“Debug certificate expired” error in Eclipse Android plugins

Question

I am using Eclipse Android plugins to build a project, but I am getting this error in the console window:

[2010-02-03 10:31:14 - androidVNC]Error generating          


        

Answer 1

Upon installation, the Android SDK generates a debug signing certificate for you in a keystore called debug.keystore. The Eclipse plug-in uses this certificate to sign each application build that is generated.

Unfortunately a debug certificate is only valid for 365 days. To generate a new one you must delete the existing debug.keystore file. Its location is platform dependent - you can find it in Preferences - Android - Build - Default debug keystore.

Answer 2

H-m-m-m. Interesting how so many people have had slightly different experiences with this. I remember the days when this was considered a sign that the software was not ready for release, and the team would actually fix it BEFORE users started seeing these problems:(

My own experience was just a little different. I had already tried Project>Clean, but still got the same build failure. Then I deleted the debug.keystore (under .android) just as the first answer said. Still got the same problem. Then I did a clean again, and wonder of wonders, it worked!

Now don't get me wrong, I am glad that I got it working thanks to the hints in this thread. But clearly clean isn't working right, and how did it find an expired key after I deleted the keystore??? Clearly something is wrong with Eclipse or the ADT -- not so sure which.

Answer 3

If a certificate expires in the middle of project debugging, you must do a manual uninstall:

Please execute adb uninstall <package_name> in a shell.

Answer 4

First close the eclipse then

Open CMD by Window Key + R or via Run as Admin

Follows the following step

del "%USERPROFILE%\.android\debug.keystore"
keytool -genkey -v -keystore "%USERPROFILE%\.android\debug.keystore" -alias androiddebugkey -storepass android -keypass android -keyalg RSA -validity 30000

after this restart eclipse.

Answer 5

For windows xp go to C:\Documents and Settings\%userprofile%\.android and delete debug.keystore file, restart the eclipse and now your project get build without error.

Example path:

C:\Documents and Settings\raja.ap\.android\

read-here-for-more.

Answer 6

After you install the Android SDK in Eclipse, it generates a debug signing certificate for you in a keystore called debug.keystore. The Eclipse plug-in uses this certificate to sign each application build that is generated.

Now, the problem with this debug certificate is that it is only valid for a year, or 365 days. If your Eclipse IDE uses an expired debug certificate, you will not be able to create and/or deploy an Android app.

To fix this problem all you need to do is delete the debug.keystore file.

1. Go to Preferences
2. Android
3. Build
4. Default debug keystore

There you should see the folder where the file is located. Simply delete that file and you are good to go.

For more info. you can visit

http://developer.android.com/tools/publishing/app-signing.html