Windows Signing

Windows Code Signing

MAGDA's Windows installer is signed with Authenticode using the Certum "Open Source Developer Luca Romagnoli" certificate (OV class) held in the cloud via SimplySign. There is no Windows "notarization" — that's an Apple concept; on Windows you sign the binary and embed a trusted timestamp.

Because it's OV (not EV), SmartScreen trust builds up gradually as downloads accumulate; it is not instantly clean on day one. Nothing to configure for that.

Key facts

The timestamp keeps signatures valid after the cert expires, so re-signing old builds is never needed.

Toolchain (one-time setup)

You need exactly two SimplySign pieces — not SafeSign (that's for physical USB cards):

1. SimplySign Mobile (phone) — activate once via the "Regaining Access to the SimplySign Service" email: open its link, enter the activation/secret code on the web page, then scan the resulting QR with the app's QR code activation. After that the app shows a Token ID + rolling 6-digit OTP. Use "Generate token only", not "Sign and generate token".
2. SimplySign Desktop (the signing machine) — install with only "SimplySign Desktop" ticked (uncheck "proCertum SmartSign"). Log in with the email + Token ID/OTP from the phone. This exposes the cloud cert as a virtual smart card; it then appears in Cert:\CurrentUser\My.

Confirm the cert is reachable:

Get-ChildItem Cert:\CurrentUser\My | Where-Object Thumbprint -eq '715B3557D43AF8FC23297999C0541C07E1B61319' |
  Format-List Subject, NotAfter, @{N='HasPrivateKey';E={$_.HasPrivateKey}}

HasPrivateKey : True means signing will work.

The hard constraint

SimplySign requires an interactive OTP from the phone each session, so signing cannot run on a GitHub-hosted runner or as a background service — it must run inside the logged-in desktop session where SimplySign Desktop holds the cert. One OTP login covers many signs for the session.

Releasing (the CI path)

release.yml has a build-windows job (tag pushes only) on the self-hosted runner [self-hosted, Windows, magda-luca]. It builds MAGDA, stages the installer inputs, provisions NSIS, and runs sign-release.ps1 -WaitMinutes 30, then publishes the signed installer via create-release.

Per-release steps:

1. Make sure the runner is running interactively in your logged-in session (not the NT AUTHORITY\NETWORK SERVICE service — that session can't see the cert). Either run run.cmd from the runner folder or have it auto-start at logon.
2. Cut the release tag (see the release skill).
3. When the sign-windows job prints "Waiting for SimplySign login…", open SimplySign Desktop and enter the OTP from your phone. The job proceeds the instant the cert appears (within the 30-minute window). Order doesn't matter — you can log in before or after pushing the tag.

Signing manually (no CI)

On a machine logged into SimplySign Desktop, point the script at a staging dir that holds MAGDA.exe, magda_plugin_scanner.exe, magda-installer.nsi, vc_redist.x64.exe, and the app's runtime DLLs/resources:

packaging\windows\sign-release.ps1 -StageDir <dir> -Version <x.y.z> -Makensis <path-to-makensis.exe>

It signs both exes, rebuilds the installer (makensis runs with the working directory set to the stage so OutFile lands there), signs it, verifies the chain, and writes MAGDA-<version>-Windows-x86_64-Setup.exe + .sha256.

To sign a single file directly:

signtool sign /sha1 715B3557D43AF8FC23297999C0541C07E1B61319 /fd sha256 /tr http://time.certum.pl /td sha256 /v <file>
signtool verify /pa /v <file>

The ONNX Runtime and libxml2 DLLs plus vc_redist.x64.exe are vendor-signed already — only sign the two MAGDA exes and the installer.

Troubleshooting

• "Signing cert … not found" — SimplySign Desktop isn't logged in, or the job is running in a non-interactive session (the NETWORK SERVICE service). Log in / run the runner in-session.
• The OTP can't be automated — it's the deliberate MFA floor for this cert class. Full unattended signing would need an EV/HSM service (Azure Trusted Signing, SignPath), not this Certum cloud cert.
• The cert expired (after 2027-06-29) — already-shipped builds stay valid because they're timestamped; reissue/renew the cert in the Certum panel and update the thumbprint here and in sign-release.ps1.