Demystify code signing and its importance in app development. Get help troubleshooting code signing issues and ensure your app is properly signed for distribution.

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Cannot install release test (ad-hoc profile) on Vision Pro
I was able to setup a release test for an iOS app for distribution using a web server. It works perfectly fine for all the devices I registered for the deployment profile. However every time I try to distribute a Unity based Vision Pro application using the same process for building the package and set up for distribution it does not work. Safari only shows a message telling me: "Cannot connect to ." When trying to install the iOS app from the same server it shows the message "Do you want to install ?" and installation completes correctly. My iOS is a simple hello world app generated by Xcode. My Unity app is an AR app targeting com.apple.platform.xros. According to documentation there should not be any difference in deployment profiles/signing for iOS apps vs. visionOS apps. What am I doing wrong? Any hint is appreciated how to continue.
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481
Nov ’24
App Extensions do not contain correct iCloud Key Value Store identifier in provisioning profile after app transfer
I recently completed an app transfer from one developer account to another (both controlled by me). The old team ID was GZS3K47B3Y, the new one is LRG5645LP7. Almost everything is working properly, but I am seeing that my iCloud Key-Value store (NSUbiquitousKeyValueStore) is no longer shared across my app and app extensions after the transfer. Previously, my app and app extensions all shared a single iCloud Key-Value store, and they could all read/write to the same iCloud synced store. This is no longer working after the app transfer. According to this support page (https://developer.apple.com/help/app-store-connect/transfer-an-app/overview-of-app-transfer): "If your app uses iCloud Key-Value Storage (KVS), the full KVS value will be embedded in any new provisioning profiles you create for the transferred app. Update your entitlements plist with the full KVS value in your provisioning profile." This seems to be the case for the main app, whose provisioning profile contains the full value: com.apple.developer.ubiquity-kvstore-identifier: GZS3K47B3Y.com.serpentisei.studyjapanese But the app extension's provisioning profile now contains: com.apple.developer.ubiquity-kvstore-identifier: LRG5645LP7.* Is there a way to update the app extension provisioning profile to also include the original identifier from before the transfer, so that I can continue to share iCloud KVS access across the app and extension? Thanks!
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Nov ’24
App Fails spctl After signing and notarization
I have an app Arpeggio.app which I build and then sign without errors: "electron-osx-sign dist/mac-arm64/Arpeggio.app --identity="Developer ID Application: XXXX (XXXXXX)" --hardened-runtime --no-gatekeeper-assess --entitlements=entitlements.plist". It returns "Application signed: dist/mac-arm64/Arpeggio.app". I then use "/usr/bin/ditto -c -k --sequesterRsrc --keepParent src dst" to make a zip with the same signatures. I then submit the zip for notarization: "xcrun notarytool submit dist/mac-arm64/Arpeggio.zip --apple-id XXXX etc" which returns "Waiting for processing to complete. Current status: Accepted.............. Processing complete id: ***-***-xx-xx status: Accepted". Then I staple the notarization to the app and get "The staple and validate action worked!". Now it shows all validated and that the notarization is stapled. I then run "spctl --assess --type execute -vv 'dist/mac-arm64/Arpeggio.app'" as a last check and always get this: dist/mac-arm64/Arpeggio.app: unknown error 99999=1869f Why is this happening? I can't seem to debug the issue but out notarization and signing is always successful and the app works as expected. Pleas ehelp me get to the bottom of this.
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601
Nov ’24
Unable to Write Files Within App Bundle After Codesigning and Notarization
Codesigned and notarized app cannot directly write files inside the app bundle (neither in my.app/Contents/Resources/ nor my.app/Contents/MacOS/). Are there any restrictions regarding this? Is there a way to bypass these restrictions? Here is the situation I encountered: The main app contains several sub-apps and sub-executables. When the main app calls the sub-apps or sub-executables, it can write files within the app bundle, but when executed directly, it cannot write files. The app is usually opened using the GUI, and when using the command line, neither the main app nor the sub-apps/sub-executables can write files within the app bundle. My codesigning environment is: Sonoma 14.0 on mac mini M1. I manually sign the app directly using the codesign command in CI instead of using Xcode. The process will traverse all of the files and sub-apps in the app folder and sign them from the deepest paths to the shallowest paths. I also tried applying this process to other applications, but all of them encountered the same issue of failing to write files. The app should not be sandboxed (I did not add sandbox entitlements). I have tried adding the entitlement com.apple.security.files.user-selected.read-write, but this has not resolved the issue.
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752
Nov ’24
Codesign dylib/framework with entitlements
Is it correct to codesign dylib/framewoks with entitlements? My understanding is that only executables need to have the entitlement and the dylibs loaded in that process will automatically inherit those entitlements. However, I am seeing a lot of scripts on the internet that are signing dylibs as well with entitlements. For eg - # sign *.dylibs find "$APP_BUNDLE" -type f -name "*.dylib" -exec codesign --deep --force --verify --verbose --timestamp --options runtime --entitlements "$ENTITLEMENTS_FILE" --sign "$SIGNING_IDENTITY" {} \; Is this even allowed? I know of at least one app that has passed notarization checks as well. If allowed, can a dylib have more entitlements than the process that loaded it?
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902
Jan ’25
Couldn't download provisioning profiles
Hi! I'm having troubles to sign my Xamarin Forms application, im getting the following error "Error : Could not find any available provisioning profiles for MyProject.iOS on iOS.". I've recently cleaned my Provisioning profiles folder ~/Library/MobileDevice/Provisioning Profiles since it wasn't being updated with my latest provisioning profile for my app. But now my provisioning profiles are not being downloaded, I'm not getting any other error on downloading profiles. I've tried from Xcode -> Settings -> Account -> Download manual profiles. Tried too open the profile downloaded from the Apple Developer Portal, also tried copy manually the provisioning profile downloaded to the previous mentioned path, none of those works. The user that im logged in on Xcode is the admin/owner so is not a permissions issue. IDK what can be wrong or what can I try. So I'm going to be grateful for your help :(
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893
Nov ’24
Notarytool agreement check?
Hi all, Occasionally, our systems grind to a halt because an agreement needs signed. As you can imagine this always happens at an inconvenient time. Is there a programmatic way we can know about this, before it happens? How is everyone else handling this? From a search through threads here and documentation, I don't see anything and thus I don't think this is possible to script, but wanted to double check. If not possible, what kind of grace period is there between when developer.apple.com mentions something will need signed, and when it stops working? I'm not the one who can sign, so can a non-signer see this? This part is basically asking: How often does someone have to log on to "poll" for this and can this be me or does it have to be the person with access to sign the agreements. Does the system maybe send out an email to the signer about these (in advance), that he's maybe not seeing? Thanks!
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Nov ’24
My new provisioning profiles are broken
I've updated Xcode to 16.1, then I've created a new provisioning profile in developer.apple.com, successfully built and signed my application. It was on monday, 2024-11-04. Two or three days later I was asked to add more devices and I had to create a new profile. I've noticed a new feature to control profile's name (yeah, cool!), had to accept new agreements. Then, have created a new profile, downloaded it, but could not add it with double-click to Xcode or import to Keychain Access - "Failed to install one or more provisioning profiles on the device". And whatever I tried, I couldn't register any new profiles since. Therefore, my app cannot be signed and tested anymore. This is quite weird as nothing has changed on the system throughout the week. Is this a known issue or is there any fix for that?
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715
Nov ’24
errSecInternalComponent when trying to codesign an app through SSH
Hi, I'm trying to ssh into another machine, copy an app into that machine and codesign it using my "Dev ID Application" certificate, then copy it back to my original machine. I'm getting the "errSecInternalComponent" error when running codesign. This is the bash script I'm running: ssh ${REMOTE_SERVER} "security -v unlock-keychain -p <REDACTED> /Users/<REDACTED>/Library/keychains/login.keychain-db" ssh ${REMOTE_SERVER} "codesign -vvv --deep --force --verify --verbose --timestamp --options runtime --sign \"Developer ID Application: <REDACTED>\" \"/tmp/$BUILD_ID/ui-app/<APP_NAME>.app\"" ssh ${REMOTE_SERVER} "codesign -dv --verbose=4 /tmp/$BUILD_ID/ui-app/<APP_NAME>.app" I've tried to follow all the available info found online, managed to sign it successfully through the machine's UI, set the ACL of the private key to ALLOW ALL, restarted the keychain service, tried with the system keychain, approved all pop ups through the UI. Still with no luck through the SSH session. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!
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509
Nov ’24
How can I share a developer-signed app through my website?
In the past, I used to export a developer-signed test version of my macOS app in Xcode, create a zip archive from the Finder, upload it to my website and share the link to the testers. The last time I did this with macOS 14 the tester was still able to download the test app and run it. But it seems that with macOS 15 the trick to open the context menu on the downloaded app and click Open to bypass the macOS warning that the app couldn't be checked when simply double-clicking it, doesn't work anymore. Now I'm always shown an alert that macOS couldn't check the app for malware, and pushes me to move it to the bin. In this StackOverflow topic from 10 years ago they suggested to use ditto and tar to compress and uncompress the app, but neither worked for me. How can I share macOS apps that I signed myself with testers without physically handing them a drive containing the uncompressed app?
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752
Nov ’24
Trouble with submitting my package using notarytool
I'll do my best to explain my situation. Basically I have a plugin I'm trying to sign notarize and staple. My plugin is a .component but right now it is currently not bundled so its a .component folder. I cant open it in Xcode to bundle it and therefore cannot successfully bundle it that way. other things I've tried are failing with the error message logs showing the following messages. - "The signature does not include a secure timestamp." -"The binary is not signed." -"The signature of the binary is invalid." Those messages repeat several times and the very last one I receive is -"The contents of the package at ***** could not be extracted." So what I'd like to know is what can I do to my .component folder (all contents are in it so I can successfully sign it, timestamp it and submit successfully using notarytool? Thank you!
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444
Nov ’24
Pkg installation package uploaded to macstore email prompt ITMS-90296
Project Background: I developed a Mac project using Electron and VSCode Successfully uploaded the packaged pkg using Transporter, However, I will receive an email informing me that there are some issues with the project: ITMS-90296: App sandbox not enabled - The following executors must include the 'com. apple. security. app sandbox' entitlement with a Boolean value of true in the entitlement property list: [[com. electron. iflyrecclient. pkg/Payload/iFlytek Listen. app/Contents/MacOS/iFlytek Listen]] ITMS-90886: 'Cannot be used with TestFlight because the signature for the bundle at' iFlytek hears. app 'is missing an application identifier but has an application identifier in the provisioning profile for the bundle.' Bundles with application identifiers in the provisioning profile are expected to have the same identifier signed into the bundle in order to be eligible for TestFlight.' Here is my packaging process: Generate an app using the electron packager tool Sign the app using @ electron osx sign (version 1.3.1) After signing, use productbuild - component Yourappname App/Applications - sign "3rd Party Mac Developer Installer: * * * * * (XXXXXXXXXX)" Yourappname. pkg command generates pkg PS: For the second step, I have set sand box=true in both entitlents.plist and entitlents.macinheriting. plist. And after signing, using codesign -dvvv -- entitiements - /path to view the app file shows' checkbox=true ', and the [iFlytek Listen. app/Contents/MacOS/iFlytek Listen] file in the issue also exists. Using the Suspicious Package software to view pkg also has sandbox=true. A few months ago, I uploaded it once and the issues mentioned in the email did not appear. The only changes were the macOS system version number and the replacement of the signature with provisionprofileprovisionprofile. I have reviewed similar issues on the Apple Developer Forums, but have not been resolved
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Nov ’24
Notarizing a DMG bundling a complete Perl environment
...and some more simple command line utilities. I've code signed all executables and binary libraries I could find. This has got rid of most errors already. Now I'm struggling with the "hardened runtime" requirements. I understand I can somehow add entitlements - but have no clue how to do that, and what to add. Somewhere there was reference to PCRE - I don't think Perl uses that itself, but certainly does deal with regexes a lot. How would I add eg. the JIT entitlement (if that was required)? Most documents refer to .mobileprovision files or similar - but I'm dealing with a desktop application. And as all of this is rather non-standard, we don't use Xcode at all. So I wouldn't even know how to use Xcode to create a profile for an an app which is managed completely "outside" of a normal macOS development environment.
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Nov ’24
Endpoint Security entitlement while in dev
I'm working on a system extension leveraging endpoint security entitlement. However, while in development, is there a way to continue working and testing locally without having the endpoint security entitlement approved or needing the extension signed. I got these errors running a build: Provisioning profile "Mac Team Provisioning Profile: "com.xxxxx.extension" doesn't include the com.apple.developer.endpoint-security.client entitlement.
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852
May ’25
codesign use of Cloud-managed Developer ID
My non-cloud Developer ID certificate will expire soon, and my account also has a cloud-managed Developer ID Certificate. My Mac application build workflow uses Archiving, so the cloud cert should be fine for that. But my workflow also signs bundled apps, such as Sparkle framwork's Autodupate app, using the codesign tool. Is it correct that codesign only uses certificates from the local Keychain, and so cannot use a Cloud-managed Developer ID certificate? Before I manually renew the non-cloud Developer ID certificate, I want to make sure I'm not missing some easier method. Thanks.
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496
Nov ’24
Notarization issue with keys
Keys can vary; an account is not necessary, as only Team Keys are suitable for notarization. It seems that Developer role is sufficient for notarization. We have tried both keys and roles of Developer and Account Manager - the behavior is the same. Multiline There are two types of API keys: Team Access to all apps, with varying levels of access based on selected roles. Individual Access and roles of the associated user. Individual kevs aren't able to use Provisioning endpoints, access Sales and Finance, or notaryTool. BlockQuote Here are the parameters used for notarization via API key: `-k, --key key-path    App Store Connect API key. File system path to the private key. -d, --key-id key-id    App Store Connect API Key ID. For most teams this will be a 10 character alphanumeric string. -i, --issuer issuer    App Store Connect API Issuer ID. The issuer ID is a UUID format string.` The notarization result shows as successful, and on the same machine, the package appears as notarized. However, when the package is transferred to another system, it is displayed as not notarized.
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685
Dec ’24
On Mac cannot open the application
Hello I build an application in Xcode for MacOS. But the exported app I cannot open on different Mac systems. I get the message 'The application X can't be opened'. I can only run the application on the Mac where Xcode is installed. I used different signing certificates: Apple Distribution, Developer ID application (this should be the one), Mac App Distribution. I archive the application, then use Direct Distribution, then after complished the notary service, I export the app.
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534
Nov ’24