Create the keystore file, alias and passwords
To create a keystore file along with the alias and passwords, we need to use a command line interface (CLI) application. It provides a text-based interface to interact with the operating system using commands rather than graphical user interfaces (GUIs). Users can execute various commands to perform tasks such as navigating the file system, managing files and directories, running programs, configuring system settings, and more. It's a powerful tool favoured by developers, system administrators and power users for its versatility and efficiency in performing a wide range of tasks. This guide will use the app "Terminal" which is used as CLI on Mac computers. On Windows PCs you can use the tool Command Prompt.
Open the Terminal Launch the Terminal application on your macOS. You can find it in the "Utilities" folder within the "Applications" folder, or you can use Spotlight search to find and open it.
Navigate to a Directory Use the cd command to navigate to the directory where you want to create the keystore file. For example, if you want to create it in your home directory, you can use cd ~.
Generate the Keystore Use the following keytool command to generate the keystore.
keytool -genkey -v -keystore release.keystore -alias <alias> -keyalg RSA -keysize 2048 -validity 10000
Replace release.keystore with the desired name for your keystore file and <alias> with the alias for your keystore.
Choose a Password Now you can chose a password and enter it. Repeat the same entry. This password (=storepass) is important, save it in a location that you can find again at any time. You will later need to enter the password in the Purple DS Manager under Settings > Android > Storepass and Keypass.
Provide Information Follow the prompts to provide information such as your name, organization, location, password, etc., as required by the keytool command.
Verify the Creation Once the command completes, verify that the keystore file has been created in the directory you specified.
Enter a password (= keypass) again to create the keystore file. If you simply enter "Enter", the same password you have set above will be used (recommended).
That's it! You've successfully created a keystore file using Terminal on macOS. Make sure to keep your keystore file and passwords secure.
Please remember to keep your keystore file safe and backed up because if you lose it, you might have trouble updating your app in the future.