Why we started to automate build and delivery processes of iOS apps and what issues we had. Presentation was given by Dima Cheverda at Wise TechTalks

1. Build and release
iOS apps using
Fastlane tools
Dmytro Cheverda, iOS engineer
20.10.2018

2. Fastlane
● Open-source
● Uses public Apple API
● Script based
● Written in Ruby

3. Why do we needed it?
● Long manual deploy durations
● Certificates and profiles sharing

4. Old deployment process
1. Version bump
2. Commit
3. Check provisioning profiles
4. Check signing certificates
5. Build
6. Export
7. Upload

5. How build process works
● Check for valid certificates
● Check for provisioning profiles
● Compile sources
● Sign app with certificate

6. Essential Fastlane actions
● sigh - provisioning profiles
● cert - signing certificates
● match - sync certificates and profiles between developers
● pem - APNS certificates
● gym - building projects
● deliver - uploading IPA, screenshots, metadata to AppStoreConnect

7. Fastlane install
Note: works only on mac os

8. Initial setup
$ fastlane init
Note: you need paid Apple Developer Program to run this properly

9. Generated Fastlane folder
● Appfile - bundle ID, Apple ID, etc.
● Fastfile - lanes configuration
● Matchfile - git url, Apple ID auth info, etc.
● metadata folder - text files with details for AppStoreConnect
● screenshots folder - stores taken screenshots

10. Lane configuration

11. Another lane configuration

12. More complex lane example

13. Start a lane

14. Lane report

15. Error handling

16. Additional actions
● run_tests
● swiftlint
● cocoapods
● clear_derived_data
● notification
● Many more can be found here: https://docs.fastlane.tools/actions/
● Or written yourself

17. Common problems we had
● No access to git repo
● Beta Xcode version selected for development
● Multiple targets
● Wrong provisioning profile used
● UTF-8 encoding not enabled

18. Ways to improve
● Complete CI/CD
● Automate every possible scenarios ()

19. Tips and tricks
● Actions can be run as part of lane or independently in Terminal
● Environment variables can be used for default params
● Be aware of default parameters values
● Lanes can be private
● Use to track AppStore metadata in git
● Basic support for Android and crossplatform (ReactNative, Flutter)
● Own actions can be local or submitted to main repo

20. Many companies use it

21. Pros and cons
Pros:
● Saves developer time
● Extensible
● Configurable
● Large community
● Good documentation
Cons:
● Sometimes strange errors may take time to fix

22. Summary
● Build process is speed up to one command
● Certificates and provisioning profiles are shared across the team
● Deployment is unified and machine-independent
● Easy to dive in for new team members

23. Useful links
● https://docs.fastlane.tools
● https://docs.fastlane.tools/actions/
● https://github.com/fastlane/fastlane
● https://github.com/fastlane/examples
● https://habr.com/company/sberbank/blog/424023/

24. Thanks!

25. Q&A