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f321x eb7e72fd42 build-osx: add docs for testing with self-signed certificate

2025-06-13 10:22:31 +02:00

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Building macOS binaries

✓ This binary should be reproducible, meaning you should be able to generate binaries that match the official releases.

Minimum supported target system (i.e. what end-users need): macOS 11

This guide explains how to build Electrum binaries for macOS systems.

Building the binary

This needs to be done on a system running macOS or OS X.

The script is only tested on Intel-based (x86_64) Macs, and the binary built targets x86_64 currently.

Notes about compatibility with different macOS versions:

In general the binary is not guaranteed to run on an older version of macOS than what the build machine has. This is due to bundling the compiled Python into the PyInstaller binary.
The bundled version of Qt also imposes a minimum supported macOS version.
If you want to build binaries that conform to the macOS "Gatekeeper", so as to minimise the warnings users get, the binaries need to be codesigned with a certificate issued by Apple, and starting with macOS 10.15 (targets) the binaries also need to be notarized by Apple's central server. To be able to build binaries that Apple will notarize (due to the requirements on the binaries themselves, e.g. hardened runtime) the build machine needs at least macOS 10.14. See #6128.
- There are two tools that can be used to notarize a binary, both part of Xcode: the old altool and the newer notarytool. altool was deprecated by Apple. notarytool requires Xcode 13+, and that in turn requires macOS 11.3+.

We currently build the release binaries on macOS 11.7.10, and these seem to run on 11 or newer.

Notes about reproducibility

We recommend creating a VM with a macOS guest, e.g. using VirtualBox, and building there.
The guest should run macOS 11.7.10 (that specific version).
The unix username should be vagrant, and electrum should be cloned directly to the user's home dir: /Users/vagrant/electrum.

Builders need to use the same version of Xcode; and note that full Xcode and Xcode commandline tools differ! We use the Xcode CLI tools as installed by brew. (version 13.2)

Sanity checks:

$ sw_vers
ProductName:	macOS
ProductVersion:	11.7.10
BuildVersion:	20G1427
$ xcode-select -p
/Library/Developer/CommandLineTools
$ xcrun --show-sdk-path
/Library/Developer/CommandLineTools/SDKs/MacOSX.sdk
$ pkgutil --pkg-info=com.apple.pkg.CLTools_Executables
package-id: com.apple.pkg.CLTools_Executables
version: 13.2.0.0.1.1638488800
volume: /
location: /
install-time: XXXXXXXXXX
groups: com.apple.FindSystemFiles.pkg-group
$ gcc --version
Configured with: --prefix=/Library/Developer/CommandLineTools/usr --with-gxx-include-dir=/Library/Developer/CommandLineTools/SDKs/MacOSX.sdk/usr/include/c++/4.2.1
Apple clang version 13.0.0 (clang-1300.0.29.30)
Target: x86_64-apple-darwin20.6.0
Thread model: posix
InstalledDir: /Library/Developer/CommandLineTools/usr/bin

Installing extraneous brew packages can result in build differences. For example, pyinstaller seems to pick up and bundle brew-installed libffi. So having a dedicated "electrum binary builder macOS VM" is recommended.
Make sure that you are building from a fresh clone of electrum (or run e.g. git clean -ffxd to rm all local changes).

1. Install brew

Install brew.

Let brew install the Xcode CLI tools.

2. Build Electrum

cd electrum
./contrib/osx/make_osx.sh

This creates both a folder named Electrum.app and the .dmg file (both unsigned).

2.1. For release binaries, here be dragons

If you want the binaries codesigned for macOS and notarised by Apple's central server, also run the sign_osx.sh script:

CODESIGN_CERT="Developer ID Application: Electrum Technologies GmbH (L6P37P7P56)" \
APPLE_TEAM_ID="L6P37P7P56" \
APPLE_ID_USER="me@email.com" \
APPLE_ID_PASSWORD="1234" \
./contrib/osx/sign_osx.sh

(note: APPLE_ID_PASSWORD is an app-specific password, not the account password)

Verifying reproducibility and comparing against official binary

Every user can verify that the official binary was created from the source code in this repository.

Build your own binary as described above.
Use the provided compare_dmg script to compare the binary you built with the official release binary.
```
$ ./contrib/osx/compare_dmg dist/electrum-*.dmg electrum_dmg_official_release.dmg
```
The compare_dmg script is mostly only needed as the official release binary is codesigned and notarized. Otherwise, the built .app bundles should be byte-identical. (Note that we are using hdutil to create the .dmg, and its output is not deterministic, but we cannot compare the .dmg files directly anyway as they contain codesigned files)

FAQ

What is macOS "codesigning" and "notarization"?

Codesigning is the macOS OS-native signing of executables/shared-libs, that needs to be done using an ~x509-like certificate that chains back to Apple's root CA. Once a developer certificate is obtained from Apple, it can be used to codesign locally on a dev machine.

Notarization is a further step usually done after, which entails uploading a distributable over the network to the Apple mothership central server, which runs some arbitrary checks on it, and if it finds the file ok, the central server gives the dev a notarization staple. This staple can then be optionally "attached" to the distributable, mutating it, which we do. (If the staple is not attached, enduser machines request it from the mothership at runtime.)

Both these steps should be done during the build process.

What is "codesigned" and/or "notarized", re the official release?

make_osx.sh builds a .app, which is unsigned/unnotarized
- at this point, this .app is ~"byte-for-byte" reproducible
  - this is the sanity-check hash printed at the end of make_osx.sh
- make_osx.sh creates a .dmg from the .app
  - this .dmg is not used for the official release at all, but used as the basis of testing reproducibility using the compare_dmg script
sign_osx.sh codesigns the .app (mutating it)
sign_osx.sh -> notarize_app.sh notarizes the .app (mutating it)
sign_osx.sh creates a .dmg from the .app
sign_osx.sh codesigns the .dmg (mutating it)
- this .dmg becomes the official release distributable

That is, the official release .dmg is codesigned but NOT notarized. It contains a .app, which is codesigned AND notarized.

How to check if a file is codesigned?

Both the .dmg and the contained .app are codesigned:

$ codesign --verify --deep --strict --verbose=2 $HOME/Desktop/electrum-4.5.8.dmg && echo "signed"
/Users/vagrant/Desktop/electrum-4.5.8.dmg: valid on disk
/Users/vagrant/Desktop/electrum-4.5.8.dmg: satisfies its Designated Requirement
signed

$ codesign --verify --deep --strict --verbose=1 $HOME/Desktop/Electrum-4.5.8.app && echo "signed"
/Users/vagrant/Desktop/Electrum-4.5.8.app: valid on disk
/Users/vagrant/Desktop/Electrum-4.5.8.app: satisfies its Designated Requirement
signed

Also see $ codesign -dvvv $HOME/Desktop/electrum-4.5.8.dmg

How to check if a file is notarized?

The outer .dmg is NOT notarized, but the inner .app is notarized:

$ spctl -a -vvv -t install $HOME/Desktop/electrum-4.5.8.dmg
/Users/vagrant/Desktop/electrum-4.5.8.dmg: rejected
source=Unnotarized Developer ID
origin=Developer ID Application: Electrum Technologies GmbH (L6P37P7P56)

$ spctl -a -vvv -t install $HOME/Desktop/Electrum-4.5.8.app
/Users/vagrant/Desktop/Electrum-4.5.8.app: accepted
source=Notarized Developer ID
origin=Developer ID Application: Electrum Technologies GmbH (L6P37P7P56)

How to simulate the signing procedure?

It is possible to run sign_osx.sh using a self-signed certificate to test the signing procedure without using a production certificate.

Note that the notarization process will be skipped as it is not possible to notarize an executable with Apple using a self-signed certificate.

To generate a self-signed certificate, inside your MacOS VM:

Open the Keychain Access application.
In the menubar go to Keychain Access > Certificate Assistant > Create a Certificate...
Set a name (e.g. signing_dummy)
Change Certificate Type to 'Code Signing'
Click Create and Continue.

You now have a self-signed certificate signing_dummy added to your login keychain.

To sign the executables with the self-signed certificate:

Assuming you have the two unsigned outputs of make_osx.sh inside ~/electrum/dist (e.g. Electrum.app and electrum-4.5.4-1368-gc8db684cc-unsigned.dmg).

In ~/electrum run:

$ CODESIGN_CERT="signing_dummy" ./contrib/osx/sign_osx.sh

After sign_osx.sh finished, you will have a new *.dmg inside electrum/dist (without the -unsigned postfix) which is signed with your certificate.

To compare the unsigned executable with the self-signed executable:

Running compare_dmg with IS_NOTARIZED=false should succeed:

$ IS_NOTARIZED=false ./electrum/contrib/osx/compare_dmg <unsigned executable> <self-signed executable>

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