Issue
I made a sample application named checkStatus
. Now I want to create a signed APK file. So I can install it in different devices for my testing.
For this, I Googled and found this documentation.
As per the document, I switched to my project directory and ran the following command:
keytool -genkey -v -keystore key-name.keystore -alias alias-name -keyalg RSA -keysize 2048 -validity 10000
After I ran the above command, I got a file named key-name.keystore
at projectRoot/key-name.keystore
.
And then I copy-pasted that file into projectRoot/platforms/android/key-name.keystore
.
After that, I created a file named ant.properties
and saved it in projectRoot/platforms/android
.
I wrote the following code inside the file:
key.store=projectRoot/key-name.keystore
key.alias=myApp
After that, I ran the following command to release
Cordova builds android --release
It's throwing the following error:
/home/projectRoot/platforms/android/cordova/node_modules/q/q.js:126
throw e;
^
Error code 1 for command: ant with args: release,-f,/home/projectRoot/platforms/android/build.xml,-Dout.dir=ant-build,-Dgen.absolute.dir=ant-gen
Error: /home/projectRoot/platforms/android/cordova/build: Command failed with exit code 8
at ChildProcess.whenDone (/usr/lib/node_modules/cordova/node_modules/cordova-lib/src/cordova/superspawn.js:135:23)
at ChildProcess.EventEmitter.emit (events.js:98:17)
at maybeClose (child_process.js:753:16)
at Process.ChildProcess._handle.onexit (child_process.js:820:5)
So this time, I modified key.store
value in ant.properties
file like in the following way.
key.store=/home/projectRoot/platforms/android/key-name.keystore
Again, I ran the cordova build android --release
command. It throws the same error.
Can anyone tell me what I've done wrong?
Solution
Step 1:
D:\projects\Phonegap\Example> cordova plugin rm org.apache.cordova.console --save
add the --save
so that it removes the plugin from the config.xml
file.
Step 2:
To generate a release build for Android, we first need to make a small change to the AndroidManifest.xml
file found in platforms/android. Edit the file and change the line:
<application android:debuggable="true" android:hardwareAccelerated="true" android:icon="@drawable/icon" android:label="@string/app_name">
and change android:debuggable
to false
:
<application android:debuggable="false" android:hardwareAccelerated="true" android:icon="@drawable/icon" android:label="@string/app_name">
As of cordova 6.2.0 remove the android:debuggable tag completely. Here is the explanation from cordova:
Explanation for issues of type "HardcodedDebugMode": It's best to leave out the android:debuggable attribute from the manifest. If you do, then the tools will automatically insert android:debuggable=true when building an APK to debug on an emulator or device. And when you perform a release build, such as Exporting APK, it will automatically set it to false.
If on the other hand you specify a specific value in the manifest file, then the tools will always use it. This can lead to accidentally publishing your app with debug information.
Step 3:
Now we can tell cordova to generate our release build:
D:\projects\Phonegap\Example> cordova build --release android
Then, we can find our unsigned APK file in platforms/android/ant-build
. In our example, the file was platforms/android/ant-build/Example-release-unsigned.apk
Step 4:
Note : We have our keystore keystoreNAME-mobileapps.keystore
in this Git Repo, if you want to create another, please proceed with the following steps.
Key Generation:
Syntax:
keytool -genkey -v -keystore <keystoreName>.keystore -alias <Keystore AliasName> -keyalg <Key algorithm> -keysize <Key size> -validity <Key Validity in Days>
Egs:
keytool -genkey -v -keystore NAME-mobileapps.keystore -alias NAMEmobileapps -keyalg RSA -keysize 2048 -validity 10000
keystore password? : xxxxxxx
What is your first and last name? : xxxxxx
What is the name of your organizational unit? : xxxxxxxx
What is the name of your organization? : xxxxxxxxx
What is the name of your City or Locality? : xxxxxxx
What is the name of your State or Province? : xxxxx
What is the two-letter country code for this unit? : xxx
Then the Key store has been generated with name as NAME-mobileapps.keystore
Step 5:
Place the generated keystore in
old version cordova
D:\projects\Phonegap\Example\platforms\android\ant-build
New version cordova
D:\projects\Phonegap\Example\platforms\android\build\outputs\apk
To sign the unsigned APK, run the jarsigner tool which is also included in the JDK:
Syntax:
jarsigner -verbose -sigalg SHA1withRSA -digestalg SHA1 -keystore <keystorename> <Unsigned APK file> <Keystore Alias name>
Egs:
D:\projects\Phonegap\Example\platforms\android\ant-build> jarsigner -verbose -sigalg SHA1withRSA -digestalg SHA1 -keystore NAME-mobileapps.keystore Example-release-unsigned.apk xxxxxmobileapps
OR
D:\projects\Phonegap\Example\platforms\android\build\outputs\apk> jarsigner -verbose -sigalg SHA1withRSA -digestalg SHA1 -keystore NAME-mobileapps.keystore Example-release-unsigned.apk xxxxxmobileapps
Enter KeyPhrase as 'xxxxxxxx'
This signs the apk in place.
Step 6:
Finally, we need to run the zip align tool to optimize the APK:
D:\projects\Phonegap\Example\platforms\android\ant-build> zipalign -v 4 Example-release-unsigned.apk Example.apk
OR
D:\projects\Phonegap\Example\platforms\android\ant-build> C:\Phonegap\adt-bundle-windows-x86_64-20140624\sdk\build-tools\android-4.4W\zipalign -v 4 Example-release-unsigned.apk Example.apk
OR
D:\projects\Phonegap\Example\platforms\android\build\outputs\apk> C:\Phonegap\adt-bundle-windows-x86_64-20140624\sdk\build-tools\android-4.4W\zipalign -v 4 Example-release-unsigned.apk Example.apk
Now we have our final release binary called example.apk and we can release this on the Google Play Store.
Answered By - cfprabhu