Android Question Updating an existing app made with Ecllipse (keystore issue)

[Dan Harding]

I have an application that I rewrote using B4a, but would like to post it on Google as an update to an existing app. I have seen some posts about not being able to do that directly in B4a unless that is where it was started (at least that the way I think it was meaning).

But it mentioned about compiling the app without signing it and then signing it afterward. For someone confused by that process (me), could someone provide a little more detail how to do that? I know I have the right keyStore and password (using the private sign key in B4a) but when I try to compile in release mode I get this error:

Signing package file (private key) Error

jarsigner: Certificate chain not found for: b4a. b4a must reference a valid KeyStore key entry containing a private key and corresponding public key certificate chain.

So I found related entries elsewhere on this forum. I just a little lost as to specifically what to do.

Thanks,

 

[Erel]

You have two options:
1. Change the alias used by the IDE: https://www.b4x.com/android/forum/t...-apk-with-non-b4a-keystore.14049/#post-149494
Whether it will work or not depends on the type of key.
2. If it didn't work then you can compile your app without signing with the command line builder and then manually sign the apk.

 

[Dan Harding]

I received the same error as the user in the post:

Signing package file (private key) Error

jarsigner error: java.security.SignatureException: private key algorithm is not compatible with signature algorithm

So, I will pursue creating an unsigned apk and signing it manually

 

[Dan Harding]

Following the instructions created a "aligned" version of the apk file for me. No errors that I could see. However, when I uploaded to a web page and used that URL to try to install the apk file on an Android phone, after download, I just see the message: Unfortunately, the Package installer has stopped.

Unless someone has some further ideas, I guess I am going instruct users to delete old app and install new one.

 

[Dan Harding]

I tried using instructions which included using B4ABuilder to manually build the apk without signing and then using jarsigner (Must be JDK 6, not 7 or 8) and was just getting a message: App Not installed.

I discovered that my versionCode variable was set to 3 on my new B4a app and the most recent version on Google play had that set to 5. (I was comparing AndroidManifest.xml files) After changing that to 6 and going through the manual process one more time, it successfully updated over my existing app created from Ecllipse. Yeah!!