ba-package tool not available

Question

Giuliopime OP

Created Aug ’25

Replies 3

Boosts 0

Participants 2

Hi, I'm trying to setup background assets hosted on Apple servers.

I currently have installed Xcode 16.4 and Xcode beta 4. I have also freshly installed the command line tools for both.

When I run

sudo xcode-select -s /Applications/Xcode.app/Contents/Developer
xcrun ba-package template

I get

xcrun: error: sh -c '/Applications/Xcode.app/Contents/Developer/usr/bin/xcodebuild -sdk /Applications/Xcode.app/Contents/Developer/Platforms/MacOSX.platform/Developer/SDKs/MacOSX.sdk -find ba-package 2> /dev/null' failed with exit code 17664: (null) (errno=No such file or directory)
xcrun: error: unable to find utility "ba-package", not a developer tool or in PATH

If I try to use Xcode beta 4:

sudo xcode-select -s /Applications/Xcode-beta.app/Contents/Developer
xcrun ba-package template

I get:

dyld[92926]: Library not loaded: /System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/ManagedBackgroundAssetsHelper.framework/Versions/A/ManagedBackgroundAssetsHelper
Referenced from: <7F150064-45BF-31D7-BAFD-32911BB9F569> /Applications/Xcode-beta.app/Contents/Developer/usr/bin/ba-package
Reason: tried: '/System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/ManagedBackgroundAssetsHelper.framework/Versions/A/ManagedBackgroundAssetsHelper' (no such file), '/System/Volumes/Preboot/Cryptexes/OS/System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/ManagedBackgroundAssetsHelper.framework/Versions/A/ManagedBackgroundAssetsHelper' (no such file), '/System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/ManagedBackgroundAssetsHelper.framework/Versions/A/ManagedBackgroundAssetsHelper' (no such file, not in dyld cache)
[1] 92926 abort xcrun ba-package template

Any tip?

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Answer 1

Frameworks Engineer OP

Apple

Aug ’25

Accepted Answer

Recommended

Hello! The packaging tool (ba-package) is included with Xcode 26, so it’s not expected to be available when your selected Xcode installation is an older version, such as Xcode 16.4.

Regarding the dyld error, are you running macOS 26 Tahoe? The packaging tool might not work properly if you have an older version of macOS installed, even with the latest Xcode 26 beta. This is because the packaging tool depends on a system framework that’s new in macOS 26 Tahoe. If you are indeed running macOS 26 Tahoe or can still reproduce the problem after updating to macOS 26 Tahoe, then please file a feedback report so that we can investigate further and reply to this thread with the feedback ID. If you’re unfamiliar with the process, then you can learn more about filing feedback with Feedback Assistant. Thanks!

0

Answer 2

Giuliopime OP

Aug ’25

I would like to not upgrade to tahoe yet, can I resolve this any other way?

0

Answer 3

Frameworks Engineer OP

Apple

Aug ’25

Unfortunately, the packaging tool and the mock server require macOS 26 Tahoe. You could try installing macOS 26 Tahoe and Xcode 26 inside a virtual machine (VM) on your host Mac running macOS 15 Sequoia, though this isn’t something that we’ve officially validated for the Background Assets developer tools. There are several different VM apps available on the Mac App Store. You can download the macOS 26 Tahoe beta restoration image from the Apple Developer website. Make sure to install the Device Support for macOS 26 Beta on your host Mac before setting up your VM.

As we announced at WWDC25, the packaging tool and the mock server will soon be available for Linux, which you could use in a virtual machine on your host Mac running macOS Sequoia or on a dedicated Linux computer as an alternative.

1