productbuild(1) BSD General Commands Manual productbuild(1)
NAME
productbuild -- Build a product archive for the OS X Installer or the Mac App Store
SYNOPSIS
productbuild [--product requirements-plist] {--component component-path [install-path]} product-output-path
productbuild {--content content-path} product-output-path
productbuild [--product requirements-plist] {--root root-path install-path} product-output-path
productbuild [options] --distribution dist-path [--package-path search-path] product-output-path
productbuild --synthesize [--product requirements-plist] {--package pkg-path} distribution-output-path
DESCRIPTION
A product archive is a flat file with a .pkg extension. productbuild creates a deployable product archive, which can be used with the OS X
Installer, or submitted to the Mac App Store. It has 5 different modes, as shown in the SYNOPSIS above:
1. Create a product archive from a bundle (e.g. for the Mac App Store). If you have a self-contained bundle (e.g. an app) that always gets
installed to the same location (e.g. /Applications), specify the bundle and install path using the --component option. You can specify
additional requirements using a PRE-INSTALL REQUIREMENTS PROPERTY LIST. When you specify a bundle, productbuild automatically creates a
component package, much like pkgbuild(1), and synthesizes a distribution file.
2. Create a product archive for in-app content. Specify in-app content using the --content option.
3. Create a product archive from a destination root. When you use xcodebuild(1) with the install action, the result is a destination root,
either under /tmp, or in whatever location you specify with the Xcode DSTROOT setting. Use the productbuild --root option to specify
that destination root directory and its install path. You can specify additional requirements using a PRE-INSTALL REQUIREMENTS PROPERTY
LIST. When you specify a root, productbuild automatically creates a component package, much like pkgbuild(1), and synthesizes a distri-
bution file.
4. Create a product archive using a distribution file. If you have a distribution file, use the --distribution option to specify the path
to it, and the --package-path option to specify the directory where the component packages are found (if they are not in the current
working directory). All packages referenced by the distribution will be incorporated into the resulting product archive.
5. Synthesize a distribution for one or more component packages. This also synthesizes a distribution (also using an optional PRE-INSTALL
REQUIREMENTS PROPERTY LIST), but writes out the resulting distribution instead of incorporating it into a product archive. This can
serve as a starting point if a more sophisticated distribution is required.
When creating product archives for submission to the Mac App Store, use only the --component mode of productbuild. The other modes will cre-
ate product archives that are compatible with the OS X Installer, but are not necessarily acceptable for the Mac App Store.
ARGUMENTS AND OPTIONS
--distribution dist-path
Use the distribution file at dist-path to define the presentation, choices and packages to be installed by the product. Each of
the package names referenced in the given distribution file must be found in a path specified with the --package-path flag.
If --distribution is omitted, a distribution will be synthesized to install all of the bundles given by --component flags, or all
of the packages given by --package flags.
--package-path search-path
productbuild will search in search-path for component packages named in the distribution. You can use multiple --package-path
flags if necessary. The current working directory is searched automatically.
--resources rsrc-dir
productbuild will copy the resources from rsrc-dir into the resulting product archive. rsrc-dir can contain unlocalized
resources (such as image files) and/or standard lproj directories (e.g. English.lproj) containing localized resources (such as
strings files).
--ui interface-type
If the distribution has multiple choices-outline elements, you can use --ui to select one for building the product archive: this
controls which package references are used. The interface-type should match the value of the ``ui'' attribute on the desired
choices-outline. The default is to use the choices-outline with no ui attribute.
If used without --distribution, the given interface-type will be used for the choices-outline of the synthesized distribution.
--identifier product-identifier
The given unique (non-localized) product-identifier will be associated with the product.
--version product-version
The given product-version string will be associated with the product.
--component component-path [install-path]
The bundle at component-path is added to the product archive (as its own component package) and to the synthesized distribution.
If install-path is specified, it is used as the default install location for the bundle. (If you omit install-path, a location is
inferred from the given component-path.)
Valid only if --distribution is not specified.
--content content-path
The contents of the directory at content-path are added to the product archive (as its own component package) and to the synthe-
sized distribution.
Valid only if --distribution is not specified.
--root root-path install-path
The entire directory tree at root-path is added to the product archive (as its own component package) and to the synthesized dis-
tribution. This is typically used for a destination root created by xcodebuild(1).
Valid only if --distribution is not specified.
--package pkg-path [install-path]
The component package at pkg-path is added to the product archive and to the synthesized distribution. If install-path is speci-
fied, it is used as the default install location for the package, overriding any default location specified by the component
package itself.
Valid only if --distribution is not specified.
--synthesize
Write the synthesized distribution directly instead of incorporating it into a product archive.
--product requirements-plist
When synthesizing a distribution, use the requirements from requirements-plist. See PRE-INSTALL REQUIREMENTS PROPERTY LIST (this
was formerly called the "product definition property list").
--scripts scripts-path
The contents of scripts-path is added to the product archive for use by system.run() commands in the distribution. This is valid
only for product archives targeted to the OS X Installer application.
--plugins plugins-path
The contents of plugins-path is added to the product archive for use by the OS X Installer application's plugin mechanism. It
will normally contain a InstallerSections.plist file, and one or more plugin bundles.
--sign identity-name
Adds a digital signature to the resulting package. See SIGNED PRODUCT ARCHIVES
--keychain keychain-path
Specify a specific keychain to search for the signing identity. See SIGNED PRODUCT ARCHIVES
--cert certificate-name
Specify an intermediate certificate to be embedded in the package. See SIGNED PRODUCT ARCHIVES
--timestamp
Include a trusted timestamp with the signature. See SIGNED PRODUCT ARCHIVES
--timestamp=none
Disable trusted timestamp, regardless of identity. See SIGNED PRODUCT ARCHIVES
--quiet Inhibits status messages on stdout. Any error messages are still sent to stderr.
product-output-path
The path to which the product archive will be written.
distribution-output-path
When --synthesize is used, the path to which the synthesized distribution will be written.
PRE-INSTALL REQUIREMENTS PROPERTY LIST
When you use productbuild to synthesize a distribution (e.g. with the --component option), you can specify pre-install requirements in a sep-
arate property list file, specified with the --product option. (When you use Xcode to create a package for the Mac App Store, you can specify
this file using the "Pre-install Requirements Property List" build setting.)
At the top level, this property list is a dictionary, with the following keys:
Key Description
os Minimum allowable OS versions (array of strings)
arch Supported architectures (array of strings)
ram Minimum required RAM in gigabytes (real)
bundle Specific bundles that must exist on the system (array of dictionaries)
all-bundles Are all of the bundles specified required? (Boolean)
gl-renderer Required OpenGL capabilities (string)
cl-device Required OpenCL capabilities (string)
single-graphics-device Must OpenGL and OpenCL requirements be met by a single device? (Boolean)
home Should installation be allowed in user home directory? (Boolean)
o The os key defines one or more minimum system versions. You might have multiple versions if a certain OS update is required for a given
major OS version. For example, if you specify 10.5.4 and 10.6.2, Leopard would be allowed from 10.5.4 up, and Snow Leopard from 10.6.2
up, but 10.6 and 10.6.1 would be rejected. There is no upper-bound associated with the highest value given.
NOTE: Some of the other requirements imply their own minimum system versions, which may override the values set here. This is noted below
where applicable.
o The arch key specifies the supported architectures, e.g. i386 and/or x86_64. Note that i386 allows both 32- and 64-bit systems, but if
you specify only x86_64, a 64-bit system is required.
o The ram key specifies the minimum amount of RAM required, in gigabytes.
o The gl-renderer key specifies a predicate, against which each of the OpenGL hardware renderers will be checked. For the product to be
installed, at least one of the renderers must match the requirements of the predicate. The given predicate string must be convertible to
an NSPredicate, and can use the following key paths:
Key Path Description
version The supported OpenGL version as a double (e.g. major.minor).
extensions An array of OpenGL extension strings supported.
limits.<gl-parameter> The integer value of the named GL parameter (see below).
limits.param<value> The integer value of the GL parameter named by enum <value> (see below).
Note that arbitrary GL parameters can be checked via the limits key, using the same symbolic name #defined by the GL headers. For exam-
ple:
( version >= 2.0
OR ( ( 'GL_ARB_texture_float' IN extensions OR 'GL_ATI_texture_float' IN extensions )
AND 'GL_ARB_vertex_blend' IN extensions ) )
AND ( limits.GL_MAX_TEXTURE_SIZE >= 1024 AND limits.GL_MAX_TEXTURE_STACK_DEPTH > 8 )
Note that recently-introduced GL parameters may not be recognized by their symbolic names, in which case you can use the alternate form
of param<value>, where <value> is the enum (integer) value of the parameter. For example:
limits.param0x0D33 >= 1024
NOTE: The gl-renderer requirement is ignored on versions of Mac OS X before 10.6.8. For this reason, specifying gl-renderer will cause
the minimum system version to be raised to 10.6.8. This may override the values set via the os key.
o The cl-device key specifies a predicate, against which each of the OpenCL GPU devices will be checked. For the product to be installed,
at least one of the devices must match the requirements of the predicate. The given predicate string must be convertible to an NSPredi-
cate, and can use the following key paths:
Key Path Description
version The supported OpenCL version as a double (e.g. major.minor).
extensions An array of OpenCL extension strings supported.
limits.<cl-parameter> The integer value of the named CL deviceInfo parameter.
limits.param<value> The integer value of the CL parameter named by enum <value>.
If both cl-device and gl-renderer are specified, both must be satisfied. By default, the requirements are considered met even if one
graphics device satisfies the OpenGL requirement and a different one satisfies the OpenCL one. If you want to require that a single
device satisfies both, add the single-graphics-device key with a value of true.
NOTE: The cl-device requirement is ignored on versions of Mac OS X before 10.7. For this reason, specifying cl-device will cause the min-
imum system version to be raised to 10.7. This may override the values set via the os key.
o The bundle key specifies one or more bundles that must already exist on the system (possibly at some minimum version) for the product to
be installed. For example, this might be appropriate if the product installs a plugin, and you need to ensure that a compatible version
of the host application is available. Each object in this array is a dictionary with the following keys:
Key Description
id The CFBundleIdentifier of the bundle (required)
path The default path of the bundle (required)
CFBundleShortVersionString The minimum short version string of the bundle (optional)
search Search for bundle if not found at default path? (Boolean, optional)
The given default path will be checked first. Only if the bundle does not exist at that path, and search is given as true, the bundle
identifier (id) will be used to find the bundle (this is appropriate for applications which the user might move). If the bundle is found
through either method, and its version is greater than or equal to the given CFBundleShortVersionString, the requirement is met. (If
CFBundleShortVersionString is omitted, the bundle need only exist.)
If you specify multiple bundles, all must exist, unless you specify the all-bundles key with a value of false, in which case only one of
the bundles must exist.
If the bundle requirement is not met, the Installer must have a localized explanation to display to the user. This should be provided in
the InfoPlist.strings resource of your top-level bundle (as specified with --component), under the RequiredBundlesDescription key.
o The home key, if set to true, designates that the product can be installed under the user's home directory, as an alternative to
installing on the system for all users. This should be enabled only if the entire product can be installed in the home directory and be
functional. (Home directory installation is disabled by default.) Note that home directory installation is not supported for the Mac App
Store.
SIGNED PRODUCT ARCHIVES
When creating a product archive, you can optionally add a digital signature to the archive. You will need to have a certificate and corre-
sponding private key -- together called an ``identity'' -- in one of your accessible keychains. To add a signature, specify the name of the
identity using the --sign option. The identity's name is the same as the ``Common Name'' of the certificate.
If you want to search for the identity in a specific keychain, specify the path to the keychain file using the --keychain option. Otherwise,
the default keychain search path is used.
productbuild will embed the signing certificate in the product archive, as well as any intermediate certificates that are found in the key-
chain. If you need to embed additional certificates to form a chain of trust between the signing certificate and a trusted root certificate
on the system, use the --cert option to give the Common Name of the intermediate certificate. Multiple --cert options may be used to embed
multiple intermediate certificates.
The signature can optionally include a trusted timestamp. This is enabled by default when signing with a Developer ID identity, but it can be
enabled explicitly using the --timestamp option. A timestamp server must be contacted to embed a trusted timestamp. If you aren't connected
to the Internet, you can use --timestamp=none to disable timestamps, even for a Developer ID identity.
Note that component packages do not need to be signed (e.g. with pkgbuild(1)) before adding them to a signed product archive. The signature
on the product archive protects the entire product, including the added packages.
If you want to postpone signing the product archive until it has been tested and is ready to deploy, you can use productsign(1) when you are
ready to add the signature.
EXAMPLES
productbuild --component build/Release/Sample.app /Applications Product.pkg
Build the archive Product.pkg to install Sample.app under /Applications, synthesizing a distribution. This is typical for building a
Mac App Store archive.
productbuild --product def.plist --component build/Release/Sample.app /Applications Product.pkg
Build the archive Product.pkg to install Sample.app under /Applications, synthesizing a distribution with the requirements from
def.plist. This is typical for building a Mac App Store archive with pre-install requirements.
productbuild --distribution Product.dist --package-path /tmp/Packages Product.pkg
Build the archive Product.pkg using Product.dist, searching for packages referenced by that distribution in /tmp/Packages (as well as
in CWD).
productbuild --distribution Product.dist --resources Resources Product.pkg
Build the archive Product.pkg using Product.dist, incorporating the resources found under the Resources directory.
productbuild --distribution Product.dist --sign sample-identity Product.pkg
Build the archive Product.pkg using Product.dist, and sign the resulting archive using the identity sample-identity. You will be
prompted to allow productbuild to access the keychain item, unless Always Allow was chosen previously.
productbuild --package /tmp/a.pkg --package /tmp/b.pkg Product.pkg
Build the archive Product.pkg with the component packages /tmp/a.pkg and /tmp/b.pkg, synthesizing a distribution.
SEE ALSO
pkgbuild(1), productsign(1), xcodebuild(1)
Mac OS September 15, 2010 Mac OS