What is the purpose of a provisioning profile and why is it needed when developing an iPhone application? If I don't have a provisioning profile, what happens?
A Quote from : iPhone Developer Program (~8MB PDF)
A provisioning profile is a collection of digital entities that uniquely ties developers and devices to an authorized iPhone Development Team and enables a device to be used for testing. A Development Provisioning Profile must be installed on each device on which you wish to run your application code. Each Development Provisioning Profile will contain a set of iPhone Development Certificates, Unique Device Identifiers and an App ID.
Devices specified within the provisioning profile can be used for testing only by those individuals whose iPhone Development Certificates are included in the profile. A single device can contain multiple provisioning profiles.
You need it to install development iPhone applications on development devices.
Here's how to create one, and the reference for this answer:
http://www.wikihow.com/Create-a-Provisioning-Profile-for-iPhone
Another link:
http://iphone.timefold.com/provisioning.html
Development Provisioning Profile
Apple cares about security and as you know it is not possible to install any application on a real iOS device. Apple has several legal ways to do it:
When you need to test/debug an app on a real device the Development Provisioning Profile allows you to do it
When you publish an app you send a Distribution Provisioning Profile[About] and Apple after review reassign it by they own key
Development Provisioning Profile is stored on device and contains:
Application ID - application which are going to run
List of Development certificates - who can debug the app
List of devices - which devices can run this app
Xcode by default take cares about it
Related
Apple Developer Program Information says:
A Development Provisioning Profile must be installed on each device on
which you wish to run your application code.
Each Development
Provisioning Profile will contain a set of iPhone Development
Certificates, Unique Device Identifiers and an App ID.
So where are provisioning profiles in my iPhone XS?
Can I see them?
Can I download them?
Can I beam them to any other device via bluetooth? airdrop? email?
It is not recommended for security reasons offcourse, but if you see yourself in the position that you want to distribute your file ad-hoc onair via 3rd-party software (e.g. installonair.com): their download file does not include the provisioning profile and won't let you download the app.
In my case downloading the correct provisioning profile and sharing it via airdrop it installed the provisioning profile on the ipad. You cannot see it, but is there. With the provisioning profile installed manually, it is now possible to download the app via 3rd party software.
The development provisioning profile is contained in the application bundle that is installed on the iOS device (typically using Xcode, but you can also use ad-hoc distribution methods).
You can't see them. There is no settings screen that shows the development apps installed on your phone.
You can't download them (well, you can download the app bundle using Xcode, but if you have Xcode you could just recompile your app).
You can't send a provisioning profile to another device from the device. Even if you could, it wouldn't really serve any purpose because the provisioning profile includes a list of authorised device identifiers and some arbitrary device won't be on the list.
The provisioning profile is installed when you correctly and legally install the app. You cannot see it. It is there to enforce security. It is your warrant to run this particular app on this particular device.
Can I beam them to any other device
Obviously not; if you could do that you would break through the entire security system that Apple has devised.
I maintain an internal iOS app for a client who has an Apple Developer Program account (not Enterprise). They routinely give new devices access to the app by adding the UDIDs to the Devices list in their Apple Developer account and updating their Distribution provisioning profile. Then they deploy the app to the new devices through Airwatch.
When they add new devices in this way, they don't want to have to rebuild the app in Xcode with the updated profile. Instead, they believe they should be able to export the updated profile from their developer account, upload the profile to Airwatch, and push the app to the new devices, without ever generating a new IPA.
Is it possible to do this without an Enterprise Apple Developer account?
As long as you can get the new provisioning profile on the devices through MDM, you don't need to publish a new build. You just need to make sure the profile is installed on the device before they try to install the app. iOS doesn't necessarily care if the valid provisioning profile is bundled with the app when it was packaged. It just cares if a valid provisioning profile is installed on the device when an app is installed / run on the device.
I have used a similar technique with some internal apps we have, since we use a wildcard bundle ID in our profile. If the profile bundled with app A expires, it doesn't matter as long as the user has installed app B, which has a newer, still valid profile.
In my opinion, the workflow should look like this:
new device(s) received
add devices to provisioning profile on developer site
download updated profile and distribute it to all devices, including new device(s) via MDM
have users of new device install app (which should work since they now have a valid profile on their device for the bundle ID in question)
This works for profiles, however, when the certificate expires, you will need to rebuild the app(s).
I understand the provisioning profiles something like this: a provisioning profile contains signing identity information, and used to sign an application code. I can develop an application using simulators without any provisioning profiles. To run and test an application on real devices, I need at least development provisioning profile. These profiles should be generated in Apple Developer Portal and then downloaded to use them locally with Xcode. Currently Xcode itself is responsible for generating and downloading profiles, and Xcode does it automatically. There are also distribution provisioning profiles Ad-Hoc and AppStore.
But I'm confused by so-called "Team Provisioning Profile" used to sign the application in Xcode by default. It appears automatically and allows me to install application on the real devices, so I understand it as an automatically generated development provisioning profile. But I can't see any corresponding iOS-development provisioning profile in the Apple Developer console.
My question is: What is the Team Provisioning Profile then? If it's kind of Development Provisioning, why can't I see it on Apple Developer console?
Team : - A kind of Development profile that’s managed by Xcode. Xcode automatically adds everyone’s cert to it and all UDIDs from devices as well.
What is the Team Provisioning Profile then?
To save you time, Xcode creates and manages a type of development provisioning profile, called a team provisioning profile, for you. The team provisioning profile allows all your apps to be signed and run by all team members on all your team’s devices. For an individual, the team provisioning profile allows all your apps to run on all your devices. Xcode also performs configuration steps for each app service you enable that requires some type of provisioning. Although Xcode simplifies this process, it helps to understand your code signing and provisioning assets and to know where they reside.
If it's kind of Development Provisioning, why can't I see it on Apple Developer console?
Xcode creates a team provisioning profile and its components as needed in your developer account. Xcode requests a development certificate for you if it’s missing. The development certificate is used in the team provisioning profile to identify you. A device must be registered to create a provisioning profile, so Xcode may ask you to connect an iOS or tvOS device. For Mac apps, Xcode automatically registers the Mac that is running Xcode.that's why you can't see it on Apple Developer console
More check this : apple doc
As I am new to iOS, I don't know much about it. So please help me
First someone tell me , what is the purpose of provisioning profile.
Second, is it possible to create a provisioning profile without having an Apple Developer Membership??
Help would be appreciated..
Provisioning profile is impossible to obtain without Apple Developer Membership.
Nevertheless Provisioning profile is required to test application on real devices and use it to upload application it to App store.
Provision profile is :
A provisioning profile is a collection of digital entities that
uniquely ties developers and devices to an authorized iPhone
Development Team and enables a device to be used for testing. A
Development Provisioning Profile must be installed on each device on
which you wish to run your application code. Each Development
Provisioning Profile will contain a set of iPhone Development
Certificates, Unique Device Identifiers and an App ID. Devices
specified within the provisioning profile can be used for testing only
by those individuals whose iPhone Development Certificates are
included in the profile. A single device can contain multiple
provisioning profiles.
Take a look on this link please , the author explains everything regardless the provisioning profile .
http://www.doubleencore.com/2013/04/what-is-a-provisioning-profile-part-1/
However you can not get a provisional profile without the Apple Developer Membership.
Also if you want to test you app on a real device or publish it to app store you must have a provisional profile.
"A provisioning profile is a collection of digital entities that uniquely ties developers and devices to an authorized iPhone Development Team and enables a device to be used for testing. A Development Provisioning Profile must be installed on each device on which you wish to run your application code. Each Development Provisioning Profile will contain a set of iPhone Development Certificates, Unique Device Identifiers and an App ID. Devices specified within the provisioning profile can be used for testing only by those individuals whose iPhone Development Certificates are included in the profile. A single device can contain multiple provisioning profiles."
No, it is not possible to create a provision profile without Apple Developer Membership. If you are deploying an ios App you need to get registered with APPLE.
You need to register your devices' UDIDs in the provisioning profile if you are testing your app and if you want to use it for Ad-hocs.
If you want to submit your app to appstore, then also you will require a provision profile attached with your app having 0 devices i.e infinite devices.
Here is the way you can register and make Provision Profiles:
How to create provision profiles?
Ans 1 : To run or test the application in ios device provisional profile is
must require.
Without it you can not run/test/install in your device.For this you have
to buy Apple Developer Membership from Apple
to became apple registered developer.
After successfully registration below link will useful to create provisional profile.
Link : http://www.wikihow.com/Create-a-Provisioning-Profile-for-iPhone
After downloading provisional profile you have to install and set that profile in your code.
After you can run application in ios device.
Ans 2 : No, Without Apple Developer Membership you can not create provisional profile.
We are using iOS enterprise account for distributing our iOS app. We are using the in-house distribution scheme of enterprise program.
As far as my knowledge, we don't need to install the in-house provisioning profile in the targeted device. Also, I believe that we don't need to add the device UDID in iOS portal since it's an enterprise account. Please correct my last two statements if my knowledge is wrong.
I am creating the IPA file using the in-house provisioning profile only. But while installing the same on one of our devices (iPhone 5s), I am getting below error.
"**A valid provisioning profile for this executable was not found.**"
I tried to install the same IPA file on another device (iPhone 4s). I have not installed the distribution provisioning profile in that device also. And it's working fine there. So only I concluded that We don't need to install any provisioning profile on the device in case of iOS enterprise program.
Below is my provisioning profile from enterprise account which I am using.
I am not sure why this is happening. Please help me and let me know if I am missing something.
You have to use a provisioning profile that is set for distribution. This profile needs to be using a certificate that is installed on the Mac you want to create the archive from. The profile gets installed along with the application.
You do not have to have the device added to the portal (only development devices need to be added).
One note - the profile will expire yearly. You will have to publish at least one update every year to include an updated and renewed provisioning profile.
Here's some screenshots:
Keychain Access:
Build Settings (Xcode):
Archive: