Registering the CSP

A CSP is registered under the following registry key:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE
SOFTWARE
Microsoft
Cryptography
Defaults
Provider

The following registry entries under the above hKey register the CSP with the operating system.

<CSP name>
>Image Path:REG_SZ:<CSP DLL name>
>Signature:REG_BINARY:<digital signature>
>Type:REG_DWORD:<CSP type>

The <CSP name> entry is the text name of the CSP. If the CSP has been signed by Microsoft Corporation, this name must exactly match the CSP name that was specified in the Export Compliance Certificate (ECC).

The <CSP DLL name> (Image Path) entry is the name of the CSP DLL. If a fully qualified path, such as C:\Myx\Rsabase.dll is specified, the CSP DLL need not be placed in a directory pointed to by the PATH environment variable.

The <digital signature> (Signature) entry is the digital signature file for the CSP DLL. This signature file can be either the debug signature created with the Sign.exe utility or the release signature obtained from Microsoft. With Windows 2000, the signature can be in a resource within the CSP. Sign.exe is discussed in Test Signing the CSP.

The <CSP type> entry is in decimal format and exactly 3 digits in length. For example, if the CSP is of type 25, the key name is Type 025.