Summary

Symptoms

When building an InstallShield project, the following error may occur:

"Error -1027: Failed signing [1]"

[1] is a placeholder that contains the filename, such as Data1.cab, that could not be signed.

Cause

This error is known to occur for the following reasons:

1. The digital signature password specified during the build is incorrect.

2. The digital signature files have expired and are, therefore, invalid. Digital signatures are only valid for a limited time and can cause this error when expired.

3. The digital signature syntax entered into the "Build Your Release" view is incorrect.

Resolution

1. Verify the password entered for the digital signature during the build process is accurate. Note this password is case sensitive. If in doubt, contact the digital signature issuer, such as DigiCert, for the correct password.

   Another way to verify if the password is accurate is by manually calling the utility "signtool.exe" to sign a file. This file is located, by default, in <ProductFolder>Support. If the signing process fails using this method as well, it is safe to assume that the password is incorrect.

2. If the digital signature has expired, contact the digital signature issuer, such as DigiCert, to purchase a new digital signature.

   Another option to determine if the password is expired can be found in Resolution A. The "signtool.exe" utility can be used to manually sign a file to ensure it works correctly. This would easily determine if the problem is caused by an expired or incorrect password or for some other reason.

3. The information entered in the "Build Your Release" view must be accurate for the signing to complete properly. This information can be accessed by selecting the Web release type and looking in the right panel. Make sure the URL specified is accurate, and the .spc and .pvk files specified are located in the path indicated.

Additional Information

Further details on DigiCert can be found at the Code Signing Certificates page.

Additional information on digital signing can be found in the InstallShield Help topic Digital Signature Tab.