Why did my online apple devices suddenly go inactive 19 days ago?Solved

Hi @rose-wilson. Whenever you see a cluster of Apple devices suddenly stop communicating on the exact same day despite having internet access, the very first thing you need to check is your APNs (Apple Push Notification service) certificate.

Apple relies entirely on APNs to facilitate communication between the device and the MDM. If that certificate expires, Apple blocks all MDM push notifications, leaving the devices completely isolated from Hexnode.

You can check your status and renew it right away by following these steps:

1. In the Hexnode UEM portal, go to Admin > APNs.
2. Click Renew Certificate.
3. Click Generate CSR to download the request file from Hexnode.
4. Click the link to proceed to the Apple Push Certificates Portal.
5. Critically important: Sign in using the exact same Apple Account that was used to create the original certificate.
6. Find the expired certificate on the list, click Renew, and upload the CSR you just downloaded.
7. Download the renewed .pem file from Apple.
8. Go back to Hexnode, upload that .pem file, and save.

Note: You must renew the existing certificate. Do not create a brand-new one, or you will break the trust chain and have to factory reset every Apple device in your fleet. 

Once the renewal is complete, the devices won’t magically come back online on their own. You will need to go to the Manage tab, select the affected devices, and send the Scan Device action. This pings the devices using the fresh certificate and forces them to report back to the portal.

Best regards,
Eden Pierce
Hexnode UEM

You nailed it. I checked the Admin tab and our APNs certificate expired exactly 19 days ago. The IT manager who originally set it up left the company, so we missed the apple reminder emails. 

I managed to track down the shared Apple account credentials, followed your steps to renew the exact same certificate, and uploaded it back to Hexnode. I selected the dead devices in the manage tab, hit “Scan device,” and within a minute, they all flipped back to “Active” and updated their sync times. Thanks for the quick fix! 

You are very welcome! Expired certificates tied to former employee’s Apple Accounts are easily one of the most common causes for sudden Apple fleet drop-offs. 

I’m glad you were able to track down the credentials and get the devices scanning again without having to re-enroll them. 

Best regards, 
Eden Pierce 
Hexnode UEM