IOS enterprise OTA distribution problems

deploymentios

I'm trying to deploy an app that I built OTA. These are the steps I went through to create the ipa:

Generate Certificate Signing Request
Create distribution .mobileprovision
Xcode > Product > Archive > Save For Enterprise Deployment
Specified the right title, URL (fully qualified domain), large / small app icons
Host the .mobileprovision, .ipa, .plist (xcode generated) on an IIS. Configured IIS MIME TYPES to application/octet-stream for .mobilerpovision, .ipa and text/xml for .plist.
Tested this out on a laptop and verified all the URLs are valid.
Installed Provisioning Profile OTA on the iPad.
Clicking on the download link with the right format (itms-services://?action=download-manifest&url=$URL).
iPad returns a generic "Could not connect" error.

I've tried to install the same app manually on the iPad via iTunes and it works fine. So at this point, I don't even know what else I can try. I've tried and removed entitlements.plist after realizing that Xcode does this automatically.

Any help is much appreicated!

Thanks,
Teja.

Best Answer

I had the same problem trying to deploy enterprise deployment signed OTA Apps with IIS 7.5. The following solution worked for me:

Change the mime types:

.plist : application/xml
.ipa : application/x-plist

Set IIS Anonymous Authentication Credentials to the Application Pool Identity.

It just ain't that simple! :-(

Console may be far from enough. Sometimes there is no relevant message there.

Then, the last resort is following a checklist. Doing all over from zero again. There are many out there... But following there's my generic and non-detailed checklist for Over The Air distribution, at the moment.

Have a Distribution build - This is the most complicated part, done always on the web, and Apple changes the steps all the time. In general, you need a certificate, an identifier and the provisioning profile. Listing devices is almost always required. My current choice is "Distribution -> In House".

P.S.: If you do want to list the devices, make sure the UDIDs are correct. Many issues reported here.
Set the profile under Project -> Build Settings - Since XCode 5, things changed. Instead of code signing with an identity you can clear all that up and set it under *Code Signing -> *Provisioning Profile. The Identity should automatically change to "Automatic". There's also no more need to manually download files from step 1 and install them. XCode manages that now.
Archive - In Xcode 5, there's no need any more to "Build for Archive". Just archive it. It should show up next on Organizer, and it will take some time if it's a big project. Many errors can come up on this step, but they're almost always related to code compilation and not to OTA.

Deploy - Now in Organizer -> Archives, select the proper archive (should be already selected as the most recent one) click on "Distribute", then Save for Enterprise or Ad Hoc Deployment. May be big wait now. When saving the file, there is an option to "Save for Enterprise Distribution". That is a completely misleading name. What it really does is create the plist file. If you have one already, it's fine. You can even manually edit it, which is generally better. The plist be needed for step (5). Here's a good one:

<?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>items</key>
    <array>
        <dict>
            <key>assets</key>
            <array>
                <dict>
                    <key>kind</key>
                    <string>software-package</string>
                    <key>url</key>
                    <string>http://example.com/app.ipa</string>
                </dict>
                <dict>
                    <key>kind</key>
                    <string>full-size-image</string>
                    <key>needs-shine</key>
                    <false/>
                    <key>url</key>
                    <string>http://example.com/FullSizeImage.png</string>
                </dict>
                <dict>
                    <key>kind</key>
                    <string>display-image</string>
                    <key>needs-shine</key>
                    <false/>
                    <key>url</key>
                    <string>http://example.com/Icon.png</string>
                </dict>
            </array>
            <key>metadata</key>
            <dict>
                <key>bundle-identifier</key>
                <string>com.example.app</string>
                <key>kind</key>
                <string>software</string>
                <key>subtitle</key>
                <string>for iOS</string>
                <key>title</key>
                <string>My App</string>
            </dict>
        </dict>
    </array>
</dict>
</plist>

Distribute - Skip this step if you want to install it using XCode or iPhone Configuration Utility. You're done. This is putting on the file on a web site. "Simply" add a HTML page with a href link such as this:
```
 itms-services://?action=download-manifest&url=http://example.com/app.plist
```
Unfortunately dealing with web servers is never simple. So also check the server mime-type! I've made a couple PHP files to deal with them, if your server supports php. Just keep your files as they are (the plist, html and ipa) and link to app.plist.php instead:

app.plist.php
```
$file = fopen("app.plist", "r");
while(!feof($file)){
    $line = fgets($file);
    print str_replace(".ipa", ".ipa.php", $line);
}
fclose($file);
?>
```
app.ipa.php
```
<?php
header('Content-type: application/octet-stream');

$file = fopen("app.ipa", "r");
while(!feof($file)){
    $line = fgets($file);
    print $line;
}
fclose($file);
?>
```

Verify - Ensure that all files listed in the assets array are available to download. If any of these files return 404 or such (including the icons) the entire install will fail. You must either (A) make those files available or (B) delete those missing entries from the plist. The icon entries are not required for the download to work.

Here is an example plist with no icons:

<?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>items</key>
    <array>
        <dict>
            <key>assets</key>
            <array>
                <dict>
                    <key>kind</key>
                    <string>software-package</string>
                    <key>url</key>
                    <string>http://example.com/app.ipa</string>
                </dict>
            </array>
            <key>metadata</key>
            <dict>
                <key>bundle-identifier</key>
                <string>com.example.app</string>
                <key>kind</key>
                <string>software</string>
                <key>subtitle</key>
                <string>for iOS</string>
                <key>title</key>
                <string>My App</string>
            </dict>
        </dict>
    </array>
</dict>
</plist>

The file examples are a very important part of the checklist. They have to be 100% correct.

Double check the plist and html files!

^{P.S.: I'm writing this answer because, in my case, it was a "simple" matter of wrong link on the .plist file. And, as such, it's hard as hell to diagnose. Well, only doing this checklist could I find the error! It was pointing to "another-app.ipa" rather than "app.ipa"!}

Ios – Xcode 7 error: “Missing iOS Distribution signing identity for …”

From Apple -

Thanks for bringing this to the attention of the community and apologies for the issues you’ve been having. This issue stems from having a copy of the expired WWDR Intermediate certificate in both your System and Login keychains. To resolve the issue, you should first download and install the new WWDR intermediate certificate (by double-clicking on the file). Next, in the Keychain Access application, select the System keychain. Make sure to select “Show Expired Certificates” in the View menu and then delete the expired version of the Apple Worldwide Developer Relations Certificate Authority Intermediate certificate (expired on February 14, 2016). Your certificates should now appear as valid in Keychain Access and be available to Xcode for submissions to the App Store.

As noted in a comment below, the expired certificate also needs to be removed from the login section, as well:

To all that cannot get it working despite the instructions... There are two expired WWDR certs. One is in login keychain, and the other one is in the System. You have to delete both of them in order to make things working

Best Answer

Related Solutions

IOS Enterprise OTA distribution Unable to Download Application

It just ain't that simple! :-(

Double check the plist and html files!

Ios – Xcode 7 error: “Missing iOS Distribution signing identity for …”

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