Retrieving Apple Push Certificate in P12 Format

3 February 2022

Before you start, make sure you have the following:

• A Mac workstation
• Access to the Apple Developer account with permission to access certificates and profiles

Generate Certificate Signing Request (CSR) File

  1. Launch Keychain Access on your Mac workstation.
  2. Select Keychain Access > Certificate Assistant > Request a Certificate From a Certificate Authority.

  3. In the window that opens, enter your email address, select the Saved to disk radio button, and click Continue.
  4. Save the CSR file to your workstation.

Create Certificate

  1. Log into your Apple Developer account and go to Certificates, Identifiers & Profiles.

  2. In the menu on the left, open the Identifiers tab, find your app, and click it.
  3. If you have no app yet, click next to the Identifiers header.

  4. Register a new App ID.

  5. Select the Push Notifications check box in the list of capabilities for the new app.

  6. Once your app is created, click its name on the Identifiers tab and locate the active Push Notifications capability in the list. Click Configure.

  7. In the Production SSL Certificate section in the pop-up window, click Create Certificate.

    Do not create a development SSL certificate as edna Pulse only works with Apple’s production cloud that requires a production SSL certificate.

  8. In the window that opens, select iOS from the Platform drop-down and click Choose File.

  9. Select the CSR file you downloaded earlier and click Continue.
  10. Once done, click Download to download the created push certificate to your workstation.

The certificate has an expiration date. Remember to generate a new certificate and upload it to edna before the previous one expires.

Export Certificate in P12 Format

You need to export the certificate in the .p12 format to be able to use it for edna.

  1. On your workstation, locate the certificate created in the previous step and click it twice – this will upload it to Keychain Access.
  2. Select My Certificates or Certificates category. Right-click the certificate and select Export.
  3. Enter a name for the file in the Save as field.
  4. For File Format, select Personal Information Exchange (.p12). If the certificate was selected from the All Items category, export to p12 will not be available.
  5. Click Save.
  6. Create, verify, and make note of your password (you will need it later). Use printable ASCII characters for the password.

    This password protects your exported .p12 file and is required when setting up an iOS app in edna Pulse.
  7. Enter your Keychain Access password to allow exporting the certificate and click Allow. Usually, it is the same password you use for your Mac workstation.

All done! You now have a push certificate in the .p12 format and its password. You will need this data later when setting up an iOS app in edna Pulse.

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