Publish or share IOS apps with the Itms-services protocol

Introduction: The Itms-services protocol is commonly used in wireless deployments of IOS enterprise apps, which can publish or share internal software without using ITunes.

First, pre-preparation information:

1. Application (. IPA) file (using Enterprise Provisioning Profile), 2, manifest (. plist) file (manifest description file in XML format).

Second, prepare the list (. plist) file:

Our manifest file when an XML format file, can refer to the following code:

<?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>items</key>
<array>
<dict>
<key>assets</key>
<array>
<dict>
<key>kind</key>
<string>software-package</string>
<key>url</key>
<string>http://domain/app.ipa</string>
</dict>
<dict>
<key>kind</key>
<string>display-image</string>
<key>needs-shine</key>
<true/>
<key>url</key>
<string>http://domain/logo/logo.png</string>
</dict>
</array>
<key>metadata</key>
<dict>
<key>bundle-identifier</key>
<string>domain</string>
<key>bundle-version</key>
<string>1.0.0</string>
<key>kind</key>
<string>software</string>
<key>subtitle</key>
<string>app subtitle</string>
<key>title</key>
<string>app title</string>
</dict>
</dict>
</array>
</dict>
</plist>

There are three places to note in describing a file:

1, two URL address, namely software-package and Display-image URL, the former is to install the IPA address, which is installed when the desktop Display logo icon.
2, metadata need to modify the Bundle-identifier and bundle-version, specifically what will not be introduced, but be careful to be sure to follow the installation of the IPA package content consistent, or can not be installed successfully.
3. You can modify the title and subtitle to customize the contents of the popup box during installation.

Third, the application of the IPA format sharing or publishing

You can use the following two ways to provide downloads:

The 1th type is to click on the download, add the following link to the page on the line:

<a href= "itms-services://?action=download-manifest&url=http://domain/manifest.plist" > Download app</a>

Note: Do not use the WEB link of the application (. IPA) to provide the download. When the manifest file (manifest.plist) is opened, the device downloads the. IPA. Although the protocol portion of the URL is Itms-services, the ITunes Store does not participate in this process.

The 2nd type is automatically downloaded via JavaScript, reference code:

<script>
var url = "Http://domain/manifest.plist";
window.location = "itms-services://?action=download-manifest&url=" + url;
</script>

Note: This code is placed in the head tag of the HTML tag so that it is automatically prompted to download and install.

Iv. Setting the server MIME type

Configure the MIME type of the WEB server so that the manifest file (. plist) and application files (. IPA) are transferred correctly.

1. For OS X Server, add the following MIME types to the Web service's MIME Types (MIME type) settings:

Application/octet-stream Ipatext/xml plist

2. For MS IIS, use IIS Manager to add the MIME type on the server's properties page:

. IPA application/octet-stream.plist Text/xml

End!

Publish or share IOS apps with the Itms-services protocol