Flutter build IPA with --export-options-plist not working #113977

gkustas · 2022-10-25T00:25:32Z

I have a white-label app that needs to be built from the command line. I am using "flutter build IPA" with an export options list to specify code signing specifics. It appears that the values are not getting passed to xcodebuild and the build fails because it doesn't find the provisioning profile.

error: No profiles for 'com.foundationtennis.app' were found: Xcode couldn't find any iOS App Development provisioning profiles matching 'com.foundationtennis.app'. Automatic signing is disabled and unable to generate a profile. To enable automatic signing, pass -allowProvisioningUpdates to xcodebuild. (in target 'Runner' from project 'Runner')

NOTE: if I open the XCode workspace and manually set the signing capabilities, flutter build IP works fine.

Steps to Reproduce

Create ExportOptions.plist file like this:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<!DOCTYPE plist PUBLIC "-//Apple//DTD PLIST 1.0//EN" "http://www.apple.com/DTDs/PropertyList-1.0.dtd">
<plist version="1.0">
  <dict>
    <key>generateAppStoreInformation</key>
    <false/>
    <key>method</key>
    <string>app-store</string>
    <key>provisioningProfiles</key>
    <dict>
      <key>com.foundationtennis.app</key>
      <string>a38ecde3-53bc-4910-8068-604b01665598</string>
    </dict>
    <key>signingCertificate</key>
    <string>Apple Distribution</string>
    <key>signingStyle</key>
    <string>manual</string>
    <key>stripSwiftSymbols</key>
    <true/>
    <key>teamID</key>
    <string>844NRE74R7</string>
    <key>uploadBitcode</key>
    <false/>
    <key>uploadSymbols</key>
    <true/>
  </dict>
</plist>

Run flutter build IPA like so:

flutter build ios --release --verbose --export-options-plist=/Users/george/Develop/flutter_builds/foundation_tennis_v4/ios/ExportOptions.plist

See the output from the previous command below

Logs

see attached for verbose output

flutterbuildipa.log

The text was updated successfully, but these errors were encountered:

huycozy · 2022-10-25T09:08:06Z

@gkustas
From your log, I see there is an error with CocoaPods:

Error output from CocoaPods:
           ↳
[        ]     Ignoring ffi-1.15.4 because its extensions are not built. Try: gem pristine ffi --version 1.15.4
               Ignoring ffi-1.12.2 because its extensions are not built. Try: gem pristine ffi --version 1.12.2
               Ignoring ffi-1.15.4 because its extensions are not built. Try: gem pristine ffi --version 1.15.4

Please see this StackOverflow answer for more details: https://stackoverflow.com/questions/64698820/ignoring-ffi-1-13-1-because-its-extensions-are-not-built-try-gem-pristine-ffi

Also, the valid build command is:

flutter build ipa --export-options-plist=path/to/ExportOptions.plist

Please see this as reference.

gkustas · 2022-10-25T16:30:06Z

As I mentioned in my post, the "flutter build ipa" command worked after manually setting the capabilities in the code workspace. I have a build script that runs "flutter create", copies source files from another project, and edits other files. Then it tries to run "flutter build ipa". So, the Ruby warnings are not the problem. They exist even when the "flutter build ipa" works after manually editing the workspace.

Also - I entered the wrong command in my post. I tries "flutter build ios" later, but that didn't work either. Here is the command entered that produced the log I provided.

flutter build ipa --release --verbose --export-options-plist=/Users/george/Develop/flutter_builds/foundation_tennis_v4/ios/ExportOptions.plist

gkustas · 2022-10-25T16:53:18Z

Also note: If you examine the verbose log output, and search for all occurrences of "xcodebuild" (the command that fails), you can see that it isn't using the export options:

[   +2 ms] executing: [/Users/george/Develop/flutter_builds/foundation_tennis_v4/ios/Runner.xcodeproj/] /usr/bin/arch -arm64e xcrun xcodebuild -project /Users/george/Develop/flutter_builds/foundation_tennis_v4/ios/Runner.xcodeproj -scheme Runner -configuration Release -destination generic/platform=iOS -showBuildSettings BUILD_DIR=/Users/george/Develop/flutter_builds/foundation_tennis_v4/build/ios
[        ] executing: [/Users/george/Develop/flutter_builds/foundation_tennis_v4/ios/Runner.xcodeproj/] /usr/bin/arch -arm64e xcrun xcodebuild -project /Users/george/Develop/flutter_builds/foundation_tennis_v4/ios/Runner.xcodeproj -scheme Runner -configuration Release -destination generic/platform=iOS -showBuildSettings BUILD_DIR=/Users/george/Develop/flutter_builds/foundation_tennis_v4/build/ios
[+2790 ms] Command line invocation:
               /Applications/Xcode.app/Contents/Developer/usr/bin/xcodebuild -project /Users/george/Develop/flutter_builds/foundation_tennis_v4/ios/Runner.xcodeproj -scheme Runner -configuration Release -destination generic/platform=iOS -showBuildSettings BUILD_DIR=/Users/george/Develop/flutter_builds/foundation_tennis_v4/build/ios

[+4240 ms] Command line invocation:
               /Applications/Xcode.app/Contents/Developer/usr/bin/xcodebuild -configuration Release VERBOSE_SCRIPT_LOGGING=YES -workspace Runner.xcworkspace -scheme Runner -sdk iphoneos -destination generic/platform=iOS SCRIPT_OUTPUT_STREAM_FILE=/var/folders/kj/vs0tgb753b756rp3_r9frfb00000gn/T/flutter_tools.6IziGN/flutter_ios_build_temp_dirtRJ8rm/pipe_to_stdout -resultBundlePath /var/folders/kj/vs0tgb753b756rp3_r9frfb00000gn/T/flutter_tools.6IziGN/flutter_ios_build_temp_dirtRJ8rm/temporary_xcresult_bundle -resultBundleVersion 3 FLUTTER_SUPPRESS_ANALYTICS=true COMPILER_INDEX_STORE_ENABLE=NO -archivePath /Users/george/Develop/flutter_builds/foundation_tennis_v4/build/ios/archive/Runner archive

The last one is the one that fails with this error:

                             "issueType" : {
                               "_type" : {
                                 "_name" : "String"
                               },
                               "_value" : "Error"
                             },
                             "message" : {
                               "_type" : {
                                 "_name" : "String"
                               },
                               "_value" : "No profiles for 'com.foundationtennis.app' were found: Xcode couldn't find any iOS App Development provisioning profiles matching 'com.foundationtennis.app'. Automatic signing is disabled and unable to generate a profile. To enable automatic signing, pass -allowProvisioningUpdates to xcodebuild."
                             }

huycozy · 2022-10-26T11:27:24Z

@gkustas Thanks for providing more info. Labeling the issue for further insights from the team.

gkustas · 2022-10-26T15:22:17Z

After looking into this further, I know what is going on. I also have a proposal for the Flutter team that will allow me and others to create and build a Flutter application all from the command line. First, the explanation:

"flutter build ipa" uses xcodebuild twice. The first time it creates the archive bundle like this:

xcodebuild -workspace Runner.workspace <more parameters follow>

Then it exports the ipa from the archive like this:

xcodebuild -exportArchive -exportOptionsPlist <more parameters follow>

The problem is that the first time flutter calls xcodebuild, it expects that the workspace has already been configured for code signing. If you want to create and build entirely from the command line with no human intervention, you are out of luck. xcodebuild will fail with the error I posted above (No profiles for 'xxx' were found: Xcode couldn't find any iOS App Development provisioning profiles matching 'xxx').

MY PROPOSAL: flutter build ipa should accept additional code signing parameters and pass them on to xcodebuild. They match the build properties found in the code project file located in ios/Runner/Runner.xcodeproj/project.pbxprod

DEVELOPMENT_TEAM
CODE_SIGN_STYLE
PROVISIONING_PROFILE_SPECIFIER

NOTE: These parameters are NOT documented in the xcodebuild -h help info, but they were added in XCode version 8. Read more about code signing changes in XCode here.

My solution to the problem was to install a node plugin called cordova-node-xcode and use it to edit the workspace project config file located in ios/Runner/Runner.xcodeproj/project.pbxprod. I added the build properties specified above. I called "flutter build ipa", and everything was built and exported properly. I've included my nodejs code below in case anyone wants to use it. NOTE: the code also demonstrates how to obtain the code signing properties by extracting them from the actual mobile provision files.

async function buildIt(brand) {
	return new Promise(async (resolve) => {
		try {
			var brandTargetFolder = `${TARGET_FOLDER}/${brand}`
			var brandSourceFolder = `${BRANDS_FOLDER}/${brand}`
			// *** IOS first...
			if (argv.platform == "ios" || argv.platform == "all") {
				// get the provisioning profile(s). We'll export both distribution and debug
				var provProfiles = fs.readdirSync(`${brandSourceFolder}`).filter(function (file) {
					return file.toLowerCase().endsWith(".mobileprovision")
				})
				var profileName
				var profileUUID
				var teamID
				var teamName				
				provProfiles.forEach(f => {
					var fileName = f.split(".")[0]
					var profilePlistData = execSync(`openssl smime -inform der -verify -noverify -in "${brandSourceFolder}/${f}"`, { "cwd": `${brandTargetFolder}/ios` })
					var profile = plist.parse(profilePlistData)
					if (profile["Entitlements"]["aps-environment"] == "production") {
						profileUUID = profile["UUID"]
						profileName = profile["Name"]
						teamID = profile["TeamIdentifier"][0]
						teamName = profile["TeamName"]
						// make sure the mobile provision is installed
						var profilePath = `${HOME}/Library/MobileDevice/Provisioning Profiles/${profileUUID}.mobileprovision`
						if (!fs.existsSync(profilePath)) {
							console.log("installing mobile provision file: " + f)
							fs.copySync(`${brandSourceFolder}/${f}`, profilePath)
						}
					}
					else {
						console.log(warning(`Found debug mobile profile '${profile["UUID"]}', but only building distribution archives.`))
					}
				})
				if (null == profileUUID) {
					console.log(error("Production mobile provisioning profile not found in " + brandSourceFolder))
					resolve(1)
					return
				}
				else {
					console.log(`creating export options list...`)
					var exportOptions = plist.parse(fs.readFileSync(`${TOOLS_FOLDER}/ExportOptions.plist`))
					var profileObject = new Object()
					profileObject[_config.package] = profileUUID
					exportOptions.provisioningProfiles = profileObject
					plist.writeFileSync(`${brandTargetFolder}/ios/ExportOptions.plist`, exportOptions)
					//edit xcode project to include signing capabilities
					console.log(`editing xcode project file to include provisioning profile ${profileName}(${profileUUID})`)
					var projectPath = `${brandTargetFolder}/ios/Runner.xcodeproj/project.pbxproj`
					fs.appendFileSync(projectPath, '\n')
					var pbxProj = xcode.project(projectPath)
					pbxProj.parse(error => {
						if (!error) {
							pbxProj.addBuildProperty('DEVELOPMENT_TEAM', teamID)
							pbxProj.addBuildProperty('CODE_SIGN_IDENTITY', "\"iPhone Distribution\"")
							pbxProj.addBuildProperty('CODE_SIGN_STYLE', "Manual")
							pbxProj.addBuildProperty('PROVISIONING_PROFILE_SPECIFIER', profileName)
							fs.writeFileSync(projectPath, pbxProj.writeSync())
						} else {
							console.log(error)
						}
					})

					// build the IPA 
					await shell(`flutter build ipa --release  --export-options-plist "${brandTargetFolder}/ios/ExportOptions.plist"`, {"cwd" : brandTargetFolder})
					
				}
			}
	})	
}

jmagman · 2022-10-27T00:37:31Z

Most of the iOS Flutter commands assume that you have either set up code signing in the Xcode project, or it will drop back to flutter config ios-signing-cert. You can work around this by setting environment variables with the FLUTTER_XCODE_* prefix, like FLUTTER_XCODE_DEVELOPMENT_TEAM #43553. Those variables will be passed into the xcodebuild invocations--we use this in our own CI system.

This is similar to #106612 but not quite the same, it should all build with --export-options-plist.

flutter build ipa should accept additional code signing parameters and pass them on to xcodebuild

This is probably the right solution to both issues.

gkustas · 2022-10-27T21:31:09Z

Thank you @jmagman! I wish I knew this before I jumped through all of those hoops, but I guess I didn't scour the existing issues very well. :-)

This is a much better solution than my proposal.

jmagman · 2022-10-27T22:03:43Z

We're working on making the iOS release process less painful, and require less Xcode spelunking. Thanks for your investigation!

mvacha · 2022-11-15T16:52:28Z

We have just spent days with @petrnymsa trying to get ipa signing to work propertly in our CI/CD pipeline. Our pipeline works similarly to the flutter build ipa command, and this is what we have learned:

As @gkustas correctly says, everytime xcodebuild is called, it tries to do codesigning:

"flutter build ipa" uses xcodebuild twice. The first time it creates the archive bundle like this:
xcodebuild -workspace Runner.workspace <more parameters follow>
Then it exports the ipa from the archive like this:
xcodebuild -exportArchive -exportOptionsPlist <more parameters follow>
The problem is that the first time flutter calls xcodebuild, it expects that the workspace has already been configured for code signing.

So either the codesigning on the specified project/target, or explicit code-signing parameters (CODE_SIGN_STYLE, PROVISIONING_PROFILE_SPECIFIER, etc.) must be properly configured, otherwise it fails. As it does for the OP.

The specified -exportOptionsPlist parameter is only accepted by xcodebuild -exportArchive command, and it only affects generation (and codesigning) of the final .ipa file (https://www.matrixprojects.net/p/xcodebuild-export-options-plist/).

The workaround we have found is to explicitly disable signing of the .xcarchive file when -exportOptionsPlist is used:

xcodebuild -workspace Runner.workspace  CODE_SIGN_IDENTITY="" CODE_SIGNING_REQUIRED=NO CODE_SIGNING_ALLOWED=NO <more parameters follow>

The only signing that happens in the build process is then in the final step when .ipa file is created using xcodebuild -exportArchive -exportOptionsPlist ....

gkustas · 2022-11-15T18:04:54Z

The solution to this problem was resolved here: #43553

Thanks to @jmagman who mentioned it earlier in this thread. It makes everything easier - just set the environment variables FLUTTER_XCODE_ * (eg. FLUTTER_XCODE_DEVELOPMENT_TEAM) in your shell before calling flutter build ipa.

jmagman · 2022-11-15T18:47:27Z

The workaround we have found is to explicitly disable signing of the .xcarchive file when -exportOptionsPlist is used:
xcodebuild -workspace Runner.workspace  CODE_SIGN_IDENTITY="" CODE_SIGNING_REQUIRED=NO CODE_SIGNING_ALLOWED=NO <more parameters follow>
The only signing that happens in the build process is then in the final step when .ipa file is created using xcodebuild -exportArchive -exportOptionsPlist ....

Oh interesting that building the xcarchive with no codesigning and then re-codesigning during -exportArchive works, I wouldn't have thought so...

mvacha · 2022-11-17T15:30:22Z

The solution to this problem was resolved here: #43553

Thanks to @jmagman who mentioned it earlier in this thread. It makes everything easier - just set the environment variables FLUTTER_XCODE_ * (eg. FLUTTER_XCODE_DEVELOPMENT_TEAM) in your shell before calling flutter build ipa.

I agree that this is an absolute fool-proof way to do that, but it is more of a workaround than a solution of the root cause.

Oh interesting that building the xcarchive with no codesigning and then re-codesigning during -exportArchive works, I wouldn't have thought so...

A friend pointed out to me that .ipa files can be resigned - e.g. you can have a pipeline that builds .ipa signed with App Distribution certificate and resign it as Ad-Hoc to avoid building the app twice. So the idea was that all previous signing during build must be irrelevant for the final .ipa and it really is.

jmagman · 2022-11-18T00:14:31Z

Thanks for the tip, that simplifies things.

Veeeeksi · 2023-06-21T11:48:42Z

I have used similar approach where I make unsigned archive first via command line and then use fastlane "build_app" method to sign the archive.

Aiden0801 · 2023-09-18T11:04:34Z

I was able to successfully export ipa file using manuual sign.
Here is the code I used to build...

      # Build and sign the ipa using a single flutter command
      - name: Building IPA
        run: |
          flutter build ios --release --no-codesign
          xcodebuild -workspace ios/Runner.xcworkspace  CODE_SIGN_IDENTITY="" CODE_SIGNING_REQUIRED=NO CODE_SIGNING_ALLOWED=NO -scheme Runner -configuration Release -destination "generic/platform=iOS" archive -archivePath build/ios/Runner.xcarchive
          xcodebuild -exportArchive -archivePath build/ios/Runner.xcarchive -exportOptionsPlist ios/ExportOptions.plist -exportPath build/ios/ipa/Runner.ipa

Anyway I could not find a way to export using flutter build ipa.
Any thoughts on this?

simranjeet09 · 2023-09-18T13:44:18Z

Try this

Open xcode and uncheck automatically manage provision profile
Create a file called ExportOptions.plist
Mention associated provisioning profiles in this file
Run

flutter build ipa --release --export-options-plist=ios/ExportOptions.plist

ExportOptions.plist should look like this


<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<!DOCTYPE plist PUBLIC "-//Apple//DTD PLIST 1.0//EN" "http://www.apple.com/DTDs/PropertyList-1.0.dtd">
<plist version="1.0">
<dict>
    <key>compileBitcode</key>
    <true/>
    <key>method</key>
    <string>app-store</string>
    <key>provisioningProfiles</key>
    <dict>
        <key>BUNDLE NAME HEREr</key>
        <string>PROVISIONING PROFILE NAME</string>
    </dict>
    <key>signingCertificate</key>
    <string>iOS Distribution</string>
    <key>signingStyle</key>
    <string>manual</string>
    <key>stripSwiftSymbols</key>
    <true/>
    <key>teamID</key>
    <string>TEAM ID HERE</string>
    <key>thinning</key>
    <string>&lt;none&gt;</string>
</dict>
</plist>

kent-williams · 2024-01-05T03:31:24Z

For anyone still getting this in their GitHub actions Error (Xcode): No profiles for 'your.bundle.id' were found: Xcode couldn't find any iOS App Development provisioning profiles matching 'your.bundle.id', after following the instructions above.
You must save the provisioning profile settings in your xcode project settings project.pbxproj.

abhishekbedi1432 · 2024-05-04T15:02:56Z

I recently was able to fix this by

Using fastlane match to setup the code signing by downloading the profiles starting with keyword match
Using update_code_signing command to update the provisioning profile (again the profile names start with match)
Using 'flutter build ipa --export-options-plist=/path/to/plist' . Here the plist also has a dictionary node specifying bundle id and profile name. The plist also had entitlement node info.

This way, i created the ipa in one shot!

However, i am still figuring out how to include xcode live widget extension also.

fingerart · 2024-05-14T08:30:33Z

According to @jmagman #113977 (comment) I successfully built the ipa
Prerequisites:

Prepare the profile file in ~/Library/MobileDevice/Provisioning Profiles
Import the p12 certificate into the keychain

Add these to environment variables (https://help.apple.com/xcode/mac/current/#/itcaec37c2a6)

FLUTTER_XCODE_DEVELOPMENT_TEAM: your_dev_tem_id
FLUTTER_XCODE_PROVISIONING_PROFILE_SPECIFIER: prfile name or uuid
FLUTTER_XCODE_CODE_SIGN_IDENTITY: Certificate name or type(Apple Distribution)

Build commands:
flutter build ipa --export-options-plist=path/to/ExportOptions.plist

huycozy added the in triage Presently being triaged by the triage team label Oct 25, 2022

huycozy added the waiting for customer response The Flutter team cannot make further progress on this issue until the original reporter responds label Oct 25, 2022

github-actions bot removed the waiting for customer response The Flutter team cannot make further progress on this issue until the original reporter responds label Oct 25, 2022

jmagman added the a: release Challenges faced when attempting to productionize an app label Oct 27, 2022

jmagman added this to To do in Improved iOS App Releases via automation Oct 27, 2022

Hixie removed the will need additional triage This issue or PR needs attention during weekly triage label Nov 1, 2022

huycozy mentioned this issue Nov 3, 2022

flutter build ipa --export-options-plist not work. #114583

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darshankawar mentioned this issue Jun 19, 2023

Flutter Build IPA not correctly setting entitlements #129075

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flutter-triage-bot bot added multiteam-retriage-candidate team-ios Owned by iOS platform team labels Jul 8, 2023

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jmagman mentioned this issue Mar 7, 2024

Compiling iOS using a different toolchain #98043

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Flutter build IPA with --export-options-plist not working #113977

Flutter build IPA with --export-options-plist not working #113977

gkustas commented Oct 25, 2022 •

edited by huycozy

huycozy commented Oct 25, 2022

gkustas commented Oct 25, 2022 •

edited

gkustas commented Oct 25, 2022 •

edited

huycozy commented Oct 26, 2022

gkustas commented Oct 26, 2022 •

edited

jmagman commented Oct 27, 2022 •

edited

gkustas commented Oct 27, 2022

jmagman commented Oct 27, 2022

mvacha commented Nov 15, 2022 •

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gkustas commented Nov 15, 2022

jmagman commented Nov 15, 2022

mvacha commented Nov 17, 2022

jmagman commented Nov 18, 2022

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Veeeeksi commented Jun 21, 2023

Aiden0801 commented Sep 18, 2023

simranjeet09 commented Sep 18, 2023 •

edited

kent-williams commented Jan 5, 2024

abhishekbedi1432 commented May 4, 2024 •

edited

fingerart commented May 14, 2024 •

edited

Flutter build IPA with --export-options-plist not working #113977

Flutter build IPA with --export-options-plist not working #113977

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gkustas commented Oct 25, 2022 • edited by huycozy

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