Might be a simple question but I'm struggling to get the IPA file for iOS devices. I've read that I need an account at Apple Developer Program. I don't want to publish the app to the App store. I've also read that I need to use Ad-Hoc to build the IPA file that I don't need to publish. Can someone maybe just clarify for me I'm a bit lost.
The apk builds and runs without a problem
I'm using Microsoft Visual Studio Enterprise 2019 Version 16.9.2
MacOS Big Sur Version 11.2.3 virtual Machine.
xCode Version 12.4
Thanks in advance
Certification
Certification of computer development
qualifications, each developer account has a set, divided into two
types:
Developer Certification
installed on the computer to provide permissions: the developer was able to test the app
on a real machine. A copy can be generated for
installation on multiple computers;
Distribution Certification
Distribution Certification is installed on the computer to provide the
permission to publish iOS programs: developers can make test versions
and release versions of programs. Copy is not allowed, only the
computer equipped with the certificate can be used; (the copy is
introduced in the Keychain below)
Provisioning Profile
Authorization file is the authorization for devices such as iPod
Touch, iPad, iPhone. What is recorded is the UDID of the device and the
App Id of the program. Only the authorized device can install or
debug the program corresponding to the Bundle identifier(App Id) and the App
Id recorded in the authorization file. Developer account will select
App Id when creating authorization file, (add in App Id under
developer account, single choice) and UDID (add up to 100 in Devices
under developer account, multiple choice).
There are two types of authorization files, corresponding to the corresponding certificates:
Developer Provisioning Profile (development authorization file)
Is used on a computer with a development certificate or a copy, and
the developer selects the authorization file to install the program to
the authorization file record through the computer In the device, then you
can test on the real machine. Note: Ensure that the computer has
permission to debug on the real machine, that is, install the
development certificate or copy; the Bundle identifier of the program
in the development tool must be the same as the App Id of the selected
authorization file; the UDID of the device connected and debugged is
in the selected authorization file There are records.
The Distribution Provisioning Profile (release authorization file)
Is used to make the test version and the release version of the
program on the computer with the distribution certificate (that is,
the computer with the configuration certificate, there is only one).
The release version is the program file published on the App Store.
When the developer account creates the authorization file, select the
store option and select the App Id without selecting the UDID; the
beta version is the program file that can be synced to the device by
the tester before the release. When the developer account creates the
authorization file, select AdHoc, select App Id and UDID; only the
device corresponding to the selected UDID can install the program made
by the authorization file.
The Keychain (development key)
Will generate a Keychain under the certificate when the certificate is
successfully installed. The certificate copy mentioned above is to
export the Keychain (that is, the .p12 file) through the computer that
configures the certificate and install it on other computers so that
other computers can get it. Permission corresponding to the
certificate. Developer Certification can make a copy of Keychain and
distribute it to other computers for installation so that it can be
tested on the real machine. Note: Distribution Certification can only
be used by the computer with the certificate. Therefore, even if the
exported Keychain is installed on other computers, other computers may
not have the authority of the certificate.
You need to have an Apple developer account for that.
Related
We have a series of iOS Enterprise applications that were built with Telerik Cordova (discontinued in May 2018). Those apps are in the process of being converted to a new platform, but in the mean time they must continue to service client needs.
The distribution certificate the apps were built with is valid for another 14 months or so, but the provisioning profiles expire in a few days. Since these are Enterprise apps they will expire with the profiles.
Unfortunately, Telerik can no longer rebuild the apps using an updated profile for us. We have re-signed the apps using new provisioning profiles (using both iReSign and Terminal). When we try to side-load the resulting IPAs through the XCode Devices panel, we get an error stating that the entitlements do not match and the apps are not installed.
The question was raised as to whether or not we not need to re-sign the apps since the certificates are still valid. Perhaps it would be possible to just replace the .mobileprovision file on the device somehow? I gave it a try using iTunes Sync but I cannot confirm whether the file actually went to the device or not.
Question: Is it possible to just update the *.mobileprovision on the device without re-signing the app? If so, could someone please give me the steps or direct me to a link to perform the steps?
Alternate Question: Otherwise, any thoughts on how to resolve my Entitlements issue? The app only needs Push Notifications, but Game Center and In-App Purchases are also enabled. These are reflected in the App ID and provisioning profile, and the distribution certificate is of type Apple Push Services.
I should point out that I am not an admin on the Apple Developer portal for the project as I am an outside consultant, so my portal access is strictly read-only.
Thanks in advance for any direction provided!
If the applications were distributed to the devices by an MDM, then you can push a new provisioning profile to them using the MDM.
If the applications were installed over the air from a web server or directly using iTunes or Apple Configurator, then you need to replace the entire application package on the device. This requires the app to be re-signed, since the changed .mobileprovision file will change the package signature.
If you don't have the original, app ID with matching entitlements in the developer portal, then you will need to delete the existing application from the device before installing the new, re-signed application. You won't be able to do an in-place upgrade.
I have an iOS Enterprise Account, and I currently use HockeyApp for OTA app distribution. When I want to send an app to HockeyApp that utilizes this license, I make an in-house distribution profile for the app, archive it, and upload the file to HockeyApp, and it works fine. I am the agent of my team on the developer portal.
I want for other members of my team (including a Jenkins instance) to be able to sign applications with the same type of distribution profile that they can make. However, when someone tries to archive an app with the same distribution profile, they are unable to do so. Further, they are unable to apply for a distribution certificate unless they send me the .certSigningRequest file and I apply for it myself, then send it to them (I know this is incorrect but this seems like the only way to get them a certificate).
Basically, what do I need to do to enable another team member to archive an app for enterprise distribution?
Then you'll have to export your certificate and private key from Keychain Access and have others (including the Jenkins machine) import it into their keychain.
See: https://support.apple.com/kb/PH20122?locale=en_US
I'm using windows 8 to building applications with phonegap,
every thing is good except building apple application at:
https://build.phonegap.com
this appears:
phonegap build "no key selected"
how to get the key or .mobileprovision file?
You have to create them on https://developer.apple.com/, as AJD mentioned.
Go to your Apple developer portal
Click Devices to register your iOS device. You need to connect your device to iTunes to obtain your UUID
Click Certificate
Create a certificate for Production (to use PhoneGap Build, otherwise Development)
Download the certificate
Convert the certificate to a p12 file (See the screenshots below) - Double-click the .cer file to open it in Key Chain Access. Then click My Certificates under the category, Ctrl-click the certificate and export. When you save the .p12 file, you are asked to create a password that you will need later.
Create a provision file on Apple developer portal, then download. Again, to make this work on PhoneGap Build, you need one for Distribution, otherwise Development.
Actually, I blogged about it because using PhoneGap Build is not as easy as it should to develop iOS apps.
http://www.pubnub.com/blog/converting-your-javascript-app-to-an-ios-app-w-phonegap/
I know this question is made a year ago, but I hope this helps to everybody who has the same question.
You create and download the provisioning profile and an associated certificate on the Apple developer site.
Go
https://developer.apple.com/
Go member center > manage certificates and profiles...
A valid provisioning profile is connected to a valid distribution certificate. You will need both active.
Building for iOS
We're now able to offer support for building to iOS devices through Adobe® PhoneGap™ Build. The process for completing iOS builds is slightly different than that for other platforms: all iOS builds need to be signed by a developer certificate and a provisioning profile, that is tied to your Apple developer account and the device you wish to test on. This document covers how to set this up.
Note: Since PhoneGap Build uses Apple's standard development process to build applications, you will need to sign up for their developer program to build iOS applications on PhoneGap Build. You will also need a Mac to configure your certificate and provisioning profile.
When you upload a new application to PhoneGap Build, if you don't have a default certificate-profile pair attached to your account, you will be alerted that the iOS build can not be completed:
iOS Key Required
Your key will actually consist of two files: a certificate and a provisioning profile. Apple has extensive documentation for setting up your environment locally: the best approach is to ensure you can build an iOS application to your iOS device locally, to be sure that both your certificate and your provisioning profile are set up correctly for code signing.
Once you have these set up, you can export them for upload to PhoneGap Build. For the provisioning profile, you will need a file with the mobileprovision extension, which looks like this:
Provisioning Profile in Finder
Ensure that this provisioning profile is correctly paired with the device(s) you wish to test on.
Note that when you create your profile, you will specify the App IDs that are linked to the profile. This is important when using PhoneGap Build: the package name you specify for your app, in your config.xml (the id attribute of the widget element) or through the Edit App page, will have to match the ID for the provisioning profile. If they fail to match, your app will not be built correctly.
Apple appends a "Bundle Seed ID," or "App ID Prefix," to the provisioning profile when you generate it through the iOS Developer Center. Note that you do not to include this App ID Prefix in your config.xml for PhoneGap Build to build successfully. You just need the reverse-domain style Bundle Identifier - com.domainname.appname. This will also be best compatible with building for other platforms.
To prepare your certificate, you will need to open the Keychain Access utility on your Mac, and identify the certificate that you use for iOS development. Right click on that certificate and select Export ...
Export from Keychain Access
Save the certificate in a location you can remember, and enter a password. Remember the password: you will need to give it to PhoneGap Build, otherwise we cannot use your certificate.
Enter Certificate Password
Now back to the website. On the app detail page, simply select the "new key..." option from the signing key dropdown for the app in question, and then, from the list of platforms with signing available, hit add a key for iOS. Fill out the form: add your p12 certificate file and your mobileprovision file, and enter the password associated with your certificate.
Add Certificate to PhoneGap Build
Once your key is added, we'll attempt to rebuild the application for iOS. If all goes well, you should see a link for the built ipa file available.
You can then download the ipa file and use iTunes to install it directly on your provisioned iOS device.
Happy building!
On my Mac, I have installed the required certificates and keys to develop and distribute my own personally developed iOS Apps via my own iOS Developers' License. However, my client would like me to use his License to distribute (Ad-Hoc) betas and eventually distribute the app to the app store.
Please can you tell me how I can install his developer license on my Mac without affecting my personal developer certificates and keys already installed on my Mac?
Furthermore, is this even possible?
Edit---
Sorry, I didn't mention; I don't want to have to revoke my client's pre-existing certificates on his developer account.
Contrary to one of the comments, you can't download the keys from Apple - they only exist on his computer. It is only the provisioning profiles that you can download from Apple. So if you don't want to have to revoke his existing distribution keys, he will need to export them from his computer.
He can do this by going into the Keychain Access -> My Certificates and looking for the entry called "iPhone Distribution: My Company Name". Then right-click on it and choose "Export ...".
He can then send you that file, which you can double-click to import into your own Keychain.
And it is fine to have multiple keys on your computer - it shouldn't affect your personal account.
I have a company iphone dev account.
According to the doc, only the team-agent is allowed to submit a distribution cert and download the distribution provisioning profile.
Can a team only have 1 Team Agent?
Also, if that is the case, is there a way around this to allow multiple devs the option to build a distributed version of the app?
I have another developer who I would like to build and submit the app to itunes. I tried giving him the distribution cert and distribution profile. When he dragged and dropped them into xcode, and checked out windows->organize, it complains
"assigning identity matching this profile cannot be found in your keychain"
So this leads me to believe I need to get my key chain credentials on his machine. I tried exporting a private key and giving it to him, but he was unable to install it.
Is there anything else I can do?
I honestly thing its really silly if apple expects one developer to be responsible for building all apps for a company. Hopefully I'm wrong and there is a way to get multiple developers access to building a distribution of an app.
Thank you
NOTE: This process is heavily simplified in XCode 4 (although not personally tested by me) with importing and exporting of developer profiles through the Organizer window (Developer Profile section).
This is how I got it working.
1) Login to the iOS Provisioning Portal as the Agent.
2) Run through the process of making the Distribution Certificate Signing Request / Provisioning Profile: http://developer.apple.com/iphone/manage/distribution/index.action. These instructions a re super long, but pretty clear and necessary.
3) Pay extra attention to the section "Obtaining your iOS Distribution Certificate" > "Saving your Private Key and Transferring to Other Systems" on that page. It describes how to generate and save the Agent's .p12 file.
4) Now invite other developer(s) to be part of the team in the Member Center: https://developer.apple.com/membercenter/index.action#invitations
5) Back in the iOS Provisioning Portal, download the app's Distribution Certificate (Certificates > Distribution (tab)). Should be named "distribution_identity.cer"
6) Now download the Distribution Provisioning Profile (Provisioning > Distribution (tab)). Should be named "whatever_you_named_it.mobileprovision"
7) Email those two files along with the Agent's .p12 file to your other developer machine.
8) On the developer's machine, double-click the distribution_identity.cer file and it should load up in Keychain Access
9) Drag the .p12 file to Keychain and it should automatically put the identity under the certificate
10) Drag the whatever_you_named_it.mobileprovision file into XCode.
11) In each of the Project and Build's Info windows, set the Code Signing Identity to the "iPhone Distribution - Your Company" identity which should now be available.
Hope that helps. Rob
Just another tutorial step by step, but slightly different, the certificates have been already installed in the team's agent keychain, so it explains how to export the .p12 files from the keychain:
how-to-share-an-ios-distribution-certificate
You definitely should be able to build your app with a distribution certificate and profile on your coworker's machine.
Are you sure that the distribution certificate and provisioning profile are installed correctly? If you can build apps with the development certificate but not the deployment one, check to make sure that everything's properly installed in the keychain and that the correct provisioning profile is selected in the settings for the active target.
You can copy the private key in this way, but it's really UNSAFE:
Give him your login.keychain file (located in ~/Library/Keychains/), and let him open it with Keychain.app, and ask him to drag your private key to his login.keychain.
Apple also said you should keep your private key secured, if you need to reinstall your system, make sure you backup the login.keychain file.