How to create a signed APK file using Cordova command line interface?
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 10000keystore password? : xxxxxxxWhat is your first and last name? : xxxxxxWhat is the name of your organizational unit? : xxxxxxxxWhat is the name of your organization? : xxxxxxxxxWhat is the name of your City or Locality? : xxxxxxxWhat is the name of your State or Province? : xxxxxWhat 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 xxxxxmobileappsEnter 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.
An update to @malcubierre for Cordova 4 (and later)-
Create a file called release-signing.properties
and put in APPFOLDER\platforms\android
folder
Contents of the file: edit after = for all except 2nd line
storeFile=C:/yourlocation/app.keystorestoreType=jkskeyAlias=aliasnamekeyPassword=aliaspassstorePassword=password
Then this command should build a release version:
cordova build android --release
UPDATE - This was not working for me Cordova 10 with android 9
- The build was replacing the release-signing.properties file. I had to make a build.json
file and drop it in the appfolder, same as root. And this is the contents - replace as above:
{"android": { "release": { "keystore": "C:/yourlocation/app.keystore", "storePassword": "password", "alias": "aliasname", "password" : "aliaspass", "keystoreType": "" }}}
Run it and it will generate one of those release-signing.properties
in the android folder
In the current documentation we can specify a build.json with the keystore:
{ "android": { "debug": { "keystore": "..\android.keystore", "storePassword": "android", "alias": "mykey1", "password" : "password", "keystoreType": "" }, "release": { "keystore": "..\android.keystore", "storePassword": "", "alias": "mykey2", "password" : "password", "keystoreType": "" } } }
And then, execute the commando with --buildConfig argumente, this way:
cordova run android --buildConfig