How To: Strong-Name a .NET Assembly Without the Source Code

Sometimes you may reference a 3rd party assembly in a project that you need to sign with a code-signing certificate.  The signing will fail if all of the referenced assemblies do not have a strong name.  This is a quick solution to the problem.

Step 1 – Disassemble the assembly to IL code

ildasm MyAssembly.dll /out:MyAssembly.il

Step 2 – Reassemble the assembly with a strong name

NOTE:  You will need a PFX (Personal Information eXchange) file for this step.  If you do not have one, you will need to create a PFX file with the makecert utility.

ilasm "MyAssembly.il" /res:"MyAssembly.res" /key:"MyKey.pfx" /out:"MyAssembly_Strong.dll" /dll