Expiry date of APNs certificateSolved

Hey, Thanks for reaching out to us.

The expiry date of the APNs certificate will be displayed in the Hexnode portal. Please navigate to
Admin-> APNs and you will be able to see the expiry date.

Cheers!
Grace Baker
Hexnode MDM

If the APNs got expired and we renewed it, will the MDM now control the devices as before? Or do we need to re-enroll them?

Hey, Thanks for reaching out to us.

Since the APNs certificate has got expired, Hexnode will no longer manage the devices. After you renew the certificate, the devices will have to be re-enrolled. If the certificate is renewed before the expiry date, Hexnode will continue to manage devices without any hindrance.

Cheers!
Grace Baker
Hexnode MDM

Why do Hexnode ned an APNs certificate? Is this necessary for managing Apple devices?

Hi Anaya,

Thanks for reaching out to us!

APNs certificate is needed by any third-party applications to control Apple devices. It acts as an intermediary between the Apple devices and Hexnode. It is a gateway to authorize the communication between the third party service and the device.

When Hexnode sends any action to the enrolled Apple devices, it pushes a Push Notification to the APNs server that in turn communicates with the end devices. Once the device receives the notification, it reaches out to the Hexnode server to carry out the required action.

To know more on creating APNs and adding them to the Hexnode platform, refer: https://www.hexnode.com/mobile-device-management/help/apns-settings/ 

The APNs certificate has a validity period of 365 days. Hence this needs to be renewed every year. Two points to be noted while renewing the APNs certificate is:

• The same Apple ID needs to be renewed using the same Apple ID used to create the previous certificate.
• The same certificate needs to be renewed.

If a different Apple ID is used or a new certificate is used, you would need to re-enroll all the Apple devices to maintain the communication.

Check out the link to know more on renewing APNs: https://www.hexnode.com/mobile-device-management/help/renew-apns-certificate/ 

Cheers,
Eva Tyler
Hexnode MDM