I suspect that the problem can be in the fact that "current directory" is not necessarily the directory where the executable resides. If you look at Steps 1 to 4 described further above in this thread, you will see that Steps 1 to 3 use a current directory as a base for their search.

It is quite possible that the current directory is not the executable directory (the code uses Environment.Directory property, which in turn uses Directory.GetCurrentDirectory() method). The Microsoft documentation and the code comments (in the .NET source) give confusing picture as to what precisely the current directory is, especially when the process starts. It certainly can change from its original value, even if it had contained the executable directory initially.

Therefore, it seems that the only "stable", reliable place where the certificate generator is to be found is the one described in Step 4.

This is not ideal; unfortunately the code that searches for the certificate generator is not ours - it is part of OPC Foundation stack & SDK. In theory we can bypass the mechanism, but doing so is more involved. I suggest to install the certificate generator into "%CommonProgramFiles%\OPC Foundation\UA\v1.0\Bin". If you install the redistributables that we have documented as needed (namely, the Local Discovery Server), that's where it will be/go anyway.

Thank you. This is weird. I'd like to ask you for still more information:

1. What kind of application is your project? E.g. Windows Forms app, WPF app, Windows Service, Web app, etc.?
2. What is the "Platform Target" setting of your application (project)? Is it set to "Any CPU", or "x86", or "x64"?
3. Have you tried running with elevated privileges?

Best regards

Can you please search your "Program Files" directory for "Opc.Ua.CertificateGenerator.exe", and let me know if it is there, and if so, its full location?

If you are on a 64-bit system, it should be under "Program Files (x86)".

Some more information:

• The certificate generator is only need the first time the application is run.
• An administrator access with elevated privileges ("Run as administrator") may be necessary this first time.
• There is a search algorithm that looks for the utility at multiple places, and this error is thrown if it is not found at any of the locations.

The search algorithm works as follows - and stops at the moment it finds the appropriately named file:

1. First it looks in the current working directory
2. It looks in the "Bin" subdirectory of it.
3. It proceeds to parent directory, and continues with Step 2.
4. It looks in %CommonProgramFiles%\OPC Foundation\UA\v1.0\Bin

Hello,

has it been working before on the same computer?
Or, is it on a new computer? If so, what installation choices have you made - anything different from the default?

Thank you