Create a GitHub Account¶

If you already have a GitHub Account, skip ahead to Create GitHub Personal Access Token.

New GitHub Account¶

If you do not already have a GitHub account, you need to create one. Be sure to record the email, password, and username for your GitHub account.

Decide on a couple of usernames that you will be happy with - this will get embedded into your GitHub URL. Your first choice might not be available, so be prepared with several candidates. Your personal URL will be: https://github.com/username.

• Click on this link to sign up for a free account: GitHub account signup
  • You will need to enter the email you want associated with your GitHub account
  • You will be asked to enter a password
  • You will be asked to enter a username
  • You will be asked if you want to receive email, ok to say N for no - you still get important account information with that email
  • Solve the puzzle to prove you're a person
  • Check the associated email to get the code and enter the code into github.com to confirm your account
• You should get the Welcome to GitHub screen
  • Indicate it is "Just me" on your team and Continue
  • Don't check anything on the next screen, just tap Continue
  • Select the Free option by selecting Continue for Free

The free level comes with plenty of storage and compute time to build the Trio app.

Create GitHub Personal Access Token¶

You must be logged into your GitHub account before starting this step. If you are continuing, you are already logged in.

1. You will be creating a new GitHub Personal Access Token and giving it the name "FastLane Access Token"

2. Open this link: https://github.com/settings/tokens/new

   • Referring to the graphic
     • Note that Tokens (classic) is highlighted
     • Most people use the classic Token
       • If you are a developer who needs to use fine-grained tokens, that is fine
     • Edit the note box to be FastLane Access Token
   • The default Expiration time is 30 days - but you should select No expiration (use the dropdown menu to select)
     • GitHub will show a yellow warning when you do this
     • It is ok to ignore the warning
   • Add a check beside the workflow permission scope
   • A check will automatically appear in the repo scope as well - this is normal
   • Scroll all the way to the bottom and click Generate token (it's a long way, ignore all other settings, do not check anything else)

   

   What does repo and workflow do?

   • repo: enables manual build actions
   • workflow: enables repo and automatic build actions

3. A new screen appears showing your access token

   • Copy the token and record it - once you leave this screen you can't see it again
   • You will use this for GH_PAT when you set up your Secrets
   • You can regenerate a Personal Access Token for GH_PAT if you lose it, but then you have to update that in the Secrets for your organization or in all repositories using GitHub Build if you don't use an organization

Create a Free GitHub Organization¶

This step is optional but it can save you a lot of time and is strongly recommended.

Prerequisite: You need a personal GitHub account. If you do not already have a personal GitHub account, click on New GitHub Account.

In the instructions below, use your GitHub username instead of my-name.

1. Follow the directions below to create a new GitHub organization account with a username of my-name-org (of course naming is up to you)
   • GitHub provides documentation at this link, New GitHub Organization, or you can follow the bullets below
   • Log into my-name and click on your icon (at upper right) and choose Settings
   • On the left side-bar, click on Organizations
   • In the new view, click on New Organization and choose Free for the plan by clicking on Create a free organization.
   • In the Set up your organization screen:
     • Enter my-name-org into the Organization name box
     • Enter the same email you use for my-name account
     • Select this organization belongs to My personal account
     • Check the box to accept the terms of service
     • Tap on the next button
2. You now see a Welcome screen
   • Unless you plan to collaborate with others, just tap Complete setup
   • You can always add others at a later time
3. Confirm access by entering the same password as you use for my-name

Your personal GitHub account is still needed. The free organization points to your personal account as a member. Please do not delete your personal GitHub account after creating an organization. If you do that - you will no longer have access to your organization.

Make up a Password¶

If you have not already made up a password, do it now and record it as MATCH_PASSWORD. Note that if you build more than one app, you use the same MATCH_PASSWORD for all the apps. Every app needs to have the same 6 Secrets.

Passphrase Suggestions¶

To make a passphrase that is hard to guess and keeps your certificates safe:

• Use at least 15 characters (20 is even better) and you can include spaces
• Mix in big letters, small letters, numbers, and symbols like $ or #
• Don’t use words or numbers that people might guess, like your name or birthday

If you already created a MATCH_PASSWORD that does not meet the criteria listed above, no worries, you are protecting an Apple developer certificate - not the family fortune. That information is provided for new builders who want guidance.

Navigation: ← Back to Introduction to Secrets | Next: Collect Apple Secrets →