How to sign an android apk file

Solution 1:

The manual is clear enough. Please specify what part you get stuck with after you work through it, I'd suggest:

https://developer.android.com/studio/publish/app-signing.html

Okay, a small overview without reference or eclipse around, so leave some space for errors, but it works like this

Open your project in eclipse
Press right-mouse - > tools (android tools?) - > export signed application (apk?)
Go through the wizard:
Make a new key-store. remember that password
Sign your app
Save it etc.

Also, from the link:

Compile and sign with Eclipse ADT

If you are using Eclipse with the ADT plugin, you can use the Export Wizard to export a signed .apk (and even create a new keystore, if necessary). The Export Wizard performs all the interaction with the Keytool and Jarsigner for you, which allows you to sign the package using a GUI instead of performing the manual procedures to compile, sign, and align, as discussed above. Once the wizard has compiled and signed your package, it will also perform package alignment with zip align. Because the Export Wizard uses both Keytool and Jarsigner, you should ensure that they are accessible on your computer, as described above in the Basic Setup for Signing.

To create a signed and aligned .apk in Eclipse:

Select the project in the Package Explorer and select File > Export.

Open the Android folder, select Export Android Application, and click Next.

The Export Android Application wizard now starts, which will guide you through the process of signing your application, including steps for selecting the private key with which to sign the .apk (or creating a new keystore and private key).

Complete the Export Wizard and your application will be compiled, signed, aligned, and ready for distribution.

Solution 2:

Here is a guide on how to manually sign an APK. It includes info about the new apk-signer introduced in build-tools 24.0.3 (10/2016)

Automated Process:

Use this tool (uses the new apksigner from Google):

https://github.com/patrickfav/uber-apk-signer

^{Disclaimer: Im the developer :)}

Manual Process:

Step 1: Generate Keystore (only once)

You need to generate a keystore once and use it to sign your unsigned apk. Use the keytool provided by the JDK found in %JAVA_HOME%/bin/

keytool -genkey -v -keystore my.keystore -keyalg RSA -keysize 2048 -validity 10000 -alias app

Step 2 or 4: Zipalign

zipalign which is a tool provided by the Android SDK found in e.g. %ANDROID_HOME%/sdk/build-tools/24.0.2/ is a mandatory optimzation step if you want to upload the apk to the Play Store.

zipalign -p 4 my.apk my-aligned.apk

Note: when using the old jarsigner you need to zipalign AFTER signing. When using the new apksigner method you do it BEFORE signing (confusing, I know). Invoking zipalign before apksigner works fine because apksigner preserves APK alignment and compression (unlike jarsigner).

You can verify the alignment with

zipalign -c 4 my-aligned.apk

Step 3: Sign & Verify

Using build-tools 24.0.2 and older

Use jarsigner which, like the keytool, comes with the JDK distribution found in %JAVA_HOME%/bin/ and use it like so:

jarsigner -verbose -sigalg SHA1withRSA -digestalg SHA1 -keystore my.keystore my-app.apk my_alias_name

and can be verified with

jarsigner -verify -verbose my_application.apk

Using build-tools 24.0.3 and newer

Android 7.0 introduces APK Signature Scheme v2, a new app-signing scheme that offers faster app install times and more protection against unauthorized alterations to APK files (See here and here for more details). Threfore Google implemented their own apk signer called apksigner (duh!) The script file can be found in %ANDROID_HOME%/sdk/build-tools/24.0.3/ (the .jar is in the /lib subfolder). Use it like this

apksigner sign --ks my.keystore my-app.apk --ks-key-alias alias_name