Use Mobile Center to Build

Build and Distribute xamarin app with mobile center

Following method is good for team mobile development, which you want whenever developer check-in have build to tell is either success or failed, also when developer getting latest they can get successfully build file. QA, tester can get latest APK whenever there's check-in and notifiy by email.

This blog is shows how to use mobile center to manage Xamarin Build. The technology stacks are following. Mobile center contains Crashs and Analytics reports, Build, Test and Destribute. It is a center place for you to manage mobile application. It's support Android and iOS for now and will support windows in the future. Also, it's not only for Microsoft Xamarin, it's target for other mobile platiform, native, reactive native and phonegap app.

This blog is just shows if you're using Visual studio to build Xamarin (Android or iOS) at windows, use visual studio TFS's Git as source control and want to build solution under mobile center.

• Mobile Center
• Visual studio
• Xamarin
• Git

1. Make sure your code is connect to following source control service.

You can choose, Github, Bitbucket or Visual Studio Team Services, which Visual Studio Team Serive is private and unlimit to host. Howeve mobile center only available for Git project.

How to use Git is not part of this blog, but basically, once you'll have to clone the git repository at your local. WHen you make changes commit will to be your local git first, if you want to move to git server, push to master branch.

 

2. setup Branch and create build definition

• Select project to build
• Choose either Debug or Release mode to build
• Choose build the project whenever check-in to Git TFS Service or manully build it.
• Sign Builds, if you wish to build with your sign certificate, you can upload keystore file and enter password
• Test on Real device
• Distribute builds
• Distribute Builds if you want to send email to whoever to download successfully build APK files. This is good for team enviroment, each check-in will build the latest code and if success then generate new apk and distribute to the testers.