(VB.NET) RSA Signature using Private Key from .snk File

See more RSA Examples

A .snk file (Strong Name Key file) is a file format used in the .NET ecosystem to store an RSA public/private key pair. This key pair is typically used for strong-naming assemblies, which is a process of signing .NET assemblies to ensure their integrity and to uniquely identify them.

This example loads a private key from a .snk file and creates an RSA signature.

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Dim rsa As New Chilkat.Rsa

' Load the .snk and return the private key as XML.
Dim xmlStr As String = rsa.SnkToXml("./test.snk")
If (rsa.LastMethodSuccess = False) Then
    Debug.WriteLine(rsa.LastErrorText)
    Exit Sub
End If


Dim success As Boolean = rsa.ImportPrivateKey(xmlStr)
If (success = False) Then
    Debug.WriteLine(rsa.LastErrorText)
    Exit Sub
End If


' Sign the SHA-256 hash of the utf-8 byte representation of the contents of sb
' Return the signature in base64 format.
rsa.EncodingMode = "base64"
rsa.Charset = "utf-8"
Dim sigBase64 As String = rsa.SignStringENC("This is the text to be hashed and signed.","sha256")
If (rsa.LastMethodSuccess = False) Then
    Debug.WriteLine(rsa.LastErrorText)
    Exit Sub
End If


Debug.WriteLine("RSA signature as base64: " & sigBase64)