ios - How to install an unsigned IPA file on my device using an Apple Developer account?

Question

I need to install an .ipa file that I own onto my device, an iPhone 5.

I have the device, the iOS developer account (complete access), Xcode, etc. Now, how should I "codesign" it, add certificates, provisioning profiles and finally how do I install it in my device?

Answer 1

Since you have an .ipa, what you need to do is extract the .ipa (basically a ZIP file), pull out some files related to the old signing, swap in your new provision profile, and then re-sign. Simply zip it back up and you should be good to go.

IPA="/path/to/file.ipa"
PROVISION="/path/to/file.mobileprovision"
CERTIFICATE="Name of certificate: To sign with" # must be in keychain
# unzip the ipa
unzip -q "$IPA"
# remove the signature
rm -rf Payload/*.app/_CodeSignature Payload/*.app/CodeResources
# replace the provision
cp "$PROVISION" Payload/*.app/embedded.mobileprovision
# sign with the new certificate
/usr/bin/codesign -f -s "$CERTIFICATE" --resource-rules Payload/*.app/ResourceRules.plist Payload/*.app
# zip it back up
zip -qr resigned.ipa Payload

This is all assuming that you're not trying to change the bundle ID or anything with entitlements. Note that the new profile must have the necessary entitlements for this to work on a device.

For a pre-made script that also does this, see the following:

https://github.com/RichardBronosky/ota-tools