Package an iOS app manually with the packager service

The manual packager (included as part of iOS packager service) simplifies the process of manually re-signing and repackaging an app.

Prerequisites

  • The packaging service must be installed on a Mac machine. For details, see Signing service for iOS apps.

  • The packaging server machine must be accessible. Open a web browser and enter <Address of packaging service machine:port/instrumentation/>. The packaging service UI should be displayed.

If you do not meet the requirements above, you can sign and package your app manually using the iOS Enabler and then upload it to Digital Lab. For details, see Package an iOS app manually with the iOS Enabler.

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Re-sign and deploy the Agent apps manually

You can re-sign the Agent apps manually, for example if you'd like to use a different certificate and provisioning profile from those defined in the packaging service, or if your license does not support automatic signing and distribution of Agents.

Sign using the certificate and provisioning profile defined in the packaging service

To sign the Agent apps:

  1. In Apps > Agent Apps tab of the Lab console (admin users only) download the Agent apps:
    1. Select the Agent app and click the More information button More information to open the app details window.
    2. Click the Download button to download the Agent App for manual signing.
  2. Open a web browser and navigate to <Address of packaging service machine:port/instrumentation/>
  3. If there is more than one service defined, click the tab of the packaging service that you would like to use.

    Tip: Click the About icon in the top-right corner to see the certificates used for defining a packaging service.

  4. Select Agent.
  5. Upload the HP4M-Agent.ipa to the packager service by dragging or dropping, or browsing to the file.
  6. Click Sign. This generates an additional HP4M-Agent enabled ipa file, code signed with the certificate and provisioning profile defined in the packaging service.
  7. Repeat the above steps to re-sign all the Digital Runner apps (WebDriverAgentRunner_less15.ipa and WebDriverAgentRunner.ipa)
  8. Proceed to Distribute the re-signed apps (manual signing only).

Sign using a different certificate and provisioning profile from those defined in the packaging service

To sign the Agent apps:

  1. Select AUT.
  2. Select Show Advanced Options. Select the code sign option, and then select the Sign with customized certificate checkbox.
  3. Upload the Apple Developer certificate and the provisioning profile, and provide the Certificate key password if required.
  4. Upload the HP4M-Agent.ipa to the packager service by dragging or dropping, or browsing to the file.
  5. Click Sign. This generates an additional HP4M-Agent enabled ipa file, code signed with your custom certificate and provisioning profile.
  6. Upload and sign the Digital Lab Runner apps (WebDriverAgentRunner_less15.ipa and WebDriverAgentRunner.ipa), one app at a time.
  7. Proceed to Distribute the re-signed apps (manual signing only).

Distribute the re-signed apps (manual signing only)

Once you re-sign the Agent apps, deploy them in the following way:

  1. Rename the files by removing -Codesigned from the file name. For example, the Agent file should be renamed from HP4M-Agent-Codesigned.ipa to HP4M-Agent.ipa
  2. Upload the apps to Digital Lab.

  3. Navigate to Device Lab > Connectors, select the required connectors in the grid, and click the Distribute Agents button . After the updated Agent apps have been distributed to connectors, select the relevant connectors from the grid and click Reconnect Devices. For more information , see View and manage connectors.
    Note that even if an earlier upload of an Agent app is selected in the app card, the latest upload is always used for distribution to connectors.

Note: If the Agent doesn't install or run on a device, there is most likely a problem with your code-signing certificate or provisioning profile. Make sure that:

  • The “get-task-allow” entitlement is set to true.
  • All the UDIDs of your devices are included in the list.

Manually sign and package an app

You can re-sign and package apps manually, for example if you'd like to use a different certificate and provisioning profile from those defined in the packaging service.

Sign and package an app manually

  1. Open the packaging service in your browser by navigating to <Address of packaging service machine:port/instrumentation/>
  2. If there is more than one service defined, click the tab of the packaging service that you would like to use.

    Tip: Click the About icon to see the certificates used for a specific packaging service.

  3. Select AUT.

  4. Upload the application top the packager service by dragging and dropping, or browsing to the application file.

  5. Select Show Advanced Options for the following options:
    • Code sign an app only, without packaging.
    • Use a different certificate and provisioning profile from those defined in the packager service.

      Note that the DigitalLab.dylib library is for instrumenting your app for Digital Lab. The files are included in the packaging service. In general, there in no need to use a customized Digital Lab dylib.
  1. Click Instrument. The packaged/ code-signed app is downloaded to your browser.

    Note: Whenever you upload a new or modified .ipa file to the Digital Lab server, as a result of adding or changing an iOS device, make sure to unplug the device and plug it in again.


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