Using self-signed digital certificate in workgroup

[Penn White]

In the Access 2003 Help File entitled "Create your own digital certificate.",
it states the following:

"After you create the certificate, you will be able to transfer the
certificate to the computers that are part of your workgroup so that all
members of the team can share the certificate, and avoid the warning messages
each time they open the file."

However, it doesn't say how to 'transfer the certificate'. I have done
extensive searches of the Help files, the Internet and this newsgroup and
haven't discovered how to do it yet.

I'm obviously missing something.

Any help appreciated,

Penn White

 

[Joan Wild]

However, it doesn't say how to 'transfer the certificate'. I have done
extensive searches of the Help files, the Internet and this newsgroup and
haven't discovered how to do it yet.

See Backing Up or Transferring a Digital Certificate to Another Computer
about 2/3 down this page.
http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/d.../odeopg/html/deovrsigningvbaproject.asp--Joan WildMicrosoft Access MVP

 

[Penn White]

Thank you, Joan. I saw this article but since it was written for Office 2000
and since I had seen somewhere else that MS Access 2003 wouldn't recognize
security settings from Internet Explorer, I was hesitant to try it without
some experienced input.

Thanks again for your prompt response.

Penn

 

[Penn White]

I'm afraid this still isn't working. I used the Certificate Manager Wizard
to export the certificate and then imported it onto my laptop but it doesn't
seem to work. I saw the certificate in digital signatures under tools in VBA
and selected it but when I exited the database, it still said the signature
was no good and discarded it.

I was not able to export the Private Key for my personal
certificate/signature (be nice if they were consistent about their
terminology) but couldn't. "This private key has been marked unexportable."
In order to change it, I'd need access to the *.pfx file or something which
is not on my computer.

This is all somewhat aggravating - quite typical of MS, however, to give
incomplete instructions that don't work as expected or suggested.

Any more help appreciated.

Penn

 

[Joan Wild]

I have no direct experience doing this, but here another reference
http://pubs.logicalexpressions.com/Pub0009/LPMArticle.asp?ID=194

 

[TC]

I haven't followed any of this, so apologies if this is totally
irrelevant:

If you are using certificates for the purpose of avoiding the macro
security warnings, and your database is /not/ secured with Access
user-level security, and the PC /is/ allowed to run scripts (eg.
VBScript), just forget the certifcate & use the automationsecurity
property. Google this group on that word, for more information.

HTH,
TC

 

[Penn White]

Joan and TC,

Thank you both very much for your ideas on this. I will look into the
'automationsecurity' recommended by TC.

I finally got it to work, however. I had a digital certificate in Access
with my name on it (created automaticallly by Access, I guess). However, I
also created a new one using the Selfcert.exe (which was under Start - All
Programs - Microsoft Office - MS Office Tools - Digital Signature for VBA
Projects) and it worked the same way.

When I copied the front end of the database to another workstation on my
network, i always got an aggravating "Security Warning" - "This file has been
digitally signed by Penn White. Do you want to open this file or cancel the
operation?"

There is a chack box at the bottom to "Always trust files from this
publisher..." but it was grayed out and unavailable. By viewing Details of
the certificate and wandering through several screens about the Certificate,
I was finally able to import the certificate and after that, the "Always
trust..." checkbox was made available. I then just checked the box and it
started working, ie. now when I load any database signed by "Penn White", it
opens automatically and doesn't show me that screen again.

I don't think MS has quite gotten all the details about their new security
settings worked out yet, but, with persistance, it can be done. Some help
topics would certainly be nice.

The article by David Horowitz, found by Joan, was somewhat helpful although
it applies to Word docs rather than Access db's. It's possible that using
his technique to get the Certificate trusted by Word would then propagate
through all Office applications, but I didn't try it.

Thanks again for your help.

Penn

 

[Joan Wild]

The article by David Horowitz, found by Joan, was somewhat helpful
although
it applies to Word docs rather than Access db's.

That shouldn't matter. It should work in Access, using the same method.

Glad you got it working though.