Xcode 9 automatic signing failing

Question

I had successfully uploaded an app for TestFlight but after archiving and uploading now it is giving me this error I can't explain. Just to make sure I unchecked all entitlements in the capabilities target tab but that doesn't seem to matter.

I looked over all the app id's, certificates and provisioning profiles but there's nothing that looks abnormal. I would look in the actual .plist file generated by Xcode but I don't see where it is or if it even exists. Where should I even check to verify what's going on? Xcode is a buggy mess so I don't even trust this isn't some random bug (I cleaned the target of course just to make sure).

Automatic signing is unable to resolve an issue with the "..." target's entitlements. Switch to manual signing and resolve the issue by downloading a matching provisioning profile from the developer website. Alternatively, to continue using automatic signing, remove these entitlements from your entitlements file and their associated functionality from your code. Then rebuild your archive and try again.

Provisioning profile failed qualification Profile doesn't match the entitlements file's value for the application-identifier entitlement.

Answer 1

I had a terrible time with some old projects where I had to use manual signing because I couldn't get automatic provisioning to work. Then I discovered the following solution, which has worked for me 100%:

1. Switch to automatic provisioning if you haven't already.

2. Edit the target build settings and search for Sign. You should see four Code Signing Identity entries and they should all say iOS Developer. (If one of them says iOS Distribution, that's the kiss of death.)

3. Still editing the target build settings, search for Provision. Scroll down to the bottom and see if there is an explicit extra provisioning profile setting giving a profile number. If so, delete it.

4. Edit the target capabilities. Turn Game Center and iCloud and In-App Purchase on. Now turn them off again. This will give you an empty entitlements file (you can confirm this in the project navigator).

You will now be able to build to a device, archive, and export to the App Store, using automatic signing throughout.

Answer 2

I have had a very similar issue with Xcode 9.4, the only difference being that the error referred to issues with both the application identifier and keychain access groups entitlements.

I switched from automatic Xcode signing to manual signing to try to fix the problem. After some mucking about that did not help (and that I don't think contributed to fixing the problem) I ended up re-enabling the Xcode automatic signing. This appears to have fixed the problem. I was able to clean, archive and upload without any issues.

Not a particularly satisfying answer, but it worked for me.