Security > NHN AppGuard > Gradle Plugin Guide

Overview

NHN AppGuard Gradle Plugin supports build automation so that protection operations can be included in Android Gradle build steps. If you are using ProGuard and Firebase Crashlytics, you can read and apply ProGuard mapping files to use with NHN AppGuard obfuscation.

Supported Environment

  • Android Gradle Plugin (AGP) 3.0.1 or higher

  • firebase-crashlytics-gradle 2.2.0~2.8.0

  • The Gradle Plugin method is not supported in the Unity environment.

Library Settings

Add the NHN AppGuard Gradle Plugin as a buildscript dependency to your project-level build.gradle file.

buildscript {
    repositories {
        mavenCentral()
    }
    dependencies {
        // ...

        // Add the NHN Cloud AppGuard Gradle Plugin
        classpath 'com.nhncloud.android:appguard-gradle-plugin:1.2.1'
    }
}

Apply the NHN AppGuard Gradle Plugin to your app-level build.gradle file.

apply plugin: 'com.nhncloud.android.appguard'

NHN AppGuard Gradle Plugin Options

To use the plugin functions, you must specify the Appkey and NHN AppGuard version.

You can specify the folder of SDK downloaded from the console. If the NHN AppGuard SDK is not installed in that path, download and unzip the NHN AppGuard SDK to the specified folder path. If no option is specified, install the NHN AppGuard SDK in the appguard folder relative to your project root.

If you do not specify a download path for protected files, the built Android app files will be overwritten.

You can also set whether to apply the app bundle, whether to apply NHN AppGuard obfuscation, the level of obfuscation, and other options. The options are as follows:

Option Description Required
enabled Whether to apply NHN AppGuard Griddle plugin Y
appBundle Whether to apply the app bundle Y
obfuscate Whether to apply NHN AppGuard obfuscation N
plan Protection plans (Business, Enterprise, Game) Y
appKey Appkey that can be found in the console Y
version NHN AppGuard version Y
certificateFingerprintEnabled Enable certificate fingerprinting for app signature verification
(Enabled by default)		 N
certificateFingerprints Certificate fingerprinting (SHA-256) for app signature verification
(Up to 10 can be registered)		 N
(Required when certificateFingerprintEnabled is enabled)
appGuardSDKFolderPath NHN AppGuard SDK folder path N
overrideOutputFile Whether to overwrite protected files N
extraOptions Add options used in CLI (contact us if necessary) N
outputFilePath Storage path for the protected file (variants scope) N

Setting the NHN AppGuard Gradle Plugin Options

Write appguard options in your app-level build.gradle file.

Options that are not required can be omitted.

appguard {
    enabled = true
    appBundle = true
    obfuscate = false
    plan = "game"
    appKey = "Appkey issued from the web console"
    version = "Protector version"
    certificateFingerprintEnabled = true // optional, true by default
    certificateFingerprints = [
        "xx:xx:xx..",
        "xx:xx:xx..",
        ...
    ] // optional, required when setting certificateFingerprintEnabled = true
 /*  
    appGuardSDKFolderPath = "NHN AppGuard SDK folder path" // optional
    overrideOutputFile = false // optional
    extraOptions = "" // optional
    variants {
        alphaRelease {
            outputFilePath = "~/A/B/C/example.apk"
        }
    }
*/
}

Setting the Protected File Path

From version 1.0.1, you can set a protected file storage location for each variants.

(It cannot be set in root, buildTypes, and productFlavors scope.)

For variants with outputFilePath unset, the original file will be overwritten or the protected file is saved as a file with _protected appended, depending on the value of the overrideOutputFile option.

def outputFolderPath = "~~/A/B/C/"
appguard{
    // ...
    variants {
          AlphaRelease {
              outputFilePath = outputFolderPath + "alpha-release.apk"
          }     
          BetaRelease {
              outputFilePath = outputFolderPath + "beta-release.apk"
          }  
    }     
}

Applying Obfuscation When Using Proguard and Firebase Crashlytics

Prerequisites

  1. You must be using NHN AppGuard obfuscation in your project.

  2. You must be using Proguard in your Android project.

  3. You must be using the FireBase Crashlytics upload feature. Obfuscation can be applied even if the feature is not used.

How to Apply

Write the appguard options in your app-level build.gradle file like the following:

appguard {
    // ...
    enabled = true
    obfuscate = true
}

Set up Certificate Fingerprinting to Verify App Signature Integrity

Starting with version 1.2.0, you can add whether to enable certificate fingerprinting and which certificate fingerprint (SHA-256) will be used for verification.
Certificate fingerprinting for app signature verification defaults to Enabled, and you must enter a certificate fingerprint upon activation.

How to Apply

Write the appguard options in your app-level build.gradle file like the following:

  • Enable signature integrity verification 
appguard {
    certificateFingerprintEnabled = true 
    certificateFingerprints = [
        "xx:xx:xx..",
        "xx:xx:xx..",
        ...
    ]
}
  • Disable app signature integrity verification
appguard {
    certificateFingerprintEnabled = false
}
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