Backing up the signing key used to sign an Android application in Eclipse

Question

So, I have my first Android application, well developed and promoted. I have a signature key used to sign in Eclipse for distribution in the market.

Now I'm looking at recovering my computer, but the key bothers me. What is the correct way to back up this key and restore it?

Can I copy the Keystore directory with the signaturekey file in it and then point Eclipse to the new directory after rebuilding the next time I compile the APK?

Or is it harder than that?

The screen displays what will be the correct file for backup, fix it? I just want to make sure, because I also see a file called .keystore in the S:\Documents directory .

Answer 1

The key you use to sign apks is just one file, and you can treat it like any other file.

You can copy it, rename, move it, etc. without any problems if you point to a new location when signing up next time.

For example, my key file is called key.keystore. I created it in my home directory, but after updating from the desktop to macbook pro I just copied it to my new system. No need to copy the entire directory. Only a key file is required, in your case a signingkey file.

The next time you want to create a release version, just provide a new signingkey location and enter the password and alias that you used before.