% APKSIGNER(1) | 7.0.0_r1
% The Android Open Source Project
% 2 December 2016

# NAME

apksigner - sign and verify Android APKs

# SYNOPSIS

A command line tool for signing Android APK files and for checking
whether signatures of APK files will verify on Android devices:

**apksigner** <command> [_options_] *apk*

**apksigner** \--version

**apksigner** \--help

*apk* is an existing file to sign or verify.

# DESCRIPTION

apksig is a project which aims to simplify APK signing and checking
whether APK's signatures should verify on Android. apksig supports JAR
signing (used by Android since day one) and APK Signature Scheme v2
(supported since Android Nougat, API Level 24).

The key feature of apksig is that it knows about differences in APK
signature verification logic between different versions of the Android
platform. apksig can thus check whether a signed APK is expected to
verify on all Android platform versions supported by the APK. When
signing an APK, apksig will choose the most appropriate cryptographic
algorithms based on the Android platform versions supported by the APK
being signed.


# COMMANDS

sign

:This signs the provided APK, stripping out any pre-existing signatures. Signing
is performed using one or more signers, each represented by an asymmetric key
pair and a corresponding certificate. Typically, an APK is signed by just one
signer. For each signer, you need to provide the signer's private key and
certificate.

verify
:This checks whether the provided APK will verify on Android. By default, this
checks whether the APK will verify on all Android platform versions supported
by the APK (as declared using minSdkVersion in AndroidManifest.xml). Use
\--min-sdk-version and/or \--max-sdk-version to verify the APK against a custom
range of API Levels.

lineage
:This modifies the capabilities of one or more signers in the provided SigningCertificateLineage.
This can be used to revoke capabilities of a previous signing certificate once the install base
has been migrated to the new signing certificate.

rotate
:This takes the provided keys and creates a SigningCertificateLineage entry linking the old to the
new, for use in a key rotation scenario using APK Signature Scheme v3.


version
:Show this tool's version number and exit

help
:Show this usage page and exit


# OPTIONS

-v, \--verbose:
Verbose output mode

-h, \--help:
Show help about this command and exit

-Werr:
Treat warnings as errors


## sign

Sign the provided APK

\--out
:File into which to output the signed APK. By default, the APK is signed in-place, overwriting the input file.

\--min-sdk-version
:Lowest API Level on which this APK's signatures will be verified. By default, the value from AndroidManifest.xml is used. The higher the value, the stronger security parameters are used when signing.

\--max-sdk-version
:Highest API Level on which this APK's signatures will be verified. By default, the highest possible value is used.

\--v1-signing-enabled
:Whether to enable signing using JAR signing scheme (aka v1 signing scheme, the one used in Android since day one). By default, signing using this scheme is enabled based on min and max SDK version (see \--min-sdk-version and \--max-sdk-version).

\--v2-signing-enabled
:Whether to enable signing using APK Signature Scheme v2 (aka v2 signing scheme, the one introduced in Android Nougat, API Level 24). By default, signing using this scheme is enabled based on min and max SDK version (see \--min-sdk-version and \--max-sdk-version).


### per-signer options

These options specify the configuration of a particular signer. To delimit
options of different signers, use \--next-signer.

\--next-signer
:Delimits options of two different signers. There is no need to use this option when only one signer is used.

\--v1-signer-name
:Basename for files comprising the JAR signature scheme (aka v1 scheme) signature of this signer. By default, KeyStore key alias or basename of key file is used.

### per-signer signing key & certificate options

There are two ways to provide the signer's private key and certificate: (1) Java
KeyStore (see \--ks), or (2) private key file in PKCS #8 format and certificate
file in X.509 format (see \--key and \--cert).

\--ks
:Load private key and certificate chain from the Java KeyStore initialized from the specified file. NONE means no file is needed by KeyStore, which is the case for some PKCS #11 KeyStores.

\--ks-key-alias
:Alias under which the private key and certificate are stored in the KeyStore. This must be specified if the KeyStore contains multiple keys.

\--ks-pass
:KeyStore password (see \--ks). The following formats are supported:

  * pass:<password> password provided inline
  * env:<name>      password provided in the named environment variable
  * file:<file>     password provided in the named file, as a single line
  * stdin           password provided on standard input, as a single line

  A password is required to open a KeyStore. By default, the tool will prompt for password via console or standard input. When the same file (including standard input) is used for providing multiple passwords, the passwords are read from the file one line at a time. Passwords are read in the order in which signers are specified and, within each signer, KeyStore password is read before the key password is read.

\--key-pass
:Password with which the private key is protected. By default it is assumed that KeyStore keys are protected using the same password as their KeyStore (see \--ks-pass). The following formats are supported:

  * pass:<password> password provided inline
  * env:<name>      password provided in the named environment variable
  * file:<file>     password provided in the named file, as a single line stdin password provided on standard input, as a single line

  By default, if the key is password-protected, the tool will prompt for password via console or standard input. When the same file (including standard input) is used for providing multiple passwords, the passwords are read from the file one line at a time. Passwords are read in the order in which signers are specified and, within each signer, KeyStore password is read before the key password is read.

\--pass-encoding

Additional character encoding (e.g., ibm437 or utf-8) to try for passwords containing non-ASCII characters.  KeyStores created by keytool are often encrypted not using the Unicode form of the password but rather using the form produced by encoding the password using the console's character encoding. apksigner by default tries to decrypt using several forms of the password: the Unicode form, the form encoded using the JVM default charset, and, on Java 8 and older, the form encoded using the console's charset.  On Java 9, apksigner cannot detect the console's charset and may need to be provided with \--pass-encoding when a non-ASCII password is used. \--pass-encoding may also need to be provided for a KeyStore created by keytool on a different OS or in a different locale.

\--ks-type
:Type/algorithm of KeyStore to use. By default, the default type is used.

\--ks-provider-name
:Name of the JCA Provider from which to request the KeyStore implementation. By default, the highest priority provider is used. See \--ks-provider-class for the alternative way to specify a provider.

\--ks-provider-class
:Fully-qualified class name of the JCA Provider from which to request the KeyStore implementation. By default, the provider is chosen based on \--ks-provider-name.

\--ks-provider-arg
:Value to pass into the constructor of the JCA Provider class specified by \--ks-provider-class. The value is passed into the constructor as java.lang.String. By default, the no-arg provider's constructor is used.

\--key
:Load private key from the specified file. If the key is password-protected, the password will be prompted via standard input unless specified otherwise using \--key-pass. The file must be in PKCS #8 DER format.

\--cert
:Load certificate chain from the specified file. The file must be in X.509 PEM or DER format.


## verify

Check whether the provided APK is expected to verify on Android

\--print-certs
: Show information about the APK's signing certificates

\--min-sdk-version
:Lowest API Level on which this APK's signatures will be verified. By default, the value from AndroidManifest.xml is used.

\--max-sdk-version
Highest API Level on which this APK's signatures will be verified. By default, the highest possible value is used.


# EXAMPLES

apksigner sign \--ks release.jks app.apk
apksigner verify \--verbose app.apk
apksigner lineage \--in /path/to/existing/lineage \--print-certs -v
apksigner rotate \--out /path/to/new/file \--old-signer --ks release.jks \--new-signer \--ks release2.jks


## sign

1. Sign an APK using the one and only key in keystore release.jks:
$ apksigner sign \--ks release.jks app.apk

2. Sign an APK using a private key and certificate stored as individual files:
$ apksigner sign \--key release.pk8 \--cert release.x509.pem app.apk

3. Sign an APK using two keys:
$ apksigner sign \--ks release.jks \--next-signer \--ks magic.jks app.apk


## verify

1. Check whether the APK's signatures are expected to verify on all Android
   platforms declared as supported by this APK:
$ apksigner verify app.apk

2. Check whether the APK's signatures are expected to verify on Android
   platforms with API Level 15 and higher:
$ apksigner verify \--min-sdk-version 15 app.apk


## lineage

1. Remove all capabilities from a previous signer in the linage:
$ apksigner lineage \--in /path/to/existing/lineage \--out /path/to/new/file \
    \--signer \--ks release.jks \--set-installed-data false \
    \--set-shared-uid false \--set-permission false \--set-rollback false \
    \--set-auth false

2. Display details about the signing certificates and their capabilities in the lineage:
$ apksigner lineage \--in /path/to/existing/lineage \--print-certs -v


## rotate

1. Create a new SigningCertificateLineage to enable rotation:
$ apksigner rotate \--out /path/to/new/file \--old-signer \--ks release.jks \
    \--new-signer \--ks release2.jks

2. Extend an existing SigningCertificateLineage to rotate again after previous rotation:
$ apksigner rotate \--in /path/to/existing/lineage \--out /path/to/new/file \
    \--old-signer \--ks release2.jks \--new-signer \--ks release3.jks

3. Create a new SigningCertificateLineage with explicit capabilities for the previous signer:
$ apksigner rotate \--out /path/to/new/file \--old-signer \--ks release.jks \
    \--set-installed-data true \--set-shared-uid true \--set-permission true \--set-rollback false \
    \--set-auth true \--new-signer \--ks release2.jks


# SEE ALSO

signapk(1)
jar(1)
zip(1)
zipalign(1)

https://source.android.com/devices/tech/ota/sign_builds.html