Command Line Tools

Running Tests

To run your unit tests in the simulator using xcodebuild use

If you have a workspace (e.g. when using CocoaPods)

xcodebuild \
  -workspace MyApp.xcworkspace \
  -scheme "MyScheme" \
  -sdk iphonesimulator \
  -destination 'platform=iOS Simulator,name=iPhone 6,OS=9.1' \
  test

If you have a project file

xcodebuild \
  -project MyApp.xcproj \
  -scheme "MyScheme" \
  -sdk iphonesimulator \
  -destination 'platform=iOS Simulator,name=iPhone 6,OS=9.1' \
  test

Alternative destination values are

  -destination 'platform=iOS,id=REAL_DEVICE_UDID'
  -destination 'platform=iOS,name=IPHONE NAME'

List available targets, schemes and build configurations

To list all available schemes for the project in your current directory

xcodebuild -list

Optionally you can pass a path to a project or workspace file

xcodebuild -list -workspace ./MyApp.xcworkspace
xcodebuild -list -project ./MyApp.xcodeproj

Example output

Information about project "Themoji":
    Targets:
        Themoji
        ThemojiUITests
        Unit

    Build Configurations:
        Debug
        Release

    If no build configuration is specified and -scheme is not passed then "Release" is used.

    Schemes:
        Themoji
        ThemojiUITests
        Units

Compile and sign schema

Cleaning and compiling code for iPhone, on project MyProject for schema Qa:

xcrun xcodebuild clean \
    -workspace "MyProject.xcworkspace" \
    -scheme "YourScheme" \
    -sdk iphoneos \
    -configuration Debug \
    archive \
    -archivePath builds/MyProject.xcarchive

Configuration can be either Debug or Release.

Signing the previously compiled code:

xcrun xcodebuild -exportArchive \
    -archivePath builds/MyProject-Qa.xcarchive \
    -exportOptionsPlist config.plist \
    -exportPath builds

config.plist contains the information about how to package and sign the application, for development builds use:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<!DOCTYPE plist PUBLIC "-//Apple//DTD PLIST 1.0//EN" "https://www.apple.com/DTDs/PropertyList-1.0.dtd">
<plist version="1.0">
<dict>
        <key>method</key>
        <string>development</string>
        <key>uploadSymbols</key>
        <true/>
</dict>
</plist>

An App Store release plist should contain something like:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<!DOCTYPE plist PUBLIC "-//Apple//DTD PLIST 1.0//EN" "https://www.apple.com/DTDs/PropertyList-1.0.dtd">
<plist version="1.0">
<dict>
        <key>teamID</key>
        <string>xxxxxxxxxxx</string>
        <key>method</key>
        <string>app-store</string>
        <key>uploadSymbols</key>
        <true/>
</dict>
</plist>

Where the Team ID can be obtained from your keychain.

All available parameters

compileBitcode
embedOnDemandResourcesAssetPacksInBundle
iCloudContainerEnvironment
manifest
method
onDemandResourcesAssetPacksBaseURL
teamID
thinning
uploadBitcode
uploadSymbols

To get a more information about each of the parameters run xcodebuild --help

Access any command line tool in Xcode app bundle (xcrun)

xcrun uses the system default Xcode version (set via xcode-select) to locate and execute command line tools from the Xcode application bundle, e.g., llvm-cov.

# Generate code coverage reports via llvm-cov 
# /Applications/Xcode.app/Contents/Developer/Toolchains/XcodeDefault.xctoolchain/usr/bin
xcrun llvm-cov [parameters]

# Execute xcodebuild 
# /Applications/Xcode.app/Contents/Developer/usr/bin
xcrun xcodebuild [parameters]

# Use Xcode's version of git, e.g., if you have installed a newer version
# /Applications/Xcode.app/Contents/Developer/usr/bin 
xcrun git [parameters]

Switching command line tools with xcode-select

Print the path to the active developer directory (selected Xcode)

xcode-select -p

Select a different version of Xcode, e.g. Beta

sudo xcode-select -s /Applications/Xcode-beta.app

Reset to the default version of Xcode

sudo xcode-select -r

This is equivalent to running sudo xcode-select -s /Applications/Xcode.app

For more details: man xcode-select