Preparing the rebranded Google Android application for distribution

As the  BMC Digital Workplace  administrator you can distribute your rebranded  BMC Digital Workplace  application as follows:

• Install your rebranded BMC Digital Workplace  application on mobile devices.

• Publish your rebranded BMC Digital Workplace  application to Google Play Store.

  Note

  Due to a Google limitation, only BMC Digital Workplace 18.08 and later can be published to the Google Play Store.

For the purpose of Google Play Store publishing, you can change the mobile application package parameters. This change enables companies to publish the rebranded  BMC Digital Workplace  application to Google Play Store as their own application.

By using the Android Rebranding tool, you can rebrand the following application package parameters:

• • Application name
  • Package name
  • Code version

For either of the distribution scenarios, you must prepare your rebranded  application for distribution.

Before you begin

Download and install the Android SDK tool 24.0.3 or later.

To install the Android SDK tool

1. Go to  Android Studio , and scroll down to the Command line tools only section.
2. Download the appropriate file, depending on your operating system (Microsoft Windows or macOS).
3. Extract the downloaded .zip file to any folder.
4. Open the command line.

5. Navigate to cd PATH/tools/bin folder.

6. Run the sdkmanager file by entering the following command: 
   sdkmanager
7. Install the build-tools package: 
   sdkmanager "build-tools;N", where N is the Android API Level (24.0.3 or later)
8. Verify if the zipalign and the apksigner files are present in the following directory: PATH/build-tools/SOME_VERSION

To change the application package parameters

1. Open the Android Rebranding tool.
2. Select File > Open apk-file, and load your BMC Digital Workplace  application.
3. Click the Strings tab.

4. Enter new values in the following fields: Application name, Package name, Code version.

   Note

   If any of the fields is not specified, you are not able to save the changes.

5. Click Apply.
6. Click the Pack apk-file button, and choose an appropriate directory to save your application with the changed package parameters.

To prepare the rebranded application for distribition

After you pack the rebranded  BMC Digital Workplace  application, you must sign it with a digital certificate. You can either use an existing certificate or generate a new one.

To generate a digital certificate by using the keytool

The keytool is a certificate management utility that lets you administer your own public or private key pairs and associated certificates for use in self-authentication. For more information about the keytool, see  Oracle keytool documentation . 

1. Open the command line, and run the following command:
   

   keytool -genkey -v -keystore my-release-key.jks
-keyalg RSA -keysize 2048 -validity 20000 -alias my-alias

   Note

   The keytool is located in the bin/ directory in your Java Development Kit (JDK). To see your JDK from Android Studio, select File > Project Structure, and then click SDK Location. 

2. Provide passwords for the keystore and the key.

3. Provide Distinguished Name fields for your key.
   The keystore is generated as the my-release-key.jks file, and is saved to the current directory.

   Note

   The keystore contains a single key that is valid for 20,000 days.

To sign the application

1. Open the command line.
2. Navigate to the cd PATH/build-tools/SOME_VERSION folder.
3. Run the zipalign file:
   zipalign -p 4 PATH/dwp_rebranded.apk PATH/dwp_rebranded_aligned.apk
4. Run the apksigner file:
   apksigner sign --ks PATH/keystore_key.jks PATH/dwp_rebranded_aligned.apk
5. Run the signing verification:
   apksigner verify PATH/dwp_rebranded_aligned.apk

After the preparation procedures are done, you can distribute the rebranded BMC Digital Workplace  application by using either of the following possibilities:

• Install your rebranded BMC Digital Workplace  application on mobile devices.
• Create an application in Google Play Store, and publish your rebranded  BMC Digital Workplace  application with the changed package parameters as your company's own application. 
  For more information about Google publishing, see the official  Play Console Help .