Back to top

Set the APN certificate (iOS only)

Last updated January 22nd, 2024

Apple Push Notification service (APNs) is required to control iOS devices with Knox Manage. An APNs certificate is valid for one year. If the certificate is expired, you cannot send device commands to iOS devices. For more information about APNs, see User Notifications in Apple developer documentation.

To activate APNs, you must register an APNs certificate. The APNs certificate registration requires three actions:

Step Action
1 Receive a Certificate Signing Request (CSR) file from the Admin Portal.
2 Receive an APNs certificate from Apple.
3 Upload the certificate to the Admin Portal.

To register an APNs certificate, complete the following steps:

  1. Navigate to Setting > iOS > APNs Setting.

  2. On the APNs Setting page, click Generate Request at the bottom of the page. A signed CSR file is downloaded to your device.

  3. Visit the Apple Push Certificate Portal and sign in using your Apple account.

    If you do not have an Apple account, visit the Apple website (https://appleid.apple.com) and create your account. We recommend to create a new account for business use because the account will be continuously used for renewing the APNs certificate.

  4. Click Create a Certificate.

  5. Read and accept the terms of use.

  6. On the Create a New Push Certificate page, click Choose File.

  7. Select the downloaded CSR file and click Upload.

  8. On the Confirmation page, click Download. The APNs certificate is downloaded to your device as a PEM file.

  9. On the APNs Setting page of the Admin Portal, click Upload APNs Certificate.

  10. In the Upload APNs Certificate window, click and select the downloaded PEM file. In the Apple ID field, enter your business Apple ID.

  11. Click Save.

Once you’ve uploaded the APNs certificate, you can verify the details on the certificate at a later date. To view the details of the certificate download the registered APNs certificate as follows:

  • You can download the registered APNs certificate by clicking Download APNs Certificate.
  • If you have issued an APNs certificate with an external CSR file, you can import the certificate by clicking Import APNs Certificate.

Renewing an APNs certificate

The existing APNs certificate can be renewed before the expiration date. The renewal process is same as the process for new registration.

When renewing the existing APNs certificate, you must use the same Apple ID that you used to create the certificate. Users do not need to reinstall the Knox Manage Agent after certificate renewal.

The existing APNs certificate can be renewed before the expiration date. It is necessary to renew the APNs certificate every year.

Revoking or allowing this certificate to expire requires existing devices to be re-enrolled with a new push certificate.

To renew an APNs certificate, complete the following steps:

  1. Check the expiration date on the APNs Setting page. If this expiration date is close, you need to renew the APNs certificate.

  2. At the bottom of the page, click Generate Request. A signed CSR file is downloaded on your computer.

  3. Visit the Apple Push Certificate Portal and sign in using your Apple account. You must use the same Apple ID that you used to create the certificate.

  4. Make sure the details of the selected certificate matches the renewed certificate from the Knox Manage console, and click Renew. To find information about the Subject DN, click the i icon next to the Renew button on the list.

  5. Go to the Renew Push Certificate page, click Choose File.

  6. Select the downloaded CSR file and click Upload.

  7. On the Confirmation page, click Download. The APNs certificate is downloaded to your computer as a PEM file.

  8. On the Knox Manage console, go to the APNs Setting page, click Upload APNs Certificate.

  9. On the Upload APNs Certificate screen, click and select the downloaded PEM file. In the Apple ID field, enter your business Apple ID.

  10. Click Save.

Is this page helpful?