iOS Simulator 8.1 SDK missing in XCode 6.2

Question

Developers I'm supporting just got new Macs with XCode 6.2 (Version 6.2 (6C131e)).

In running xcodebuild we're having failures in running against any earlier version of the simulator, even if it's been downloaded, getting:

:build
xcodebuild: error: SDK "iphonesimulator7.1" cannot be located.
:build FAILED

I go to Xcode -> Preferences and download the iOS 8.1 and 7.1 simulator, but still they don't show when doing an xcodebuild -showsdks:

xcodebuild -showsdks

iOS Simulator SDKs:
   Simulator - iOS 8.2              -sdk iphonesimulator8.2

Ideas? I can't flip my whole project & CI pipeline to build against 8.2 just yet, wondering if there's a trick to getting the 7.1 / 8.1 sim working from the command line tools in Xcode 6.2.

Answer 1

It looks like Xcode 6.2 is having an issue recognizing any additional simulators:

xcodebuild[4554:1175053] [MT] iPhoneSimulator: SimVerifier returned: Error Domain=NSPOSIXErrorDomain Code=53 "Simulator verification failed."  
UserInfo=0x7fe952514ca0 {
NSLocalizedFailureReason=A connection to the simulator verification service could not be established.,  
NSLocalizedRecoverySuggestion=Ensure that Xcode.app is installed on a volume with ownership enabled.,  
NSLocalizedDescription=Simulator verification failed.}

Some in the Apple Developer Forums are experiencing the same issues. A radar has been filed, and one possible solution of:

"Finally success by nuking /Library/Deverloper/* and re-installing Xcode."

Answer 2

Found the answer in this thread: xcode simulator not coming up - reinstall possible? (the accepted answer). Looks like xcode 6.2 is not "smart" enough to create the simulators on its own. This is why, if you update from 6.1 to 6.2, you won't be able to see ios 8.2 simulators even if you have the sdk, and the same reason why if you do a clean install you can't see any simulator at all, even if you specifically install the simulators in the preferences menu. Cheers for the poorly packaged official bundles!