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On Mac OS X, you can create a zip archive from the Finder by selecting some files and selecting "Compress" from the contextual menu or the File menu. Unfortunately, the resulting file is not identical to the archive created by the zip command (with the default options).

This distinction matters to at least one service operated by Apple, which fails to accept archives created with the zip command. Having to create archives manually is preventing me from fully automating my release build process.

How can I create a zip archive in the correct format within a shell script?

EDIT: Since writing this question long ago, I've figured out that the key difference between ditto and zip is how they handle symbolic links: because the code signature inside an app bundle contains a symlink, it needs to be preserved as a link and not stored as a regular file. ditto does this by default, but zip does not (option -y is required).

benzado
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  • Which version of OS X are you running? – freespace Sep 20 '08 at 11:19
  • Try this - create an archive using finder with a single file in it, doesn't matter what it is. Now add a file to it using command line zip. This should only modify the zip master directory, and leave whatever apple magic alone - might be enough to get pass the detectors :P – freespace Sep 20 '08 at 11:42

4 Answers4

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I have a ruby script that makes iPhone App Store builds for me, but the zips it was generating wouldn't get accepted by iTunes Connect. They were accepted if I used Finder's "Compress" function.

millenomi's answer came close for me, but this command is what ended up working. iTunes Connect accepted my build, and the app got approved and can be downloaded no problem, so it's tested.

ditto -c -k --sequesterRsrc --keepParent AppName.app AppName.zip
Nik
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Jared Egan
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Use the ditto command-line tool as follows:

ditto -ck --rsrc --sequesterRsrc folder file.zip

See the ditto man page for more.

anothernode
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millenomi
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    With this, I still can't produce a .zip which has the same signature as Finder's compress function. However, I didn't know about ditto :D – freespace Sep 20 '08 at 11:33
  • Likewise, but it looks much closer than the output of 'zip'. Differences could be down to timestamps or similar. –  Sep 20 '08 at 12:19
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    Remember to add in --keepParent. If you read the man page (man ditto): The command: ditto -c -k --sequesterRsrc --keepParent src_directory archive.zip will create a PKZip archive similarly to the Finder's Compress functionality. – Harry Nov 20 '09 at 01:29
  • link is dead... – NooberMan Jan 10 '23 at 07:28
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man ditto states:

 The command:
       ditto -c -k --sequesterRsrc --keepParent src_directory archive.zip
 will create a PKZip archive similarly to the Finder's Compress functionality.

notice --keepParent

valexa
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The clue's in the tag 'automation'.

Create an action in Automator.app that uses the 'Create Archive' action, invoke it from the command-line (see 'automator').

  • Interesting, I had no idea there was an automator shell command! But won't that make the little robot bounce up and down in my Dock every time I make a build? – benzado Sep 20 '08 at 11:22
  • So long as the action doesn't prompt for input, it should run unattended and with no bouncing robot of any kind. –  Sep 20 '08 at 11:24
  • Automator, including the command line tool, requires access to the window manager, and therefore can only be launched as part of a console session, not unattended. – millenomi Sep 20 '08 at 11:29
  • Worked ok in a shell script for me; what sort of problem would you expect? –  Sep 20 '08 at 11:36