visual-studiocode-signingvisual-studio-2019vsixvsixmanifest

Sign and update Visual Studio Extensions


So it seems as a pretty easy Task, I created a VSIX which I uploaded a few days ago. Some days later I fixed some issues and now I want to update the extension on the marketplace.

I went ahead and took a look at the MSDN which states the following:

Unsigned all user extensions do not get updated automatically. You should always sign your extensions.

So therefor I went on an tried to sign my VSIX as explained here. Which tells me to do the following:

Search for VSIXSignTool from VisualStudioExtensibility and install the NuGet package.

After downloading the package, I searched for the given location which should be in your project's local packages location. Which makes me wonder, cause I do not have any local packages folder for this project. Furthermore I should sign my extension with the following command:

VSIXSignTool.exe sign /f <certfile> /p <password> <VSIXfile>

Which makes me wonder, what kind of certificate that should be, what should be the password be, a new password?

Anyway, lets assume I somehow mange to do that, how would I 'update' the extension than? Just upload it again as a new package with a new VSIX-Id?

To sum it up, this are my questions:


Solution

  • I suggest first try to update your extension without signing. Just increase the version number and on the marketplace site click Manage - ... (More Actions) - Edit - Upload Extension/Edit package.

    VSIXSignTool requires a code signing certificate that needs to be purchased.