'IPFS Desktop' can't be opened because Apple cannot check it for malicious software

[brennanfife]

Reinstalled Brave with the IPFS Chrome extension and the IPFS Companion Desktop application this morning. Opened it, but only get this warning with the following description: 'this software needs to be updated. Contact the developer for more information.'

Currently running macOS Catalina 10.15

[pcowgill]

FYI this still is an issue for fresh installs

[andrew]

I ran into the same error this morning:

It can be fixed by IPFS devs "Notarizing" the app with Apple before releasing it: https://developer.apple.com/documentation/xcode/notarizing_macos_software_before_distribution

[lidel]

Reopening. We need someone with Mac for this:

Notarization requires Xcode 10 or later.
Building a new app for notarization requires macOS 10.13.6 or later.

Seems that the process can be automated via CI:

If you use an automated build system, you can integrate the notarization process into your existing build scripts. The altool and stapler command-line tools (included with Xcode) allow you to upload your software to the Apple notary service, and to staple the resulting ticket to your executable.

Ref.

• Notarize Your Preexisting Software
• Add a Notarization Step to Your Build Scripts

[hacdias]

Ref.: https://github.com/karaggeorge/electron-builder-notarize

[lidel]

No Mac at hands, but I moved the needle a bit:

• switched (chore: dependency updates #1341) to the latest electron-builder to include fixes needed for notarization of mac artifact
  • see "mac" changes in electron-builder release notes here
  • and electron-notarize's prerequisites
  • TODO: understand if/why we should use karaggeorge/electron-builder-notarize instead of `electron/electron-notarize

[lidel]

For now, I think we could try to manually notarize v0.10.3:

• IIUC we need someone with Xcode and AppleID
  • I am not sure if it needs to be the same ID as one used for signing:

    signing         file=dist/mac/IPFS Desktop.app identityName=Developer ID Application: Protocol Labs, Inc. (7Y229E2YRL) identityHash=C297E064280322D72444C869E7FC0F60B14E934E provisioningProfile=none
    

    @olizilla do you remember who owns keys used at Travis by any chance?
• Try executing step (2) described at Notarize Your Preexisting Software, but note that:

  Alternatively, you can put apps, kernel extensions, and other software in a container, like a disk image, and notarize the container. The notary service accepts disk images (UDIF format), signed flat installer packages, and ZIP archives.

  • So instead of paclaging a local project, try to upload existing Disk Image .dmg:
    • IPFS-Desktop-0.10.3.dmg → Upload Your App to the Notarization Service
  • Step (3) is optional, (2) should be enough for online notarization checks to pass (most of the users will download .dmg from the internet anyway)

[lidel]

Thanks to help from @olizilla and @autonome this is now fixed in 0.10.4 \o/

0.10.3

0.10.4

Details: #1365

[slhodak]

I get the "Is an app downloaded from the internet" warning, and click open, and Activity Monitor says the following processes are running, but there is no ipfs window, nor a dot next to the icon in the dock.
ipfs
IPFS Desktop
IPFS Desktop Helper (Renderer)
IPFS Desktop Helper (GPU)

IPFS Desktop Version 0.14.0

System

Catalina 10.15.7

I do have two graphics cards (one additional) but am not sure if that's related:
NVIDIA GeForce GT 650M 512 MB
Intel HD Graphics 4000 1536 MB

And I only have 35GB of free disk space--would that be an issue?

[slhodak]

After trying it out, I think I should mention here that I've run IPFS from the command line and it seems to work fine, including the local browser UI.

[anthraxblast]

I'm getting the same issue as slhodak - no matter what I do, I cannot get IPFS desktop (v 0.15.0) to work on Mac. MacBook Air (13-inch, Early 2015), 1.6 GHz Dual-Core Intel Core i5, 8 Gig Memory. MacOS, Big Sur v.11.4. The error I get on an administrator account:
"You do not have permission to open the application “IPFS Desktop”. Contact your computer or network administrator for assistance." Note that I got an earlier version of IPFS to work on the prior OS before Big Sur (which was Catalina/Jazz), but it broke with Big Sur. I tried putting it in the Applications folder and using the CTRL key to open it, per the docs - no help. Bit surprised to see a desktop client fail like this - I download all sorts of smallish 3rd party apps that work fine.