How do I sign my android app bundle with my upload key (without the keystore) in Android Studio?

Question

So, I've gone through the whole process of uploading a signed app to the playstore, released it and opted in to the managed play store signing as recommended here: https://developer.android.com/studio/publish/app-signing#enroll

As part of this process, I generated a keystore file and upload key (both of which I have).

At the end of the above link, the article states:

When you release your app after opting into App signing by Google Play, Google Play generates and manages your app's signing key for you. Simply sign subsequent updates to your app using your app's upload key before uploading it to Google Play. to me this means that I will only need the upload key and not the keystore file for future releases.

However, when I go back in to Android Studio to build the app bundle again (so I can publish another release), I select Build > Generate Signed Bundle/APK and am then presented a modal like so:

The question is, how do I generate a new signed app bundle using only the upload key and not the keystore file?

Answer 1

A keystore is a container of private keys. The upload key is in the keystore (and so was your app signing key). You thus need the keystore containing the upload key to sign your app.

Edit: you'll find some more detailed description about the different types of elements at play here: https://support.google.com/googleplay/android-developer/answer/7384423?hl=en-GB