electron-osx-sign

Codesign Electron macOS apps

About

electron-osx-sign minimizes the extra work needed to eventually prepare your apps for shipping, providing the most basic tools and assets. Note that the bare necessities here are sufficient for enabling app sandbox, yet other configurations for network access etc. require additional work.

Check out electron-osx-sign guide for suggestions on setting up your environment and workflow for distribution or development.

Please visit our wiki for walk-throughs, notes and frequently asked questions from past projects shipped with electron-packager and electron-osx-sign.

NB: Since electron-osx-sign injects the entry com.apple.security.application-groups into the entitlements file as part of the pre-signing process, this would reportedly limit app transfer on iTunes Connect (see #150). However, opting out entitlements automation opts['pre-auto-entitlements'] === false may result in worse graphics performance.

The signing procedure implemented in this package is based on what described in Mac App Store Submission Guide.

Electron

It is worth noting as well that starting from Electron v1.1.1, a new mechanism was introduced to allow IPC in App Sandbox (see electron#5601); wish to have full support of legacy Electron versions, please utilize opts.version, which option brings less hassle with making default settings among Electron builds.

We are trying to keep updated to the latest Electron specs; please file us an issue if having any suggestions or experiencing difficulties code signing your products.

An OPEN Open Source Project

Individuals making significant and valuable contributions are given commit-access to the project to contribute as they see fit. This project is more like an open wiki than a standard guarded open source project.

Collaborators

Thanks to seanchas116, jasonhinkle, and develar for improving the usability of this project implementation.

Installation

# For use in npm scripts
npm install --save electron-osx-sign

# For use from CLI
npm install -g electron-osx-sign

Note: electron-osx-sign is a dependency of electron-packager as of 6.0.0 for signing apps on macOS. However, feel free to install this package globally for more customization beyond specifying identity and entitlements.

Usage

electron-osx-sign

From the Command Line

electron-osx-sign app [embedded-binary ...] [options ...]

Examples

Since electron-osx-sign adds the entry com.apple.developer.team-identifier to a temporary copy of the specified entitlements file (with the default option --pre-auto-entitlements) distribution builds can no longer be run directly. To run the app codesigned for distribution locally after codesigning, you may manually add ElectronTeamID in your Info.plist and com.apple.security.application-groups in the entitlements file, and provide the flag --no-pre-auto-entitlements for electron-osx-sign to avoid this extra bit. Note that "certain features are only allowed across apps whose team-identifier value match" (Technical Note TN2415).

The examples below assume that --pre-auto-entitlements is enabled.

• To sign a distribution version by default:

  electron-osx-sign path/to/my.app
  

  For distribution in the Mac App Store: Have the provisioning profile for distribution placed in the current working directory and the signing identity installed in the default keychain. The app is not expected to run after codesigning since there is no provisioned device, and it is intended only for submission to iTunes Connect. For distribution outside the Mac App Store: Have the signing identity for distribution installed in the default keychain and optionally place the provisioning profile in the current working directory. By default App Sandbox is not enabled. The app should run on all devices.

• To sign development version:

  electron-osx-sign path/to/my.app --type=development
  

  For testing Mac App Store builds: Have the provisioning profile for development placed in the current working directory and the signing identity installed in the default keychain. The app will only run on provisioned devices. For testing apps for distribution outside the Mac App Store, have the signing identity for development installed in the default keychain and optionally the provisioning profile placed in the current working directory. The app will only run on provisioned devices. However, you may prefer to just go with signing a distribution version because the app is expected to launch properly after codesigned.

• It is recommended to place the provisioning profile(s) under the working directory for electron-osx-sign to pick up automatically; however, to specify provisioning profile to be embedded explicitly:

  electron-osx-sign path/to/my.app --provisioning-profile=path/to/my.provisionprofile
  

• To specify the entitlements file:

  electron-osx-sign path/to/my.app --entitlements=path/to/my.entitlements
  

• It is recommended to make use of --version while signing legacy versions of Electron:

  electron-osx-sign path/to/my.app --version=0.34.0
  

Run electron-osx-sign --help or see electron-osx-sign-usage.txt for CLI-specific options.

From the API

var sign = require('electron-osx-sign')
sign(opts[, function done (err) {}])

Example:

var sign = require('electron-osx-sign')
sign({
  app: 'path/to/my.app'
}, function done (err) {
  if (err) {
    // Handle the error
    return;
  }
  // Application signed
})

From release v0.4.0-beta, Bluebird promises are introduced for better async method calls; the following is also available for use.

var signAsync = require('electron-osx-sign').signAsync
signAsync(opts)
  [.then(function () {})]
  [.catch(function (err) {})]

Example:

var signAsync = require('electron-osx-sign').signAsync
signAsync({
  app: 'path/to/my.app'
})
  .then(function () {
    // Application signed
  })
  .catch(function (err) {
    // Handle the error
  })

opts - Options

Required

app - String

Path to the application package. Needs file extension .app.

Optional

binaries - Array

Path to additional binaries that will be signed along with built-ins of Electron. Default to undefined.

entitlements - String

Path to entitlements file for signing the app. Default to built-in entitlements file, Sandbox enabled for Mac App Store platform. See default.entitlements.mas.plist or default.entitlements.darwin.plist with respect to your platform.

entitlements-inherit - String

Path to child entitlements which inherit the security settings for signing frameworks and bundles of a distribution. This option only applies when signing with entitlements. See default.entitlements.mas.inherit.plist or default.entitlements.darwin.inherit.plist with respect to your platform.

entitlements-loginhelper - String

Path to login helper entitlement file. When using App Sandbox, the inherited entitlement should not be used since this is a standalone executable. This option only applies when signing with entitlements. Default to the same entitlements file used for signing the app bundle.

entitlementsForFile - Function

Function that receives the path to a file and the current codesign arguments as parameters. If you wish to override the entitlements used for this file path this function should return the absolute path to a different entitlements file.

Note: Only available via the JS API

gatekeeper-assess - Boolean

Flag to enable/disable Gatekeeper assessment after signing the app. Disabling it is useful for signing with self-signed certificates. Gatekeeper assessment is enabled by default on darwin platform. Default to true.

hardenedRuntime or hardened-runtime - Boolean

Flag to enable the Mojave hardened runtime when signing the app. Disabled by default, requires Xcode >= 10 and macOS >= 10.13.6.

identity - String

Name of certificate to use when signing. Default to be selected with respect to provisioning-profile and platform from keychain or keychain by system default.

Signing platform mas will look for 3rd Party Mac Developer Application: * (*), and platform darwin will look for Developer ID Application: * (*) by default.

identity-validation - Boolean

Flag to enable/disable validation for the signing identity. If enabled, the identity provided will be validated in the keychain specified. Default to true.

keychain - String

The keychain name. Default to system default keychain.

ignore - RegExp|Function|Array.<(RegExp|Function)>

Regex, function or an array of regex's and functions that signal skipping signing a file. Elements of other types are treated as RegExp. Default to undefined.

platform - String

Build platform of Electron. Allowed values: darwin, mas. Default to auto detect by presence of Squirrel.framework within the application bundle.

pre-auto-entitlements - Boolean

Flag to enable/disable automation of com.apple.security.application-groups in entitlements file and update Info.plist with ElectronTeamID. Default to true.

pre-embed-provisioning-profile - Boolean

Flag to enable/disable embedding of provisioning profile in the current working directory. Default to true.

provisioning-profile - String

Path to provisioning profile.

requirements - String

Specify the criteria that you recommend to be used to evaluate the code signature. See more info from https://developer.apple.com/library/mac/documentation/Security/Conceptual/CodeSigningGuide/RequirementLang/RequirementLang.html Default to undefined.

restrict - Boolean

To be deprecated, see signature-flags. Restrict dyld loading. See doc about this code signature flag for more details. Disabled by default.

signature-flags - String Comma separated string or array for code signature flag. Default to undefined.

signature-size - Number Provide a value to be passed to codesign along with the --signature-size flag, to work around the signature too large to embed issue. A value of 12000 should do it - see the FAQ for details. Default to undefined.

strict-verify - Boolean|String|Array.

Flag to enable/disable --strict flag when verifying the signed application bundle. If provided as a string, each component should be separated with comma (,). If provided as an array, each item should be a string corresponding to a component. Default to true.

timestamp - String

Specify the URL of the timestamp authority server, default to server provided by Apple. Please note that this default server may not support signatures not furnished by Apple. Disable the timestamp service with none.

type - String

Specify whether to sign app for development or for distribution. Allowed values: development, distribution. Default to distribution.

version - String

Build version of Electron. Values may be like: 1.1.1, 1.2.0. Default to latest Electron version.

It is recommended to utilize this option for best support of specific Electron versions. This may trigger pre/post operations for signing: For example, automation of setting com.apple.security.application-groups in entitlements file and of updating Info.plist with ElectronTeamID is enabled for all versions starting from 1.1.1; set pre-auto-entitlements option to false to disable this feature.

cb - Callback

err - Error

electron-osx-flat

From the Command Line

electron-osx-flat app [options ...]

Example:

electron-osx-flat path/to/my.app

Run electron-osx-flat --help or see electron-osx-flat-usage.txt for CLI-specific options.

From the API

var flat = require('electron-osx-sign').flat
flat(opts[, function done (err) {}])

Example:

var flat = require('electron-osx-sign').flat
flat({
  app: 'path/to/my.app'
}, function done (err) {
  if (err) {
    // Handle the error
    return;
  }
  // Application flattened
})

From release v0.4.0-beta, Bluebird promises are introduced for better async method calls; the following is also available for use.

var flatAsync = require('electron-osx-sign').flatAsync
flatAsync(opts)
  [.then(function () {})]
  [.catch(function (err) {})]

Example:

var flatAsync = require('electron-osx-sign').flatAsync
flatAsync({
  app: 'path/to/my.app'
})
  .then(function () {
    // Application flattened
  })
  .catch(function (err) {
    // Handle the error
  })

opts - Options

Required

app - String

Path to the application bundle. Needs file extension .app.

Optional

identity - String

Name of certificate to use when signing. Default to be selected with respect to platform from keychain or keychain by system default.

Flattening platform mas will look for 3rd Party Mac Developer Installer: * (*), and platform darwin will look for Developer ID Installer: * (*) by default.

identity-validation - Boolean

Flag to enable/disable validation for signing identity. If enabled, the identity provided will be validated in the keychain specified. Default to true.

install - String

Path to install the bundle. Default to /Applications.

keychain - String

The keychain name. Default to system default keychain.

platform - String

Build platform of Electron. Allowed values: darwin, mas. Default to auto detect by presence of Squirrel.framework within the application bundle.

pkg - String

Path to the output the flattened package. Needs file extension .pkg.

scripts - String Path to a directory containing pre and/or post install scripts.

cb - Callback

err - Error

Debug

As of release v0.3.1, external module debug is used to display logs and messages; remember to export DEBUG=electron-osx-sign* when necessary.

Test

The project's configured to run automated tests on CircleCI.

If you wish to manually test the module, first comment out opts.identity in test/basic.js to enable auto discovery. Then run the command npm test from the dev directory.

When this command is run for the first time: electron-download will download macOS Electron releases defined in test/config.json, and save to ~/.electron/, which might take up less than 1GB of disk space.

A successful testing should look something like:

$ npm test

> electron-osx-sign@0.4.17 pretest electron-osx-sign
> rimraf test/work

> electron-osx-sign@0.4.17 test electron-osx-sign
> standard && tape test

Calling electron-download before running tests...
Running tests...
TAP version 13
# setup
# defaults-test:v7.0.0-beta.3-darwin-x64
ok 1 app signed
# defaults-test:v7.0.0-beta.3-mas-x64
ok 2 app signed
# defaults-test:v6.0.3-darwin-x64
ok 3 app signed
# defaults-test:v6.0.3-mas-x64
ok 4 app signed
# defaults-test:v5.0.10-darwin-x64
ok 5 app signed
# defaults-test:v5.0.10-mas-x64
ok 6 app signed
# defaults-test:v4.2.9-darwin-x64
ok 7 app signed
# defaults-test:v4.2.9-mas-x64
ok 8 app signed
# defaults-test:v3.1.2-darwin-x64
ok 9 app signed
# defaults-test:v3.1.2-mas-x64
ok 10 app signed
# teardown

1..10
# tests 10
# pass  10

# ok

Related

• electron-packager - Package your electron app in OS executables (.app, .exe, etc) via JS or CLI
• electron-builder - A complete solution to package and build a ready for distribution Electron app with “auto update” support out of the box