electron-builder: Builder fails somewhat randomely

• Version: 21.1.5

• Target: mas

Problem: Building for mas usually fails

DevUsers-MacBook-Pro:bellcrank_desktop devuser$ yarn build
yarn run v1.17.3
$ electron-builder --mac --windows
  • electron-builder  version=21.1.5 os=18.7.0
  • loaded configuration  file=package.json ("build" field)
  • writing effective config  file=dist/builder-effective-config.yaml
  • packaging       platform=darwin arch=x64 electron=5.0.8 appOutDir=dist/mac
  • packaging       platform=mas arch=x64 electron=5.0.8 appOutDir=dist/mas
  • signing         file=dist/mac/MyApp.app identityName=Developer ID Application: MREN, INC (ABC123) identityHash=MYIDENTITYHASH provisioningProfile=development.provisionprofile
  • signing         file=dist/mas/MyApp.app identityName=Developer ID Application: MREN, INC (ABC123) identityHash=MYIDENTITYHASH provisioningProfile=development.provisionprofile
  ⨯ ENOENT: no such file or directory, unlink '/var/folders/kp/kyxglrd56xv8fp1v1tyg87740000gn/T/af326d02a1f74fa001e3543e7058a0f8bd96bb49.plist'  
      stackTrace=
        Error: ENOENT: no such file or directory, unlink '/var/folders/kp/kyxglrd56xv8fp1v1tyg87740000gn/T/af326d02a1f74fa001e3543e7058a0f8bd96bb49.plist'
          at processImmediate (internal/timers.js:439:21)
        From previous event:
          at module.exports.getProvisioningProfileAsync (/Users/devuser/Documents/bellcrank_desktop/node_modules/app-builder-lib/electron-osx-sign/util-provisioning-profiles.js:66:6)
          at module.exports.preEmbedProvisioningProfile (/Users/devuser/Documents/bellcrank_desktop/node_modules/app-builder-lib/electron-osx-sign/util-provisioning-profiles.js:153:14)
          at /Users/devuser/Documents/bellcrank_desktop/node_modules/app-builder-lib/electron-osx-sign/sign.js:327:15
          at MacPackager.sign (/Users/devuser/Documents/bellcrank_desktop/node_modules/app-builder-lib/src/macPackager.ts:202:5)
  • building        target=DMG arch=x64 file=dist/MyApp-1.0.0.dmg
  • building        target=macOS zip arch=x64 file=dist/MyApp-1.0.0-mac.zip
  • building block map  blockMapFile=dist/MyApp-1.0.0.dmg.blockmap
  • building embedded block map  file=dist/MyApp-1.0.0-mac.zip
error Command failed with exit code 1.
info Visit https://yarnpkg.com/en/docs/cli/run for documentation about this command.

Sometimes build works after I make “some” kind of modification like changing entitlements or reinstalling my dev provisioning profile. Running build after a success fails even though no files were modified.

For reference, I’ve been following this guide: https://samuelmeuli.com/blog/2019-04-09-publishing-an-electron-app-on-the-mac-app-store/.

I generated all macOS certs through xCode and have them in my KeyChain and created a dev provisioning profile to match my device.

I tried recreating all my certs/profiles, taking out entitlements until it was either empty or just sandbox and following the linked guide as closely as possible. Sometimes the build works but never twice in a row and usually replicating what I did to get the build working does not work.

I am completely new to Electron with very little experience in the Apple Development Ecosystem so I included as much detail as possible below. I suspect it’s something like my entitlements or certs being wrong. For example, I have entitlements for push notifications but did not turn that on in my app’s identifier capabilities. Then again, I got it building once by just removing entitlements <key>com.apple.application-identifier</key> up to the line <!-- Receive push notifications for macOS -->

Maybe bonus clue is when a build is successful and I try to run my app in build/dist/mas/MyApp.app it fails with the EXC_BAD_ACCESS (Code Signature Invalid) Exception. I run my code through VS Code if that matters. Many thanks and sorry for wall of text.

snippet of package.json

{
  "build": {
    "appId": "ABC123.com.MyApp.desktop",
    "mac": {
      "target": ["dmg", "mas", "zip"],
      "electronLanguages": ["en"],
      "icon": "build/logo.icns",
      "category": "public-app-category.productivity",
      "provisioningProfile": "development.provisionprofile"
    },
    "mas": {
      "type": "development"
    }
  },
  "devDependencies": {
    "electron": "^5.0.8",
    "electron-builder": "^21.1.5"
  },
  "dependencies": {
    "electron-push-receiver": "^2.1.2"
  }
}

build/entitlements.mas.plist

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<!DOCTYPE plist PUBLIC "-//Apple//DTD PLIST 1.0//EN" "http://www.apple.com/DTDs/PropertyList-1.0.dtd">
<plist version="1.0">
<dict>
    <!-- Enables App Sandbox -->
    <key>com.apple.security.app-sandbox</key>
    <true/>
    <key>com.apple.application-identifier</key>
    <string>ABC123.com.MyApp.desktop</string>
    <key>com.apple.developer.team-identifier</key>
    <string>ABC123</string>
    <key>com.apple.security.application-groups</key>
    <array>
        <string>ABC123.com.MyApp.desktop</string>
    </array>
    <!-- Receive push notifications for macOS -->
    <key>com.apple.developer.aps-environment</key> 
    <true/>
    <!-- Access file dialog -->
    <key>com.apple.security.files.user-selected.read-only</key>
    <true/>
    <key>com.apple.security.files.user-selected.read-write</key>
    <true/>
    <!-- Access hardware cameras -->
    <key>com.apple.security.device.camera</key>
    <true/>
    <key>com.apple.security.device.audio-input</key>
    <true/>
</dict>
</plist>

Relevant root file structure

package.json
development.provisioningprofile
build
    - logo.icns
    - entitlements.mas.plist
src
    - source files

What a success looks like