{"id":42201,"date":"2019-03-18T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2019-03-17T21:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/prohoster.info\/blog\/blog_prohoster\/publikuem-prilozheniya-ios-v-app-store-s-gitlab-i-fastlane"},"modified":"2020-02-18T13:45:01","modified_gmt":"2020-02-18T10:45:01","slug":"publikuem-prilozheniya-ios-v-app-store-s-gitlab-i-fastlane","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/prohoster.info\/en\/blog\/administrirovanie\/publikuem-prilozheniya-ios-v-app-store-s-gitlab-i-fastlane","title":{"rendered":"We publish iOS applications in the App Store using GitLab and fastlane","gt_translate_keys":[{"key":"rendered","format":"text"}]},"content":{"rendered":"

\"We<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

How GitLab and fastlane build, sign, and publish iOS applications to the App Store.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Recently we had a post about how to quickly build and launch an Android application<\/a><\/noindex> with GitLab and fastlane<\/a><\/noindex>. Here we will see how to build and launch an iOS app and publish it to TestFlight. Check out how cool it is I make changes on my iPad Pro using GitLab Web IDE<\/a><\/noindex>, take the build, and get an update of the trial version of the application on the same iPad Pro where I developed it.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Here we will take a simple iOS application in Swift<\/a><\/noindex>, with which I recorded the video.<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/noindex><\/p>\n

A few words about Apple Store configuration<\/h3>\n

<\/p>\n

We need an application in the App Store, distribution certificates, and a provisioning profile to tie everything together.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

The most challenging part here is setting up signing rights in the App Store. I hope you can figure this out on your own. If you\u2019re a beginner, I will point you in the right direction, but we won\u2019t discuss the intricacies of managing Apple certificates here since they are constantly changing. This post will help you get started.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

My applications<\/h3>\n

<\/p>\n

You need an application in App Store Connect to have an ID for the configuration .xcodebuild<\/code>. The profile and application ID combine code builds, pricing, and availability, as well as TestFlight configuration for distributing test applications among users. Don\u2019t make public testing; private testing is sufficient if you have a small group, simple setup, and don\u2019t need additional permissions from Apple.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Provisioning profile<\/h3>\n

<\/p>\n

In addition to the app setup, you need distribution and development keys for iOS created in the Certificates, Identifiers & Profiles section in the Apple Developer console. All these certificates can be combined in the provisioning profile.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Users who will undergo authentication need the ability to create certificates, otherwise at the stages of cert and sigh<\/a><\/noindex> you will see an error.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Other options<\/h3>\n

<\/p>\n

Besides this simple method, there are other ways to configure certificates and profiles. So, if you're working differently, you may need to restructure. The most important thing is that you will need a configuration. .xcodebuild<\/code>, which will point to the necessary files, and the keychain must be accessible on the build computer for the user under whose name the runner operates. We use fastlane for code signing, and if there are issues or you want to learn more, check their documentation on code signing. Documentation on code signing<\/a><\/noindex>.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

In this example, I use the approach cert and sigh<\/a><\/noindex>, but for real-world applications, perhaps match<\/a><\/noindex>.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Preparing GitLab and fastlane<\/h2>\n

<\/p>\n

Setting up the CI Runner<\/h3>\n

<\/p>\n

After gathering all this data, we proceed to configure the GitLab runner on a MacOS device. Unfortunately, building iOS applications is only feasible on MacOS. But this could change, so if you're waiting for progress in this area, keep an eye on projects like xcbuild<\/a><\/noindex> and isign<\/a><\/noindex>, and our internal task gitlab-ce#57576<\/a><\/noindex>.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Configuring the runner is very simple. Follow the current instructions for setting up GitLab Runner on macOS<\/a><\/noindex>.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Note: The runner must use the executable shell<\/code>. This is essential for building iOS on macOS to operate directly as a user, rather than through containers. If you are using shell<\/code>, building and testing are done under the runner's user identity, directly on the build host. This is not as secure as using containers, so it's advisable to review the security documentation<\/a><\/noindex>, to not miss anything.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

sudo curl --output \/usr\/local\/bin\/gitlab-runner https:\/\/gitlab-runner-downloads.s3.amazonaws.com\/latest\/binaries\/gitlab-runner-darwin-amd64\nsudo chmod +x \/usr\/local\/bin\/gitlab-runner\ncd ~\ngitlab-runner install\ngitlab-runner start<\/code><\/pre>\n
<\/p>\n
The Apple keychain must be set up on this host with access to the keys that Xcode needs for building. The easiest way to test this is to log in as the user who will run the build and try to perform a manual build. If the system prompts for access to the keychain, choose 'Always allow' so that CI works. It might be worth logging in and monitoring the first couple of pipelines, to ensure they no longer request keychain access. The trouble is that Apple doesn't make our job easier with the automation mode, but once you set it up, everything works fine.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
fastlane init<\/h3>\n
<\/p>\n
To use fastlane in the project, run fastlane init<\/code>. Just follow the installation and running instructions for fastlane<\/a><\/noindex>, especially the section about Gemfile<\/a><\/noindex>, as we need a fast and predictable launch through the CI pipeline.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
In the project directory, run these commands:<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
xcode-select --install\nsudo gem install fastlane -NV\n# Alternatively using Homebrew\n# brew cask install fastlane\nfastlane init<\/code><\/pre>\n
<\/p>\n
fastlane will prompt for basic configuration and then create a fastlane folder in the project containing three files:<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
1. fastlane\/Appfile<\/code><\/strong><\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
This is straightforward. Just ensure that your Apple ID and App ID are correctly specified.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
app_identifier(\"com.vontrance.flappybird\") # The bundle identifier of your app\napple_id(\"your-email@your-domain.com\") # Your Apple email address<\/code><\/pre>\n
<\/p>\n
2. fastlane\/Fastfile<\/code><\/strong><\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Fastfile<\/code> defines the build steps. We use many built-in capabilities of fastlane, so this part is also clear. We create a single line that fetches the certificates, builds the app, and uploads it to TestFlight. You can break this process into different jobs if needed. All of these operations (get_certificates<\/code>, get_provisioning_profile<\/code>, gym<\/code> and upload_to_testflight<\/code>) are already included in fastlane.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Actions get_certificates<\/code> and get_provisioning_profile<\/code> are related to the signing approach cert and sigh<\/a><\/noindex>. If you are using match<\/a><\/noindex> or something else, make adjustments.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
default_platform(:ios)\n\nplatform :ios do\n  desc \"Build the application\"\n  lane :flappybuild do\n    get_certificates\n    get_provisioning_profile\n    gym\n    upload_to_testflight\n  end\nend<\/code><\/pre>\n
<\/p>\n
3. fastlane\/Gymfile<\/code><\/strong><\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
This is an optional file, but I created it manually to change the default output directory and place the output in the current folder. This simplifies CI. If you're interested, read about gym<\/code> and its parameters in the documentation<\/a><\/noindex>.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
https:\/\/docs.fastlane.tools\/actions\/gym\/<\/code><\/pre>\n
<\/p>\n
Our .gitlab-ci.yml<\/code><\/strong><\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
So, we have a CI runner for the project, and we're ready to test the pipeline. Let's see what we have in .gitlab-ci.yml<\/code>:<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
stages:\n  - build\n\nvariables:\n  LC_ALL: \"en_US.UTF-8\"\n  LANG: \"en_US.UTF-8\"\n  GIT_STRATEGY: clone\n\nbuild:\n  stage: build\n  script:\n    - bundle install\n    - bundle exec fastlane flappybuild\n  artifacts:\n    paths:\n    - .\/FlappyBird.ipa<\/code><\/pre>\n
<\/p>\n
Everything is great! We set the UTF-8 format for fastlane as required<\/a><\/noindex>, use the strategy clone<\/code> with the executable shell<\/code>, so we have a clean workspace for each build, and simply call flappybuild<\/code> fastlane, as shown above. In the end, we obtain a build, sign it, and deploy the latest build to TestFlight.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
We also get the artifact and save it with the build. Note that the format .ipa<\/code> is a signed ARM executable file, which does not run in the simulator. If you want output for the simulator, just add a build target that produces it, and then include it in the artifact path.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Other environment variables<\/h3>\n
<\/p>\n
Here are a couple of environment variables on which everything depends.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
FASTLANE_APPLE_APPLICATION_SPECIFIC_PASSWORD<\/code><\/strong> and FASTLANE_SESSION<\/code><\/strong><\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Authentication for the App Store and uploading to TestFlight requires authentication for fastlane. To do this, create an application-specific password that will be used in CI. Details here<\/a><\/noindex>.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
If you have two-factor authentication, create a variable FASTLANE_SESSION<\/code> (instructions are there too).<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
FASTLANE_USER<\/code><\/strong> and FASTLANE_PASSWORD<\/code><\/strong><\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
To cert and sigh<\/a><\/noindex> you called the profile initialization and certificates on request, you need to set the variables FASTLANE_USER<\/code> and FASTLANE_PASSWORD<\/code>. Details here<\/a><\/noindex>. This is not necessary if you are using a different signing method.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
In conclusion<\/h3>\n
<\/p>\n
You can see how all this works in my simple example<\/a><\/noindex>.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
I hope this was helpful and inspired you to work with iOS builds in a GitLab project. Here are more CI tips<\/a><\/noindex> for fastlane, just in case. You might want to use CI_BUILD_ID<\/code> (for incremental builds) to automatically increment the version<\/a><\/noindex>.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Another cool feature of fastlane is automatic screenshots<\/a><\/noindex> for the App Store, which are very easy to set up.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Share your experiences in the comments and share ideas for improving GitLab for iOS application development.<\/p>\n
Source: habr.com<\/a><\/p>","protected":false,"gt_translate_keys":[{"key":"rendered","format":"html"}]},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
\u041a\u0430\u043a GitLab \u0441 fastlane \u0441\u043e\u0431\u0438\u0440\u0430\u0435\u0442, \u043f\u043e\u0434\u043f\u0438\u0441\u044b\u0432\u0430\u0435\u0442 \u0438 \u043f\u0443\u0431\u043b\u0438\u043a\u0443\u0435\u0442 \u043f\u0440\u0438\u043b\u043e\u0436\u0435\u043d\u0438\u044f \u0434\u043b\u044f iOS \u0432 App Store. \u041d\u0435\u0434\u0430\u0432\u043d\u043e \u0443 \u043d\u0430\u0441 \u0431\u044b\u043b \u043f\u043e\u0441\u0442 \u043e \u0442\u043e\u043c, \u043a\u0430\u043a \u0431\u044b\u0441\u0442\u0440\u043e \u0441\u043e\u0431\u0440\u0430\u0442\u044c \u0438 \u0437\u0430\u043f\u0443\u0441\u0442\u0438\u0442\u044c \u043f\u0440\u0438\u043b\u043e\u0436\u0435\u043d\u0438\u0435 Android \u0441 GitLab \u0438 fastlane. \u0417\u0434\u0435\u0441\u044c \u043c\u044b \u0443\u0432\u0438\u0434\u0438\u043c, \u043a\u0430\u043a \u0441\u043e\u0431\u0440\u0430\u0442\u044c \u0438 \u0437\u0430\u043f\u0443\u0441\u0442\u0438\u0442\u044c \u043f\u0440\u0438\u043b\u043e\u0436\u0435\u043d\u0438\u0435 iOS \u0438 \u043e\u043f\u0443\u0431\u043b\u0438\u043a\u043e\u0432\u0430\u0442\u044c \u0435\u0433\u043e \u0432 TestFlight. \u0417\u0430\u0446\u0435\u043d\u0438\u0442\u0435, \u043a\u0430\u043a \u043a\u0440\u0443\u0442\u043e \u044f \u0432\u043d\u043e\u0448\u0443 \u0438\u0437\u043c\u0435\u043d\u0435\u043d\u0438\u0435 \u043d\u0430 iPad Pro […]<\/p>\n","protected":false,"gt_translate_keys":[{"key":"rendered","format":"html"}]},"author":1,"featured_media":42202,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[688],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-42201","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-administrirovanie"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\n","aioseo_head_json":{"title":"\ud83e\udd47Publishing iOS apps to the App Store with GitLab and fastlane | ProHoster","description":"How GitLab Works with fastlane.","canonical_url":"https:\/\/prohoster.info\/en\/blog\/administrirovanie\/publikuem-prilozheniya-ios-v-app-store-s-gitlab-i-fastlane","robots":"max-image-preview:large","keywords":"","webmasterTools":{"miscellaneous":""},"schema":null,"og:locale":"en_US","og:site_name":"ProHoster | \u041a\u0443\u043f\u0438\u0442\u044c \u043d\u0430\u0434\u0435\u0436\u043d\u044b\u0439 \u0445\u043e\u0441\u0442\u0438\u043d\u0433 \u0434\u043b\u044f \u0441\u0430\u0439\u0442\u043e\u0432 \u0441 \u0437\u0430\u0449\u0438\u0442\u043e\u0439 \u043e\u0442 DDoS, VPS VDS \u0441\u0435\u0440\u0432\u0435\u0440\u044b","og:type":"article","og:title":"\ud83e\udd47\u041f\u0443\u0431\u043b\u0438\u043a\u0443\u0435\u043c \u043f\u0440\u0438\u043b\u043e\u0436\u0435\u043d\u0438\u044f iOS \u0432 App Store \u0441 GitLab \u0438 fastlane | ProHoster","og:description":"\u041a\u0430\u043a GitLab \u0441 fastlane.","og:url":"https:\/\/prohoster.info\/en\/blog\/administrirovanie\/publikuem-prilozheniya-ios-v-app-store-s-gitlab-i-fastlane","og:image":"https:\/\/prohoster.info\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/logo-350.jpg","og:image:secure_url":"https:\/\/prohoster.info\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/logo-350.jpg","og:image:width":350,"og:image:height":350,"article:published_time":"2019-03-17T21:00:00+00:00","article:modified_time":"2020-02-18T10:45:01+00:00","article:publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/prohoster","article:author":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/prohoster"},"aioseo_meta_data":{"post_id":"42201","title":null,"description":null,"keywords":null,"keyphrases":null,"primary_term":null,"canonical_url":null,"og_title":null,"og_description":null,"og_object_type":"default","og_image_type":"default","og_image_url":null,"og_image_width":null,"og_image_height":null,"og_image_custom_url":null,"og_image_custom_fields":null,"og_video":null,"og_custom_url":null,"og_article_section":null,"og_article_tags":null,"twitter_use_og":false,"twitter_card":"default","twitter_image_type":"default","twitter_image_url":null,"twitter_image_custom_url":null,"twitter_image_custom_fields":null,"twitter_title":null,"twitter_description":null,"schema":{"blockGraphs":[],"customGraphs":[],"default":{"data":{"Article":[],"Course":[],"Dataset":[],"FAQPage":[],"Movie":[],"Person":[],"Product":[],"ProductReview":[],"Car":[],"Recipe":[],"Service":[],"SoftwareApplication":[],"WebPage":[]},"graphName":"","isEnabled":true},"graphs":[]},"schema_type":null,"schema_type_options":null,"pillar_content":false,"robots_default":true,"robots_noindex":false,"robots_noarchive":false,"robots_nosnippet":false,"robots_nofollow":false,"robots_noimageindex":false,"robots_noodp":false,"robots_notranslate":false,"robots_max_snippet":null,"robots_max_videopreview":null,"robots_max_imagepreview":"large","priority":null,"frequency":null,"local_seo":null,"seo_analyzer_scan_date":"2026-01-22 07:36:23","breadcrumb_settings":null,"limit_modified_date":false,"reviewed_by":null,"ai":null,"created":"2021-02-28 18:23:50","updated":"2026-01-22 07:36:23","focus_keyword":null,"additional_keywords":null,"truseo_locale":null},"gt_translate_keys":[{"key":"link","format":"url"}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/prohoster.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42201","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/prohoster.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/prohoster.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/prohoster.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/prohoster.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=42201"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/prohoster.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42201\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/prohoster.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/42202"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/prohoster.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=42201"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/prohoster.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=42201"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/prohoster.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=42201"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}