Darwin Build Environment Help Center
Windows 11
Builder 3.73.2
SDK 18.2
Hey,
So I've had trouble using the OTA deployment. Safari would never load the link, said it couldn't connect. After some digging, I pointed Safari directly to:
itms-services://?action=download-manifest&url=https://www.pmbaty.com/ota/[the rest]
And then it opened up itunes no problem for deployment. Just wanted to bring this to your attention, not sure what the underlying problem actually is. Cheers! :-)
Is this still an issue or did the problem disappear ?
Well, my work-around of putting the explicit "itms-services" string at the front was working, but now it seems that no longer works either. To recap, the current situation is:
-Going directly to the IP address on my iPhone, from Safari, results in a "could not connect to the server".
-Going to "https://www.pmbaty.com/ota/[the rest]" loads a page with info
-Going to "itms-services://?action=download-manifest&url=https://www.pmbaty.com/ota/[the rest]" gives a prompt to install the app...then nothing happens after that. It doesn't download the manifest or the app.
Three network hosts are involved in this process :
1. Your computer. That's where the QR code you flashed on your phone leads you to. It displays a web page with an install button. This web page is served by the "ideployota.exe" program over a HTTP protocol on the first available TCP port starting from port 5003, thus it must have been allowed network access by your firewall.
2. My server at https://www.pmbaty.com/ota/xxxxxxxxx. That's where clicking the install button leads you to. It serves an install manifest .plist file over HTTPS on port 443 (standard HTTPS port), which will instruct iTunes (the app sideloading agent) on your iPhone to download the app's signed .ipa from the IP address of your computer (again).
3. Your computer again, which serves the signed .ipa containing your app over HTTP on the same TCP port that was used in step 1 to your phone's iTunes download manager. The "itms-services://" URL prefix instructs your phone that the install manifest .plist URL served in step 2 should be handed over to iTunes instead of being handled by Safari.
4. Ultimately, your phone itself which acts as a HTTP client for the 2 hosts above, first with Safari, then with iTunes' download manager.
I can confirm that there's no breakdown in this service ; I can deploy iOS apps without problems on my device. Check if anything on your network (e.g. a firewall, or whatever security program) could hinder any of these exchanges. Also check the network settings on your phone : maybe it's using a VPN, or has special network filtering rules. FWIW, the IP addresses of pmbaty.com are 94.242.61.176 and 94.242.61.177.
Ok, thanks for the writeup. I'll investigate more on my end. :-)
Moderators: Pierre-Marie Baty