You can distribute builds to testers using the Firebase CLI. The CLI
tool lets you specify testers and release notes for a build, and distributes the
build accordingly.
To distribute your app to testers, upload the IPA file using the
Firebase CLI:
-
Install or update to the latest version of the
Firebase CLI
(we recommend downloading the standalone binary for the CLI specific to your OS).
Make sure to
sign in
and test that you can access your
projects.
-
In the
App Distribution page
of the Firebase console, select the app you want to distribute, then click
Get started
.
-
Run the
appdistribution:distribute
command to upload your app and
distribute it to testers. Use the following parameters to configure the
distribution:
appdistribution:distribute options
|
--app
|
Required
: Your app's Firebase App ID. You can find the App
ID in the Firebase console, on the
General
Settings page
.
--app 1:1234567890:ios:0a1b2c3d4e5f67890
|
--token
|
A refresh token that's printed when you authenticate your CI
environment with the Firebase CLI (read
Use the CLI with CI
systems
for more information).
--token "$FIREBASE_TOKEN"
|
--release-notes
--release-notes-file
|
Release notes for this build.
You can either specify the release notes directly:
--release-notes "Text of release notes"
Or, specify the path to a plain text file:
--release-notes-file "/path/to/release-notes.txt"
|
--testers
--testers-file
|
The email addresses of the testers you want to invite.
You can specify the testers as a comma-separated list of email
addresses:
--testers "ali@example.com, bri@example.com, cal@example.com"
Or, you can specify the path to a plain text file containing a
comma-separated list of email addresses:
--testers-file "/path/to/testers.txt"
|
--groups
--groups-file
|
The tester groups you want to invite (refer to
Manage testers
).
Groups are specified using
group aliases
, which you can
look up in the Firebase console.
You can specify the groups as a comma-separated list:
--groups "qa-team, trusted-testers"
Or, you can specify the path to a plain text file containing a
comma-separated list of group names:
--groups-file "/path/to/groups.txt"
|
--debug
|
A flag you can include to print verbose log output.
|
--test-devices
--test-devices-file
|
The following distribution types are part of the
Automated tester beta feature
.
The test devices you want to distribute builds to (refer to
Automated tests
).
You can specify the testers as a comma-separated list of email
addresses:
--test-devices: "model=shiba,version=34,locale=en,orientation=portrait;model=b0q,version=33,locale=en,orientation=portrait"
Or, you can specify the path to a plain text file containing a
semicolon-separated list of test devices:
--test-devices-file: "/path/to/test-devices.txt"
|
--test-username
|
The username for automatic login to be used during
automated tests
.
|
--test-password
--test-password-file
|
The password for automatic login to be used during
automated tests
.
Or, you can specify the path to a plain text file containing a password:
--test-password-file: "/path/to/test-password.txt"
|
--test-username-resource
|
Resource name for the username field for automatic login to be used during
automated tests
.
|
--test-password-resource
|
Resource name for the password field for automatic login to be used during
automated tests
.
|
--test-non-blocking
|
Run
automated tests
asynchronously. Visit the Firebase console for the automatic test results.
|
For example:
firebase appdistribution:distribute test.ipa \
--app 1:1234567890:ios:0a1b2c3d4e5f67890 \
--release-notes "Bug fixes and improvements" --testers-file testers.txt
The Firebase CLI outputs the following links after the release upload.
These links help you manage binaries and ensure that testers and other
developers have the right release:
firebase_console_uri
- A link to the
Firebase console displaying a single release. You can share this
link with other developers in your org.
testing_uri
- A link to the release in the tester
experience
(iOS web clip)
that lets testers view release
notes and install the app onto their device. The tester needs
access to the release in order to use the link.
binary_download_uri
- A signed link that directly
downloads and installs the app binary
(IPA file)
. The link expires after one hour.
Manage testers and groups
In addition to distributing releases, you can also use
appdistribution:testers:add
and
appdistribution:testers:remove
to invite new testers or remove
existing testers from your Firebase project.
Once a tester has been added
to your Firebase project, you can add them to individual releases.
Once you remove a tester, they will no longer have access to
releases in your project. Note that testers who are recently removed can
still retain access to your releases for a window of time.
For example:
firebase appdistribution:testers:add anothertester@email.com moretesters@email.com
firebase appdistribution:testers:remove anothertester@email.com moretesters@email.com
Tester emails must be separated by a space. You can also specify testers
using
--file /path/to/testers.txt
.
If you have a large number of testers you should consider using groups:
You can use
appdistribution:group:create
and
appdistribution:group:delete
to create or delete groups in your Firebase
project.
Use
--group-alias
to specify a group for the
appdistribution:testers:add
and
appdistribution:testers:remove
commands.
For example:
firebase appdistribution:group:create "QA team" qa-team
firebase appdistribution:testers:add --group-alias=qa-team anothertester@email.com moretesters@email.com
firebase appdistribution:testers:remove --group-alias=qa-team anothertester@email.com moretesters@email.com
firebase appdistribution:group:delete qa-team
Once you distribute your build, it becomes available in the
App Distribution dashboard of the Firebase console for 150 days (five months).
When the build is 30 days from expiring, an expiration notice appears in both
the console and your tester's list of builds on their test device.
Testers who haven't been invited to test the app receive email invitations to
get started, and existing testers receive email notifications that a new build
is ready to test. To learn how to install the test
app, see
Get set up as a tester
.
You can monitor the status of each tester-whether they accepted the
invitation and whether they downloaded the app-in the Firebase console.
Testers have 30 days to accept an invitation to test the app before it expires.
When an invitation is 5 days from expiring, an expiration notice appears in the
Firebase console next to the tester on a release. An invitation can be
renewed by resending it using the drop-down menu on the tester row.
Next steps