Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
Introducing provisioning requirements
Before you can get started with provisioning, you need three items:
A digital identity:
This is a digital key file generated on your Mac and uploaded to the Provisioning
Portal.
One or more device Uniform Device Identifiers (UDIDs):
These are long hex codes that uniquely
define an iOS device. You can obtain them from beta testers, who can read them in iTunes, as described
later in this chapter. Xcode also can display the UDID of your own local test devices.
An Application ID:
The App ID is an arbitrary string. You can use the same string for multiple applica-
tions, and you can use a generic star character as a wildcard. However, Apple services, such as Push Notific-
ation and In-App purchase, require apps with a unique ID.
Avoiding provisioning confusion
One source of confusion is Apple's imprecise jargon. You'll see certificates referred to as identities, and it's not
clear how they differ from each other or from provisioning profiles.
For simplicity, treat certificates and identities as if they're interchangeable. Technically, there are minor differen-
ces, but in practice you can ignore them. Both are associated with your personal identity.
Provisioning profiles manage device and app identity.
The key principle is code signing. When you build a project, Xcode includes a digital signature file. iOS hard-
ware and the App Store both check that this signature is valid.
