How To Sign/Unsign Symbian Applications Using SISContents

The following article is a step by step picture guide on how to sign/unsign Symbian SIS/SISX package files with your own certificate signature using SISContents by Aquarius.

Introduction

When it comes to S60 Symbian SIS/SISX signer utilities, there are a lot of Windows- and Symbian-based programs around. My favorite out of the crowd is SISContents by Aquarius, because this portable program is user-friendly, reliable, robust, concise, or simply gorgeous.

The prerequisite to signing S60 Symbian applications (.SIS/.SISX files) is to have both your phone’s certificate (.CER) and private key (.KEY) files in hand. If you don’t have your S60 Symbian mobile phone’s CER/KEY files, use my comprehensive guide on getting your OPDA certificate.

Step by Step Picture Guide

View screenshots album here.

Prepare yourself a copy of the SISContents by Aquarius and copy your CER/KEY (e.g., OPDA-266880.cer & OPDA-266880.key) to SISContents\Shell folder. Now follow the 11 steps mentioned below.

Step 1: Opening SISContents Inside SISContents, run extsis.exe.
Step 2: Creating a New Package Make a new package using File/New file/Empty package (Ctrl+N), resulting a default name like untitled.sis.
Step 3: Creating Signing Profile Select certificate (e.g., OPDA-266880.cer) and private key (e.g., OPDA-266880.key) files. Leave the private key passphrase unchanged. Now select a profile name matching your name and Series 60 cellphone (e.g., Komeil’s Nokia N95 8GB), press the Apply button, and close the dialog.
Step 4: Launching Open SIS File Open Dialog Open the SIS/SISX file you wish to sign using File/Open file... (Ctrl+O).
Step 5: SIS File Opened If the file already had a signature, you can see the certificate chain, and you need to follow steps 6 & 7 to remove the signature. If there’s no certificate chain, then skip steps 6 & 7 and jump right to step 8.
Step 6: Deleting All Signatures Delete all latched certificates using Tools/Delete Signatures.
Step 7: Signatures Deleted If the delete attempt is successful, the certificate chains should disappear, also displaying Signing status: Unsigned.
Step 8: Signing SIS Package with the Certificate Profile Open Sign package dialog using Tools/Sign package. Select the signing profile you’ve created in step 3 inside the combo box.
Step 9: Adding Signature to the SIS/SISX Package Press Add signature to apply the added signature to the SIS/SISX package
Step 10: SIS File Is Signed If the sign attempt is successful, the newly added certificate chain should appear, also displaying Signing status: Signed.
Step 11: Save SIS/SISX File As... Now to finalize your work, save the file using File/Save as... (Ctrl+S) either overwrite the source SIX/SISX or select a different name. (e.g., concatenate something like Signed for Komeil’s N95 8GB to the file name.)