xcodebuild strips CFBundleVersion and CFBundleShortVersionString from Info.plist

Question

I am building an iOS app in Azure DevOps. The build and export of the *.ipa works fine, but the upload to the App Store fails with the following message:

2020-10-05T14:02:27.9260830Z [14:02:27]: [Transporter Error Output]: ERROR ITMS-90057: "The bundle 'Payload/MyApp.app' is missing plist key. The Info.plist file is missing the required key: CFBundleShortVersionString. Please find more information about CFBundleShortVersionString at https://developer.apple.com/documentation/bundleresources/information_property_list/cfbundleshortversionstring"
2020-10-05T14:02:27.9268950Z [14:02:27]: [Transporter Error Output]: ERROR ITMS-90056: "This bundle Payload/MyApp.app is invalid. The Info.plist file is missing the required key: CFBundleVersion. Please find more information about CFBundleVersion at https://developer.apple.com/documentation/bundleresources/information_property_list/cfbundleversion"
2020-10-05T14:02:28.1474570Z [14:02:28]: Transporter transfer failed.
2020-10-05T14:02:28.1475590Z [14:02:28]: 
2020-10-05T14:02:28.1477810Z [14:02:28]: ERROR ITMS-90057: "The bundle 'Payload/MyApp.app' is missing plist key. The Info.plist file is missing the required key: CFBundleShortVersionString. Please find more information about CFBundleShortVersionString at https://developer.apple.com/documentation/bundleresources/information_property_list/cfbundleshortversionstring"
2020-10-05T14:02:28.1480380Z ERROR ITMS-90056: "This bundle Payload/MyApp.app is invalid. The Info.plist file is missing the required key: CFBundleVersion. Please find more information about CFBundleVersion at https://developer.apple.com/documentation/bundleresources/information_property_list/cfbundleversion"
2020-10-05T14:02:28.2737090Z [14:02:28]: [iTMSTransporter] [2020-10-05 14:02:27 UTC] <main> DBG-X:   parameter ShouldUseRESTAPIs = false
2020-10-05T14:02:28.2741670Z 
2020-10-05T14:02:28.2743710Z [14:02:28]: [iTMSTransporter] [2020-10-05 14:02:27 UTC] <main> ERROR: ERROR ITMS-90057: "The bundle 'Payload/MyApp.app' is missing plist key. The Info.plist file is missing the required key: CFBundleShortVersionString. Please find more information about CFBundleShortVersionString at https://developer.apple.com/documentation/bundleresources/information_property_list/cfbundleshortversionstring"
2020-10-05T14:02:28.2745220Z 
2020-10-05T14:02:28.2746740Z [14:02:28]: [iTMSTransporter] [2020-10-05 14:02:27 UTC] <main> ERROR: ERROR ITMS-90056: "This bundle Payload/MyApp.app is invalid. The Info.plist file is missing the required key: CFBundleVersion. Please find more information about CFBundleVersion at https://developer.apple.com/documentation/bundleresources/information_property_list/cfbundleversion"
2020-10-05T14:02:28.2747600Z 
2020-10-05T14:02:28.2748330Z [14:02:28]: [iTMSTransporter] [2020-10-05 14:02:27 UTC] <main> DBG-X: The error code is: 1102
2020-10-05T14:02:28.2748700Z 
2020-10-05T14:02:28.2749420Z [14:02:28]: [iTMSTransporter] [2020-10-05 14:02:27 UTC] <main>  INFO: Done performing authentication.
2020-10-05T14:02:28.2749760Z 
2020-10-05T14:02:28.2749950Z [14:02:28]: [iTMSTransporter] 
2020-10-05T14:02:28.2750120Z 
2020-10-05T14:02:28.2750310Z [14:02:28]: [iTMSTransporter] 
2020-10-05T14:02:28.2750480Z 
2020-10-05T14:02:28.2750660Z [14:02:28]: [iTMSTransporter] 
2020-10-05T14:02:28.2750830Z 
2020-10-05T14:02:28.2751070Z [14:02:28]: [iTMSTransporter] Package Summary:
2020-10-05T14:02:28.2751270Z 
2020-10-05T14:02:28.2751460Z [14:02:28]: [iTMSTransporter]  
2020-10-05T14:02:28.2751630Z 
2020-10-05T14:02:28.2751950Z [14:02:28]: [iTMSTransporter] 1 package(s) were not uploaded because they had problems:
2020-10-05T14:02:28.2752240Z 
2020-10-05T14:02:28.2753070Z [14:02:28]: [iTMSTransporter]  /var/folders/24/8k48jl6d249_n_qfxwsl6xvm0000gn/T/d20201005-1299-rww8bj/1454404673.itmsp - Error Messages:
2020-10-05T14:02:28.2753450Z 
2020-10-05T14:02:28.2754860Z [14:02:28]: [iTMSTransporter]      ERROR ITMS-90057: "The bundle 'Payload/MyApp.app' is missing plist key. The Info.plist file is missing the required key: CFBundleShortVersionString. Please find more information about CFBundleShortVersionString at https://developer.apple.com/documentation/bundleresources/information_property_list/cfbundleshortversionstring"
2020-10-05T14:02:28.2755720Z 
2020-10-05T14:02:28.2757000Z [14:02:28]: [iTMSTransporter]      ERROR ITMS-90056: "This bundle Payload/MyApp.app is invalid. The Info.plist file is missing the required key: CFBundleVersion. Please find more information about CFBundleVersion at https://developer.apple.com/documentation/bundleresources/information_property_list/cfbundleversion"
2020-10-05T14:02:28.2757770Z 
2020-10-05T14:02:28.2758440Z [14:02:28]: [iTMSTransporter] [2020-10-05 14:02:28 UTC] <main> DBG-X: Returning 1

Sure enough, when I extract the ipa file and look in "Payload/MyApp.app/Info.plist", CFBundleVersion and CFBundleShortVersionString are missing.

However, those values are included in the original, pre-compilation Info.plist and are also set during the build phase using GitVersion and PlistBuddy. I have checked that the variables are correctly set and also tried to just use the hard-coded versions, which did not change the result.

> echo 'iOsBundleVersion: $(iOsBundleVersion)'
iOsBundleVersion: 1.2.21
> echo 'iOsMarketingVersion: $(iOsMarketingVersion)'
iOsMarketingVersion: 1.2

azure-pipelines.yml (extract):

- task: InstallAppleCertificate@2
  displayName: 'Install certificates'
  inputs:
    certSecureFile: $(certSecureFile)
    certPwd: '$(certPwd)'
    keychain: 'temp'

- task: InstallAppleProvisioningProfile@1
  displayName: 'Install provisioning profile'
  inputs:
    provisioningProfileLocation: 'secureFiles'
    provProfileSecureFile: $(provProfileSecureFile)

- task: CocoaPods@0
  displayName: 'Install CocoaPods'
  inputs:
    workingDirectory: '$(appRoot)'
    forceRepoUpdate: true
    projectDirectory: 'ios'

- task: Bash@3
  displayName: 'Set bundle version'
  inputs:
    targetType: 'inline'
    script: |
      /usr/libexec/PlistBuddy -c "Set CFBundleVersion $(iOsBundleVersion)" ./Info.plist
      /usr/libexec/PlistBuddy -c "Set CFBundleShortVersionString $(iOsMarketingVersion)" ./Info.plist
    workingDirectory: '$(appRoot)'

- task: Xcode@5
  displayName: 'Build project'
  inputs:
    actions: 'archive'
    configuration: 'Release'
    sdk: 'iphoneos'
    xcWorkspacePath: '$(appRoot)/MyApp.xcworkspace'
    scheme: '$(appName)'
    packageApp: true
    exportPath: '$(appRoot)/ios/build'
    xcodeVersion: 'default'
    signingOption: 'manual'
    signingIdentity: '$(APPLE_CERTIFICATE_SIGNING_IDENTITY)'
    provisioningProfileUuid: '$(APPLE_PROV_PROFILE_UUID)'
    args: '-UseModernBuildSystem=0'
    workingDirectory: '$(appRoot)'
    useXcpretty: true

which results in the following commands:

xcodebuild -workspace /Users/runner/work/1/s/MyApp.xcworkspace -scheme MyApp archive -sdk iphoneos -configuration Release -archivePath /Users/runner/work/1/s/MyApp CODE_SIGN_STYLE=Manual CODE_SIGN_IDENTITY=Apple Distribution: xxxxxxxx (xxxxxxxxx) PROVISIONING_PROFILE=xxxxxxxx PROVISIONING_PROFILE_SPECIFIER= -UseModernBuildSystem=0 | /usr/local/lib/ruby/gems/2.6.0/bin/xcpretty --no-color

and

xcodebuild -exportArchive -archivePath /Users/runner/work/1/s/MyApp.xcarchive -exportPath /Users/runner/work/1/s/ios/build -exportOptionsPlist _XcodeTaskExportOptions.plist | /usr/local/lib/ruby/gems/2.6.0/bin/xcpretty --no-color

Info.plist (extract):

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<!DOCTYPE plist PUBLIC "-//Apple//DTD PLIST 1.0//EN" "http://www.apple.com/DTDs/PropertyList-1.0.dtd">
<plist version="1.0">
<dict>
    <key>CFBundleDevelopmentRegion</key>
    <string>en</string>
    <key>CFBundleDisplayName</key>
    <string>$(PRODUCT_NAME)</string>
    <key>CFBundleExecutable</key>
    <string>$(EXECUTABLE_NAME)</string>
    <key>CFBundleIdentifier</key>
    <string>$(PRODUCT_BUNDLE_IDENTIFIER)</string>
    <key>CFBundleInfoDictionaryVersion</key>
    <string>6.0</string>
    <key>CFBundleName</key>
    <string>$(PRODUCT_NAME)</string>
    <key>CFBundlePackageType</key>
    <string>APPL</string>
    <key>CFBundleShortVersionString</key>
    <string>1.2</string>
    <key>CFBundleSignature</key>
    <string>????</string>
    <key>CFBundleVersion</key>
    <string>1.2.20</string>
    <key>ITSAppUsesNonExemptEncryption</key>
    <false/>
    <key>LSApplicationCategoryType</key>
    <string>public.app-category.utilities</string>
    <key>LSRequiresIPhoneOS</key>
    <true/>
    <key>NSAppTransportSecurity</key>

Answer 1

I'm afraid the solution for this specific problem is almost completely unrelated to everything I included in the in my description of the problem.

It was entirely an error in the way I created the pipelines in Azure DevOps. I have used global vars to set the version numbers in one job and read them in another job, which is not possible. In the end, $(iOsBundleVersion) and $(iOsMarketingVersion) were not set. Unfortunately, none of the build scripts failed with any sensible error message. A gradle-build for the Android version of the app actually completed just fine.

There are probably no new lessons to learn from this issue. I checked the values of $(iOsBundleVersion) and $(iOsMarketingVersion) in another context, which made me believe that they were correctly set - so maybe this issue is just a reminder to always make sure to be in the correct context when "debugging" any code.

Answer 2

You probably need to check all the Info.plist that are used in your project. Some info.plist might be missing the keys and caused above error.

You can check below script to search for the info.plist that are missing CFBundleShortVersionString and CFBundleVersion. See this thread for information.

find . -name 'Info.plist' -not -path "*.storyboard*"  | while read file; do
echo $file;
{ plutil -p $file | grep CFBundleShortVersionString; } || echo Failed $file;
done;

You can also check out this thread to see if there is the build version added in your project Target. If not, you can try setting the build and version numbers through XCode.