How to Get Your Certificate & Key File Instantly for Signing Apps

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Posted January 25, 2010 by Chaos Inc. in Explore

In this tutorial I will show you 2 different ways to acquire the certificate and key files for your Nokia smartphones easily. This tutorial is mainly for those who have never signed any application before and are constantly facing errors during their installation of unsigned applications, games and themes. The common errors that are being faced by thousands of Symbian owners worldwide are “Certificate Expired“, “Unable to Install a Protected Application from an Untrusted Supplier” and “Restricted by Certificate Type“.

To Hack your Nokia properly you will have to have a developer Certificate and Key file for your Nokia device. The Certificate and Key File are tied to your specific IMEI number of the phone which is a security measure and that is what we will try to bypass.

The previous process of acquiring Certificate and Key file was only successful manually (Manual Method Tutorial – Not Recommended) and it was hell difficult to actually get your certificate and keyfile. But hold on, it gets much better starting from today. Here are 2 simple, quick and efficient ways to get your IMEI specific Dev Certificate (.CSR file) and Keyfile (.KEY file).

The first process is absolutely magnificent, moderately easy and can have you get your certificate and key within 2-3 minutes at best. There is a second method (manual method) which is super easy and also moderately fast and you are sure to get your certificate and key file within 24 to 48 hours.

Process 1:

Get your Certificate Automatically from your Phone by installing XSteveDore Express – a multipurpose certificate management application for S60!

What is XSteveDore?

XSteveDor Signer

XSteveDore Express is a new application from the guys at OPDA and it lets you check, acquire and update your certificate and key file straight from your device. The application is in Chinese and even though there is an unofficial English version available – I am going to show you how to do it easily with the official Chinese version as that version is available as a Signed Sis File. It is really easy so don’t be scared even though it is in Chinese.

However, note this cautiously, you will have to request, acquire and download the certificate and key file within the first 2 hours of the installation. After 2 hours, this application is useless in terms of obtaining certificate and key file.

Step 1 – Download and install the signed version of the application on your Nokia device. Download and Install SignSIS for signing any apps easily from your laptop or PC. Both these files are included in the download below:

Download All in One Signing Tools

Step 2 – After the installation is over, browse to your phone menu and enter into the folder “My Own” as shown below.

After Installation – Signing

Step 3 – Open the Application and browse on to the last item on the screen!

Signing – Launch The Last Item

Step 4 (Optional) – Set up your Certificate and Key File Save Location. The default set up for this stores the Certificate and Key File on to your phone memory but I recommend you to change that to your memory card as this will allow you to have a sure access to them.

Step 5 (Mandatory) – Click on to the “2nd last” item (the icon left to the last icon) of the application and you will see that you are being shown a pop up screen. Simply click the Left OK button of your phone, the application will automatically download the Certificate and Key file and ask you to name the file so that it can save on the location you specified . You can give any name you want.

Note: After you press the Left Ok button the application will ask for the Access Point to use when connecting to the server to acquire the Certificate and Key File. You must have GPRS/WAP/Edge/3G activated to successfully download and save the Cer and Key file. The process takes place in the background, takes around 3 mins to 5 mins in average.

Certificate and Key File Screen – Save It and Proceed.

Step 6 – This is the last step of the process and is simply a logical step. Open X-Plore or File Explorer or Connect your Phone in PcSuite Mode and browse into your device. If you did take step 4 and saved the two files on your memory card rather than the phone memory then browse into your memory card and locate the folder “MyCert” and you will find your Certificate and Key File within that folder. Make 2 copies of the “MyCert” folder and put 1 copy of the folder as a back up (optional but recommended for safekeeping) somewhere inside your phone or PC and transfer the other Copy of the folder on your Computer (anywhere you like).

All the Steps shown on this particular image are Automated.

Step 7 – Connect your phone to your PC or Laptop using Nokia PcSuite. You already have your Certificate and Key file located on your memory card and all you need is to get your hands on them.

Browse to Nokia Phone Browser

Browse to the Folder where the Cer and Key is saved using Nokia PcSuite or X-Plore

Your Dev Certificate and Key File!

Step 8 – Run SisSigner 2.2 from your PC and Browse to the Unsigned SIS File on the first Field, Browse to the Dev Cert File (the one you just copied from your phone) on the second field and Browse to the Key File you just downloaded. Then Click Sign Sis to successfully sign the application and install it on your phone! Yes – You Are Done!

SignSIS Reference & Instructions (Click The Image To View the Full Version)

Conclusion & Remarks: This is by far the fastest and easiest method available to acquire your Certificate and Key File for signing your unsigned Nokia Apps, Games and Themes. Get it now and remember – you must finish requesting the Certificate and Key File within the FIRST 2 Hours after your installation of XSteveDore Express.

Symbian Signing!

Process 2:

The second process through which you can get your IMEI specific dev Certificate and Key File easily is by registering with any one of the 2 sites: Site 1 and Site 2. Both the listed sites are in English so it should not really be a problem for a regular web junkie to complete registration and getting your signing certificate and key files. This process however is very lengthy compared to the process I mentioned above. On an average getting your Certificate and Key File from either of them will take you around and at least 24 hours to 48 hours (or more).

Still, to make things really easy for you here is a step by step guide I prepared just for you – my good friends and loyal subscribers & visitors! In this guide I will be using Site 1 as the example site. Site 2 works the same way compared to Site 1 so one guide should do it even for the newest of newbies.

Step 1: Simply click on any one of the 2 links of the sites I specified. For this guide I am using Site 1 as an example like I told you earlier. After clicking you should be taken to a page for free registration. Here is an image with pointers on what and how to fill up the vacant forms.

Symbian Signing Guide 2 – Step 1

Step 2: After filling up the registration form as shown above you will have to submit your registration application. This will show you the message “Registered Successfully” and forward you to the main page. You will now have to click the top right Login Button and fill the blank fields with your registration info as shown below:

Symbian Signing Guide 2 – Step 2 (Click the Picture to view a Better Version of the Picture above)

Step 3: After you successfully fill out the Login Form with the username and password and have clicked the Login button you will be taken to the back-end of your account. While you are logged in and browsing the back-end of your account you will see a button which allows you to apply for a free Certificate and Key for your IMEI. Now click on that “Apply Certificate” button as shown on the image below.

Symbian Signing Guide 2 – Step 3

Step 4: After you click on the orange “Apply Cer” button you will be taken to another blank form where you will have to fill up the info required for acquiring your certificate. It will ask for your Symbian device’s IMEI number, Phone’s maker and Model Number and for your remark. The remark field is simply an extra field so that you can tag this request and write anything relevant that you want to include. You can find your IMEI number by pressing the following combination on your phone’s keypad. The combination to find your IMEI number is: *#06#

Symbian Signing Guide 2 – Step 4

Step 5 – After you have submitted your request to acquire your very own Certificate and Key file as shown in step 4, all you have to do is wait for 24 hours to 48 hours (or maybe even 72 hours) and check back to download your generated Certificate and Key. The time taken to have your files ready usually takes a day on average but it can take much longer.

Symbian Signing Guide 2 – Step 5

Step 6 – To find out if your files are ready you will have to sign in again on the site. To do this you will have to click on the Login menu as shown below. Once you are logged in simply click on the”My Certificate” menu as shown on the image below. If your files are ready then the “State” message under the “My Certificate” menu will be shown as Normal. If it is anything else but Normal then you will again have to check back after 24 hours or so.

Symbian Signing Guide 2 – Step 6

Step 7 – Once your State Message is shown as “Normal” as shown on the image above, it means your Cer file and Key file are ready to be downloaded. All there is left to do is to simply click on the .Cer file once and click on the .Key File once. They are located under the “Operate” header of the table shown below. These 2 files are what you need to Sign your Unsigned Applications, Games or Themes. These 2 files will also eliminate error messages such as “Certificate Expired” or “Unable to Install Protected Application from Unprotected Supplier” on your Symbian device. Once you have the 2 files, click on the “Log Out” link to safely return to our blog!

Symbian Signing Guide 2 – Step 7

Conclusion & Remarks – As you can see this process is dead easy and with this tutorial in your bookmarks mean that you will never get lost at any point in time. I really hope that this tutorial and reference guide will serve all your Certificate and Key Files requirements that you sometime face when trying to install our featured applications, games or themes.

The process works on all sorts of devices and smartphones of Nokia and other brands. Still here is a list of Nokia N-Series, E-Series and X Series smartphones that I have written this extensive tutorial for:

This guide applies to the following Symbian OS supported Devices – E50, E51, E60, E61, E62, E63, E65, E66, E71, E72, E75, E90, N70, N71, N72, N73, N75, N76, N77, N78, N78, N80, N81, N81 8GB, N82, N85, N86, N95, N95 8GB, N96, N97, N97 Mini, X3, X6 Xpress Music, 5800, 5700, 5500, 5070, 5130, 5200, 5220, 5230, 5300, 5310, 5320, 5530, 5610, 5630, 6020, 6030, 6060, 6070, 6080, 6080b, 6085, 6086, 6101, 6103, 6110, 6111, 6120 Classic, 6121c, 6124c, 6125, 6126, 6131, 6210 Navigator, 6220c, 6230, 6230i, 6233, 6234, 6267, 6280, 6290, 6288, 6300, 6301, 6303c, 6350, 6500c, 6500s, 6555, 6700, 6600 etc and more.

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Certificate, Hacking, Key File, Mobile Security, Modding, Nokia, S60, Sign, Signed, Signing, Symbian, UnSigned

About the Author

Chaos Inc.

Hi, I am Ishtiaq and I'm the blogger of Nokia Symbian Themes. I have been a mobile enthusiast all my life so any questions you have regarding your mobile - I'm the person to ask.

How to Get Your Certificate & Key File Instantly for Signing Apps

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