different error message, albeit that the file still gets signed (without the timestamp).

How can I troubleshoot and fix these seemingly random, inconsistent signature failures?

Answer

The Chairman picture The Chairman · Feb 21, 2012

I strongly suspect a failing connection to the timestamp server being responsible for occasional failures. Perhaps you check your system event log for lost connections at the time in question.

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