Xamarin.Android How to reset upload key with Google App Signing and use it to sign another APK

user_10530848 0
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Somehow I managed to save the wrong keystore for my Android app that I developed using Xamarin and already published. When I wanted to upload an update to the Google Play Store with the keystore that I thought was the right keystore, the SHA certificate did not match.

Luckily I was registered for Google Play App Signing so they were able to reset the Upload Key for me. In order to reset the upload key I:

1.(dont know if i had to do this to generate new upload key) Generated a new archive and new keystore for the Android project in Xamarin and exported the APK to a folder. In that folder i ran the command lines in the next steps:

2.Generated a new upload key using the command line: keytool -genkeypair -alias upload -keyalg RSA -keysize 2048 -validity 9125 -keystore keystore.jks

3.Exported the certificate for that key to a *.pem file: keytool -export -rfc -alias upload -file upload_certificate.pem -keystore keystore.jks

4.Sent the *.pem to Google Play Developer Support.**

Note: to be able to use the keytool command in Windows 10 command prompt, I searched and opened Environmental Variables, found PATH under User Variables, right clicked and Edit, and added new path of location where keytool.exe is located: C:\Program Files\Java\jre1.8.0_191\bin

Now that I have a *.pem file and *.jks file, how do I create the new APK file for my Xamarin Android project that will serve as an update, signed with the new upload key in Visual Studio/Xamarin?

android-keystore xamarin.android keystore
3 Answers

Another alternate way is :

1) Generate new key using command promt:

keytool -genkeypair -alias upload -keyalg RSA -keysize 2048 -validity 9125 -keystore keystore.jks

2) From app signing select the import option and import the created key path.

3) create the build and submit to play store.

user_88890860

I'll tell you what happened when I lost my upload key.

It was when i was just a beginner and I had no idea if keeping the signing key was that important. anyway, i lost it.

  1. I requested a new upload key by going to : PlayConsoleSupport

  2. filled the necessary fields.

  3. did enter image description here

  4. it took a day or two for them to reply with the complete but, confusing instructions for creating another upload key and sending them the .PEM file as I was a beginner.

  5. I did as they said in the email created another keystore.

  6. saved it in C:users/****/uploadkey.jks [important]

  7. opened cmd and wrote the command that i recieved in the email, i don't remember it.

  8. and that gave me certificate.pem

  9. I replied to that email and attached certificate.pem

  10. after a couple of days, i recieved an email that my upload key was activated and that i have to sign every future update with the upload key that i sent them the certificate.pem of.

user_104031330

I figured out how to do this.

After sending the *.pem file to Google Play Developer support in order to reset the Upload Key, they confirmed it was successfully reset (yay Google App Signing) but it takes a couple of days for it to be active.

When it becomes active follow these steps:

1.Go to Visual studio and archive the Android project from Build/Archive

2.In the Archives menu option, select the latest archive and click Open Folder. This opens a folder where an unsigned *.apk file resides. It needs to be signed manually with the *.jks keystore file mentioned above (keystore.jks).

  1. First zipalign the unsigned archive (make sure to add C:\Program Files\Java\jre1.8.0_191\bin to PATH in User variables):

    zipalign -v -p 4 my-app-unsigned.apk my-app-unsigned-aligned.apk

  2. Manually sign the zipaligned *.apk file with the keystore.jks

    apksigner sign --ks keystore.jks --out my-app-release.apk my-app-unsigned-aligned.apk

  3. The signing process will ask for the password used when creating the keystore.jks/*.pem file. After, the apk resulting is ready to upload to the Google Play Store as an app update. Keystore.jks is now the new Upload Key.

user_105308480
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