Robotically Signing a Home windows EXE with Azure Trusted Signing, dotnet signal, and GitHub Actions

Mac Tahoe (in Beta as of the time of this writing) has this new function known as Edge Gentle that mainly places a brilliant image of an Edge Gentle round your display screen and mainly makes use of the ability of OLED to provide you a digital ring gentle. So I used to be like, why cannot we even have good issues? I wrote (vibed, with GitHub Copilot and Claude Sonnet 4.5) a Home windows Edge Gentle App (supply code at https://github.com/shanselman/WindowsEdgeLight and you will get the most recent launch right here https://github.com/shanselman/WindowsEdgeLight/releases or the app will verify for brand spanking new releases and autoupdate with Updatum).

Nonetheless, as is with all suss free executables on the web, once you run random stuff you will typically get the Window Defender ‘new telephone, who dis’ warning which is horrifying. After a number of downloads and no viruses or complaints, my executable will ultimately acquire status with the Home windows Defender Good Display screen service, however having a Code Signing Certificates is alleged to assist with that. Nonetheless, code signing certs are costly and a problem to handle and renew.

Somebody informed me that Azure Trusted Signing was considerably much less of a problem – it is much less, however it’s nonetheless non-trivial. I learn this submit from Rick (his weblog is gold and has been for years) earlier within the 12 months and a few of it was tremendous helpful and different stuff has been made less complicated over time.

I wrote 80% of this weblog submit, however since I simply spent an hour getting code signing to work and GitHub Copilot was going by way of and logging all the things I did, I did use Claude 4.5 to assist arrange a few of this. I’ve reviewed all of it and re-written components I did not like, so any errors are mine.

Azure Trusted Signing is Microsoft’s cloud-based code signing service that:

• No {hardware} tokens – Every part occurs within the cloud
• Automated certificates administration – Certificates are issued and renewed robotically
• GitHub Actions integration – Signal throughout your CI/CD pipeline. I used GH Actions.
• Kinda Affortable – About $10/month for small tasks. I would really like it if this had been $10 a 12 months. That is cheaper than a yearly cert, however it’ll add up after some time so I am at all times searching for cheaper/simpler choices.
• Trusted by Home windows – Makes use of the identical certificates authority as Microsoft’s personal apps, so it is best to get your EXE trusted sooner

Conditions

Earlier than beginning, you will want:

1. Azure subscription
2. Azure CLI – Set up from right here
3. Identification validation paperwork – Driver’s license or passport for particular person builders. Be aware that I am within the US, so your mileage could differ however I mainly arrange the account, scanned a QR code, took an image of my license, then did a selfie, then waited.
4. Home windows PC – For native signing (elective) however I ended up utilizing the dotnet signal software. There are
5. GitHub repository – For automated signing (elective)

Half 1: Setting Up Azure Trusted Signing

Step 1: Register the Useful resource Supplier

First, I have to allow the Azure Trusted Signing service in my subscription. This may be carried out within the Portal, or on the CLI.

# Login to Azure
az login

# Register the Microsoft.CodeSigning useful resource supplier
az supplier register --namespace Microsoft.CodeSigning

# Look ahead to registration to finish (takes 2-3 minutes)
az supplier present --namespace Microsoft.CodeSigning --query "registrationState"

Wait till the output exhibits "Registered".

Step 2: Create a Trusted Signing Account

Now create the precise signing account. You are able to do this by way of Azure Portal or CLI.

Choice A: Azure Portal (Simpler for first-timers)

1. Go to Azure Portal
2. Seek for “Trusted Signing Accounts”
3. Click on Create
4. Fill in:
   • Subscription: Your subscription
   • Useful resource Group: Create new or use current (e.g., “MyAppSigning”)
   • Account Identify: A novel identify (e.g., “myapp-signing”)
   • Area: Select closest to you (e.g., “West US 2”)
   • SKU: Fundamental (adequate for many apps)
5. Click on Overview + Create, then Create

Choice B: Azure CLI (Quicker in case you are a CLI individual or wish to drive stick shift)

# Create a useful resource group
az group create --name MyAppSigning --location westus2

# Create the Trusted Signing account
az trustedsigning create 
  --resource-group MyAppSigning 
  --account-name myapp-signing 
  --location westus2 
  --sku-name Fundamental

Essential: Be aware your area endpoint. Widespread ones are:

• East US: https://eus.codesigning.azure.web/
• West US 2: https://wus2.codesigning.azure.web/
• Your particular area: Test in Azure Portal beneath your account’s Overview web page

I completely flaked on this and messed round for 10 min earlier than I noticed that this URL issues and is particular to your account. Bear in mind this endpoint.

Step 3: Full Identification Validation

That is an important step. Microsoft must confirm you are an actual individual/group.

1. In Azure Portal, go to your Trusted Signing Account
2. Click on Identification validation within the left menu
3. Click on Add id validation
4. Select validation kind:
   • Particular person: For solo builders (makes use of driver’s license/passport)
   • Group: For firms (makes use of enterprise registration paperwork)
5. For Particular person validation:
   • Add a transparent picture of your government-issued ID
   • Present your full authorized identify (should match ID precisely)
   • Present your electronic mail tackle
6. Submit and await approval

Approval Time:

• Particular person: Often 1-3 enterprise days
• Group: 3-5 enterprise days
• Me: This took about 4 hours, so once more, YMMV. I used my private account and my private Azure (do not belief MSFT people with limitless Azure credit, I pay for my very own) in order that they did not understand it was me. I went by way of the common line, not the Pre-check line LOL.

You will obtain an electronic mail when accepted. You can not signal any code till that is accepted.

Step 4: Create a Certificates Profile

As soon as your id is validated, create a certificates profile. That is what truly points the signing certificates.

1. In your Trusted Signing Account, click on Certificates profiles
2. Click on Add certificates profile
3. Fill in:
   • Profile identify: Descriptive identify (e.g., “MyAppProfile”)
   • Profile kind: Select Public Belief (required to forestall SmartScreen)
   • Identification validation: Choose your accepted id
   • Certificates kind: Code Signing
4. Click on Add

Essential: Solely “Public Belief” profiles stop SmartScreen warnings. “Personal Belief” is for inner apps solely. This took me a second to appreciate additionally as it isn’t an intuitive identify.

Step 5: Confirm Your Setup

# Checklist your Trusted Signing accounts
az trustedsigning present 
  --resource-group MyAppSigning 
  --account-name myapp-signing

# Ought to present standing: "Succeeded"

Write down these values – you will want them later:

• Account Identify: myapp-signing
• Certificates Profile Identify: MyAppProfile
• Endpoint URL: https://wus2.codesigning.azure.web/ (or your area)
• Subscription ID: Present in Azure Portal
• Useful resource Group: MyAppSigning

Half 2: Native Code Signing

Now let’s signal an executable in your my machine. You do not NEED to do that, however I needed to strive it regionally to keep away from a bunch of CI/CD runs, and I needed to right-click the EXE and see the cert in Properties earlier than I took all of it to the cloud. The great half about this was that I did not have to mess with any certificates.

Step 1: Assign Your self the Signing Function

You want permission to truly use the signing service.

Choice A: Azure Portal

1. Go to your Trusted Signing Account
2. Click on Entry management (IAM)
3. Click on Add → Add position project
4. Seek for and choose Trusted Signing Certificates Profile Signer. That is necessary. I looked for “code” and located nothing. Seek for “Trusted”
5. Click on Subsequent
6. Click on Choose members and discover your consumer account
7. Click on Choose, then Overview + assign

Choice B: Azure CLI

# Get your consumer object ID
$userId = az advert signed-in-user present --query id -o tsv

# Assign the position
az position project create 
  --role "Trusted Signing Certificates Profile Signer" 
  --assignee-object-id $userId 
  --scope /subscriptions/YOUR_SUBSCRIPTION_ID/resourceGroups/MyAppSigning/suppliers/Microsoft.CodeSigning/codeSigningAccounts/myapp-signing

Exchange YOUR_SUBSCRIPTION_ID along with your precise subscription ID.

Step 2: Login with the Right Scope

That is essential – it is advisable to login with the precise codesigning scope.

# Logout first to clear previous tokens
az logout

# Login with codesigning scope
az login --use-device-code --scope "https://codesigning.azure.web/.default"

This offers you a code to enter at https://microsoft.com/devicelogin. Comply with the prompts.

Why system code movement? As a result of Azure CLI’s default authentication can battle with Visible Studio credentials in my expertise. Machine code movement is extra dependable for code signing.

Step 3: Obtain the Signal Instrument

Choice A: Set up Globally (Really useful for normal use)

# Set up as a world software (obtainable in every single place)
dotnet software set up --global --prerelease signal

# Confirm set up
signal --version

Choice B: Set up Regionally (Undertaking-specific)

# Set up to present listing
dotnet software set up --tool-path . --prerelease signal

# Use with .signal.exe

Which ought to I exploit?

• International: In the event you’ll signal a number of tasks or signal incessantly
• Native: If you wish to hold the software with a particular mission or don’t need it in your PATH

Step 4: Signal Your Executable

Be aware once more that code signing URL is particular to you. The tscp is your Trusted Signing Certificates Profile identify and the tsa is your Trusted Signing Account identify. I set *.exe to signal all of the EXEs within the folder and word that the -b base listing is an absolute path, not a relative one. For me it was d:githubWindowsEdgeLightpublish, and your mileage will differ.

# Navigate to your mission folder
cd C:MyProject

# Signal the executable
.signal.exe code trusted-signing `
  -b "C:MyProjectpublish" `
  -tse "https://wus2.codesigning.azure.web" `
  -tscp "MyAppProfile" `
  -tsa "myapp-signing" `
  *.exe `
  -v Data

Parameters defined:

• -b: Base listing containing information to signal
• -tse: Trusted Signing endpoint (your area)
• -tscp: Certificates profile identify
• -tsa: Trusted Signing account identify
• *.exe: Sample to match information to signal
• -v: Verbosity stage (Hint, Data, Warning, Error)

Anticipated output:

information: Signing WindowsEdgeLight.exe succeeded.
Accomplished in 2743 ms.

Step 5: Confirm the Signature

You are able to do this in PowerShell:

# Test the signature
Get-AuthenticodeSignature ".publishMyApp.exe" | Format-Checklist

# Search for:
# Standing: Legitimate
# SignerCertificate: CN=Your Identify, O=Your Identify, ...
# TimeStamperCertificate: Needs to be current

Proper-click the EXE → Properties → Digital Signatures tab:

• It’s best to see your signature
• “This digital signature is OK”

Widespread Native Signing Points

I hit all of those lol

Situation: “Please run ‘az login’ to arrange account”

• Trigger: Not logged in with the appropriate scope
• Repair: Run az logout then az login --use-device-code --scope "https://codesigning.azure.web/.default"

Situation: “403 Forbidden”

• Trigger: Incorrect endpoint, account identify, or lacking permissions
• Repair:
  • Confirm endpoint matches your area (wus2, eus, and so forth.)
  • Confirm account identify is precise (case-sensitive)
  • Confirm you’ve got “Trusted Signing Certificates Profile Signer” position

Situation: “Consumer account doesn’t exist in tenant”

• Trigger: Azure CLI attempting to make use of Visible Studio credentials
• Repair: Use system code movement (see Step 2)

Half 3: Automated Signing with GitHub Actions

That is the place the magic occurs. I wish to robotically signal each launch. I am utilizing GitVersion so I simply have to tag a commit and GitHub Actions will kick off a run. You may go have a look at an actual run intimately at https://github.com/shanselman/WindowsEdgeLight/actions/runs/19775054123

Step 1: Create a Service Principal

GitHub Actions wants its personal id to signal code. We’ll create a service principal (like a robotic account). That is VERY totally different than your native signing setup.

Essential: You want Proprietor or Consumer Entry Administrator position in your subscription to do that. If you do not have it, ask your Azure admin or a buddy.

# Create service principal with signing permissions
az advert sp create-for-rbac 
  --name "MyAppGitHubActions" 
  --role "Trusted Signing Certificates Profile Signer" 
  --scopes /subscriptions/YOUR_SUBSCRIPTION_ID/resourceGroups/MyAppSigning/suppliers/Microsoft.CodeSigning/codeSigningAccounts/myapp-signing 
  --json-auth

This outputs JSON like this:

{
  "clientId": "12345678-1234-1234-1234-123456789abc",
  "clientSecret": "super-secret-value-abc123",
  "tenantId": "87654321-4321-4321-4321-cba987654321",
  "subscriptionId": "abcdef12-3456-7890-abcd-ef1234567890"
}

SAVE THESE VALUES IMMEDIATELY! You may’t retrieve the clientSecret once more. That is tremendous necessary.

Various: Azure Portal Methodology

If CLI would not work:

1. Azure Portal → App registrations → New registration
2. Identify: “MyAppGitHubActions”
3. Click on Register
4. Copy the Utility (shopper) ID – that is AZURE_CLIENT_ID
5. Copy the Listing (tenant) ID – that is AZURE_TENANT_ID
6. Go to Certificates & secrets and techniques → New shopper secret
7. Description: “GitHub Actions”
8. Expiration: 24 months (max)
9. Click on Add and instantly copy the Worth – that is AZURE_CLIENT_SECRET
10. Go to your Trusted Signing Account → Entry management (IAM)
11. Add position project → Trusted Signing Certificates Profile Signer
12. Choose members → Seek for “MyAppGitHubActions”
13. Overview + assign

Step 2: Add GitHub Secrets and techniques

Go to your GitHub repository:

1. Settings → Secrets and techniques and variables → Actions
2. Click on New repository secret for every:

• AZURE_CLIENT_ID – From service principal output or App registration
• AZURE_CLIENT_SECRET - From service principal output or Certificates & secrets and techniques
• AZURE_TENANT_ID – From service principal output or App registration
• AZURE_SUBSCRIPTION_ID – Azure Portal → Subscriptions

Safety Be aware: These secrets and techniques are encrypted and by no means seen in logs. Solely your workflow can entry them. You will by no means see them once more.

Step 3: Replace Your GitHub Workflow

This can be a little complicated because it’s YAML, which is Devil’s markup, however it’s what we’ve sunk to as a society.

Be aware the dotnet-version beneath. Yours could be 8 or 9, and so forth. Additionally, I’m constructing each x64 and ARM variations and I’m utilizing GitVersion so if you would like a extra full construct.yml, you possibly can go right here https://github.com/shanselman/WindowsEdgeLight/blob/grasp/.github/workflows/construct.yml I’m additionally zipping mine up and prepping my releases so my free EXE lives in a ZIP file.

Add signing steps to your .github/workflows/construct.yml:

identify: Construct and Signal

on:
  push:
    tags:
      - 'v*'
  workflow_dispatch:

permissions:
  contents: write

jobs:
  construct:
    runs-on: windows-latest
    
    steps:
    - identify: Checkout code
      makes use of: actions/checkout@v4
      with:
        fetch-depth: 0
      
    - identify: Setup .NET
      makes use of: actions/setup-dotnet@v4
      with:
        dotnet-version: '10.0.x'
        
    - identify: Restore dependencies
      run: dotnet restore MyApp/MyApp.csproj

    - identify: Construct
      run: |
        dotnet publish MyApp/MyApp.csproj `
          -c Launch `
          -r win-x64 `
          --self-contained

    # === SIGNING STEPS START HERE ===
    
    - identify: Azure Login
      makes use of: azure/login@v2
      with:
        creds: '{"clientId":"${{ secrets and techniques.AZURE_CLIENT_ID }}","clientSecret":"${{ secrets and techniques.AZURE_CLIENT_SECRET }}","subscriptionId":"${{ secrets and techniques.AZURE_SUBSCRIPTION_ID }}","tenantId":"${{ secrets and techniques.AZURE_TENANT_ID }}"}'

    - identify: Signal executables with Trusted Signing
      makes use of: azure/trusted-signing-action@v0
      with:
        azure-tenant-id: ${{ secrets and techniques.AZURE_TENANT_ID }}
        azure-client-id: ${{ secrets and techniques.AZURE_CLIENT_ID }}
        azure-client-secret: ${{ secrets and techniques.AZURE_CLIENT_SECRET }}
        endpoint: https://wus2.codesigning.azure.web/
        trusted-signing-account-name: myapp-signing
        certificate-profile-name: MyAppProfile
        files-folder: ${{ github.workspace }}MyAppbinReleasenet10.0-windowswin-x64publish
        files-folder-filter: exe
        files-folder-recurse: true
        file-digest: SHA256
        timestamp-rfc3161: http://timestamp.acs.microsoft.com
        timestamp-digest: SHA256
    
    # === SIGNING STEPS END HERE ===
        
    - identify: Create Launch
      if: startsWith(github.ref, 'refs/tags/')
      makes use of: softprops/action-gh-release@v2
      with:
        information: MyApp/bin/Launch/net10.0-windows/win-x64/publish/MyApp.exe
      env:
        GITHUB_TOKEN: ${{ secrets and techniques.GITHUB_TOKEN }}

Key factors:

• endpoint: Use YOUR area’s endpoint (wus2, eus, and so forth.)
• trusted-signing-account-name: Your account identify (precise, case-sensitive)
• certificate-profile-name: Your certificates profile identify (precise, case-sensitive)
• files-folder: Path to your compiled executables
• files-folder-filter: File varieties to signal (exe, dll, and so forth.)
• files-folder-recurse: Signal information in subfolders

Step 4: Check the Workflow

Now set off the workflow. You may have two choices:

Choice A: Guide Set off (Most secure for testing)

For the reason that workflow contains workflow_dispatch:, you possibly can set off it manually with out making a tag:

# Set off manually by way of GitHub CLI
gh workflow run construct.yml

# Or go to GitHub net UI:
# Actions tab → "Construct and Signal" workflow → "Run workflow" button

That is ideally suited for testing as a result of:

• No tag required
• Will not create a launch
• Can check a number of instances
• Straightforward to debug points

Choice B: Create a Tag (For precise releases)

# Ensure you're in your most important department with no uncommitted adjustments
git standing

# Create and push a tag
git tag v1.0.0
git push origin v1.0.0

Use this once you’re able to create an precise launch with signed binaries. That is what I’m doing on my aspect.

Step 5: Monitor the Construct

Watch the progress with GitHub CLI:

# See newest runs
gh run checklist --limit 5

# Watch a particular run
gh run watch

# View detailed standing
gh run view --log

Or go to: https://github.com/YOUR_USERNAME/YOUR_REPO/actions

Search for:

• Azure Login – Ought to full in ~5 seconds
• Signal executables with Trusted Signing – Ought to full in ~10-30 seconds
• Create Launch – Your signed executable is now obtainable in /releases in your GitHib mission

Widespread GitHub Actions Points

I hit a couple of of those, natch.

Situation: “403 Forbidden” throughout signing

• Trigger: Service principal would not have permissions
• Repair:
  1. Go to Azure Portal → Trusted Signing Account → Entry management (IAM)
  2. Confirm “MyAppGitHubActions” has “Trusted Signing Certificates Profile Signer” position
  3. If not, add it manually

Situation: “No information matched the sample”

• Trigger: Incorrect files-folder path or construct artifacts in unsuitable location
• Repair:
  1. Add a debug step earlier than signing: - run: Get-ChildItem -Recurse
  2. Discover the place your EXE is definitely positioned
  3. Replace files-folder to match

Situation: Secrets and techniques not working

• Trigger: Typo in secret identify or worth not saved
• Repair:
  1. Confirm secret names EXACTLY match (case-sensitive)
  2. Re-create secrets and techniques if not sure
  3. Be certain that no additional areas in values

Situation: “DefaultAzureCredential authentication failed”

• Trigger: Often unsuitable tenant ID or shopper ID
• Repair: Confirm all 4 secrets and techniques are appropriate from service principal output

Half 4: Understanding the Certificates

Certificates Lifecycle

Azure Trusted Signing makes use of short-lived certificates (sometimes 3 days). This freaked me out however they are saying that is truly a safety function:

• If a certificates is compromised, it expires shortly
• You by no means handle certificates information or passwords
• Automated renewal – you do not have to do something

However will not my signature break after 3 days?

No, evidently’s what timestamping is for. While you signal a file:

1. Azure points a 3-day certificates
2. The file is signed with that certificates
3. A timestamp server information “this file was signed on DATE”
4. Even after the certificates expires, the signature stays legitimate as a result of the timestamp proves it was signed when the certificates was legitimate

That is why each native and GitHub Actions signing embrace:

timestamp-rfc3161: http://timestamp.acs.microsoft.com

What the Certificates Comprises

Your signed executable has a certificates with:

• Topic: Your identify (e.g., “CN=John Doe, O=John Doe, L=Seattle, S=Washington, C=US”)
• Issuer: Microsoft ID Verified CS EOC CA 01
• Legitimate Dates: 3-day window
• Key Measurement: 3072-bit RSA (very safe)
• Enhanced Key Utilization: Code Signing

Confirm Certificates on Any Machine

# Utilizing PowerShell
Get-AuthenticodeSignature "MyApp.exe" | Choose-Object -ExpandProperty SignerCertificate | Format-Checklist

# Utilizing Home windows UI
# Proper-click EXE → Properties → Digital Signatures tab → Particulars → View Certificates

This complete factor took me about an hour to 75 minutes. It was detailed, however not deeply troublesome. Misspellings, case-sensitivity, and some account points with Function-Based mostly Entry Management did sluggish me down. Hope this helps!

Used Sources

Written in November 2025 primarily based on real-world implementation for WindowsEdgeLight. Your setup may differ barely relying on Azure area and account kind. Issues change, be stoic.

About Scott

Scott Hanselman is a former professor, former Chief Architect in finance, now speaker, advisor, father, diabetic, and Microsoft worker. He’s a failed stand-up comedian, a cornrower, and a e book creator.

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