Problem with XCode Distribution Provisioning Profile

Question

I'm having a problem with a Distribution Provisioning Profile in XCode. After an entire day of reading and following the iOS Provisioning Portal, and googling the issue extensively, I'm looking for help please.

It appears to me that I must satisfy the following conditions in order to distribute an app on the App Store: 1) I must target a DEVICE (i.e. not a simulator) in my build. 2) The targeted device must be configured in the XCode Organizer with a Distribution Provisioning Profile.

But I can't seem to satisfy these conditions through the Provisioning Portal, based on what I've experienced so far:

1) I created a Distribution Provisioning Profile. 2) It indicates zero devices. 3) When I attempt to edit it, Devices are grayed out when "App Store" is selected as the "Distribution Method", but not when "Ad Hoc" is selected. So I can't add devices for App Store distribution. 4) I downloaded the Distribution Provisioning Profile (.mobileprovision file). 5) In XCode's Organizer, when I attempt to add a Provisioning Profile to my device, the Distribution Provisioning Profile that I downloaded is grayed out.

I'm concerned that the Distribution Provisioning Profile indicates zero devices. Is it because only Development Provisioning Profiles can indicate devices?

I'm also concerned that I can't add the Distribution Provisioning Profile that I downloaded to the device in the XCode Organizer. DEVELOPMENT Provisioning Profiles do not appear grayed out. Is that because only Development Provisioning Profiles may be added to a device?

When I do the build, I made sure that the Code Signing section specifies "iPhone Distribution", and indicates my Distribution Provisioning Profile. The build completes successfully, but I get the following error and the program will not run on the device:

"a valid provisioning profile for this executable was not found"

I must be missing something, as many other people have done this successfully. Can someone please point out what I am missing or doing wrong?

Any help is greatly appreciated.

Answer 1

Your second assumption is wrong. You don't have to target a device in the distribution profile. Unplug the devices from your computer, select the distribution profile and target iOS device in the scheme selector and build (without run). The result can then be zipped and uploaded to apple.