iosxcodeotaover-the-air

OTA ipa distribution using localhost


I've set up a local webserver running with a self-signed certificate (SSL). I've also installed the certificate on my iOS 15.0 device and trusted it from the Device Settings. But when I load https://my-local-hostname/ which loads a download button with a link to the itms-services/.../manifest.plist, and click the download button, it shows "Unable to Install ***".
On the other hand, if I run ngrok to get a static domain with a cert signed by a trusted root CA, it works, which means that the manifest.plist configuration is correct.
Is there any way to make it work on localhost directly? Has anyone done this ever?


Solution

  • I finally figured it out..
    For those who are interested in the solution, here are the steps for making OTA work on your local machine with localhost.

    That's basically it. Just use https://{hostname} instead of https://localhost everywhere in your HTML code and in manifest.plist file so that you can access the website's content from the mobile device in the same network.