App Wrapper is the easiest way to package your apps.
There are also options from Apple. codesign is a command line tool for signing your apps. pkgbuild and productbuild are command line tools for packaging your apps.
Try Packages instead of Iceberg from the same developer. Iceberg is the old app. For what do you need the installer? For most Mac apps a dmg should be enough.
If you need an installer, it’s also not too complicated to roll your own one. I wasn’t able to get the permissions for the Iceberg pre- and postflight scripts correct. But this was so much easier with my own installer.
I’m used to the Windows world where you create an “installer” and put everything in there and they launch it… agree to the user agreement, and it installs it. I was using Iceberg to do the same thing. And no it wasn’t as clean as some installs which present a window telling user to drag icon to applications.
Sam I tried the free App Wrapper but it does seem geared to just signing for the store. I am reading thru your AW reference to try to figure it out. I do have a developer account and I can download/set up a code signing certificate. But if I do that is my only option to distribute thru the app store? For right now I just need to let a customer download from my website and install it. That’s it. No app store needed.
When in Rome… To obtain the best results on the Apple platform requires “thinking Mac” instead of trying to do things “à la Windows”.
The way users deal with installing software in Windows and in Mac is quite different. Mac users expect software to come in a dmg disk image, and after opening, simply copy the executable into the Applications folder.
If you want to present the license the first time the software is run, simply do it inside your app.
Installers are usually reserved for deeply involved software such as antiviruses, which need to install dependencies and stuff. If that is not the case of your app, you should refrain from imposing users unusual procedures.
I downloaded it and got my project in there nearly identical to iceburg but a couple of files that I have it install do not install. The target folder for them is empty. And the files are displayed in red in the interface. Packages does not say what is wrong with them though.
You still need to code sign the application if you want to distribute on your own site. Make sure you set-up your Developer ID certificates on the machine first.
Check the help article on “Wrap for web site deployment” within the App Wrapper help.
If you don’t require special permissions on or for certain things, don’t use an installer. If you like that whole EULA business you can add one to the disk image. Mac installers have fallen out of style since it’s so easy to drag from the disk image to where ever the user wants.
You should do the EULA on the disk image, and not within the app. Doing so within the app means you’ll need two separate builds, one for inside the Mac App Store and one for outside. Even if you already make two builds, why make more work for yourself? Apple will reject your app for displaying an EULA since MAS apps are bound by Apple’s license agreement.
DMG Canvas is my tool of choice for disk images since were sharing options