Skip to main content
Before submitting to the Roku Channel Store, you must produce a signed .pkg file. Signing binds the channel to a specific Roku device’s signing key and is required by Roku for all channel submissions.

​
How it works

The make pkg target:
  1. Builds out/GlobalTV.zip (runs make zip)
  2. Sideloads the zip to the Roku (runs make install)
  3. Posts a signing request to /plugin_package with your SIGN_PASSWORD
  4. Downloads the resulting .pkg file from the Roku to out/
Output: out/GlobalTV-1.0.6.pkg

​
Prerequisites

  • Roku device in developer mode with a signing key loaded (see step 1 below)
  • ROKU_IP, ROKU_PASS, and SIGN_PASSWORD from the genkey command

​
Generate a signing key

Each Roku device has a unique signing key. You generate it once using genkey over telnet. The resulting SIGN_PASSWORD must be saved — Roku does not let you recover it.
1

Connect to the Roku over telnet

telnet <ROKU_IP> 8080
You should see a BrightScript debug prompt.
telnet may not be installed by default. On macOS: brew install telnet. On Windows with Git Bash: choco install telnet or use PuTTY in raw mode on port 8080.
2

Run genkey

At the prompt, type:
genkey
The Roku will generate a key and print output similar to:
Password: a1b2c3d4e5f6
DevID: 1A2B3C4D5E6F7890ABCDEF1234567890
3

Save the DevID and password

Copy both values to a secure location. The Password value is your SIGN_PASSWORD. The DevID identifies which device’s key signed the package — Roku uses it to verify the submission.
There is no way to recover the SIGN_PASSWORD after this session. If you lose it, you must run genkey again, which generates a new key and invalidates any previously signed packages.

​
Build the signed package

1

Increment build_version in manifest

Roku requires a unique build_version for every Channel Store submission. Open manifest and increment the value:
build_version=7
Also update APP_VERSION in the Makefile if the minor or major version has changed, so the output filename stays consistent.
Submitting with the same build_version as a previous submission will be rejected by Roku.
2

Run make pkg

make pkg ROKU_IP=192.168.1.100 ROKU_PASS=yourpass SIGN_PASSWORD=a1b2c3d4e5f6
Expected output:
>>> [pkg] Instalando app para firmar...
>>> [install] HTTP 200
>>> [install] Resultado: Install Success
>>> [pkg] Solicitando paquete firmado...
>>> [pkg] Descargando .pkg desde el Roku...

>>> [pkg] OK → out/GlobalTV-1.0.6.pkg
>>> [pkg] Listo para subir al Roku Channel Store.
3

Verify the output file

Confirm the file exists and is non-zero in size:
ls -lh out/GlobalTV-1.0.6.pkg

​
Upload to the Roku Channel Store

1

Log in to the Roku developer dashboard

Go to developer.roku.com and sign in with your Roku developer account.
2

Open your channel and add a new version

Navigate to your channel listing and select Manage Channel → Add new version.
3

Upload the .pkg file

Upload out/GlobalTV-1.0.6.pkg when prompted. Fill in the required metadata (screenshots, descriptions, categories).
4

Submit for certification

Once all required fields are complete, submit the channel for Roku’s certification review. Run make check before submitting to catch common issues early.
Run make check before every Channel Store submission to verify manifest fields, required images, and prohibited patterns. See Certification for the full checklist.

Build docs developers (and LLMs) love

Get started for freeTalk to us