Enroll device

Install a temporary signed profile to send a device’s development identifier securely.

The enroll device page at /devices/enroll collects an iPhone or iPad’s development identifier without anyone having to read a UDID off a screen. You give the device a label, download a temporary signed profile, and install it — iOS reports the identifier back to the server itself.

The profile uses Apple’s Profile Service payload, the same mechanism that over-the-air enrollment sites use. It is temporary, single-purpose, and requests three attributes and nothing else.

Using the page

1. Give the device a recognizable label

   Apple’s profile service cannot read the name set in iOS Settings, so this label is the only human-readable name the device will ever have here. iPhone is a poor choice once you have three of them; Dana’s iPhone 15 is not.

2. Consent to the collection

   The checkbox covers the device identifier, product, software version, and observed IP addresses. The page lists each item and why it is collected before you agree.

3. Download the enrollment profile

   Download enrollment profile produces a signed .mobileconfig. Get it onto the target device — AirDrop, or opening the same page on the device itself, both work.

4. Install it on the device

   In iOS, open Settings → Profile Downloaded and install. The device posts its response, and it appears on the Devices page within seconds.

How the flow works

1. You open the authenticated /devices/enroll page, supply a device label, and consent to the disclosed collection. The server mints an enrollment token and issues a profile signed with the enrollment signer.
2. iOS installs the profile, which requests exactly UDID, PRODUCT, and VERSION, and carries the token as its challenge.
3. iOS posts a CMS-signed response to /api/public/ios/profile-response. The server verifies Apple’s signature, checks that the returned challenge matches the token, consumes the token, and records the device.

The IP address is captured at two points — when the profile is downloaded and when the response arrives — along with which proxy header supplied it. Both are visible on the device detail page.

Requirements

Enrollment is disabled unless the server is reachable at a public HTTPS address, because iOS posts the device response directly to it and refuses to install a profile whose callback it cannot trust.

If the page reports Enrollment is disabled because this address is not public HTTPS, put the server behind a publicly trusted HTTPS reverse proxy, or set PUBLIC_BASE_URL to the address iOS should call back.

The enrollment profile is signed with a self-signed certificate, so iOS displays it as Unverified. That is expected. What matters is the organization name shown on the install screen — confirm it matches the name configured in Settings before installing.

Security properties

The enrollment endpoints are public by necessity, so the token is the whole security boundary and is treated accordingly.

Property	Detail
Token strength	256 bits of randomness per enrollment
Lifetime	30 minutes from issue
Storage	Only a SHA-256 hash is stored — the token itself is never persisted
Single use	Consumed atomically, so two simultaneous responses cannot both succeed
Challenge binding	The response is rejected unless the challenge it returns matches the token it was issued with
Signature verification	The CMS response must verify against Apple’s device certificate chain
Replay handling	An identical retry returns the same device (iOS does retry). A different response against a consumed token is rejected with a conflict
Retention	Expired enrollments never attached to a device are deleted after seven days

The profile signer

The first enrollment automatically generates a ten-year RSA-2048/SHA-256 self-signed signer. Its certificate and private key live in the database and are excluded from ordinary logs and list views.

The organization name and reverse-DNS profile identifier shown in iOS are configured in Settings, where the signer can also be regenerated.

Regenerating the signer issues future profiles under a new key and certificate. Profiles already downloaded keep working until their tokens expire, so an enrollment in progress is not broken — but the fingerprint testers saw previously will no longer match.

Notes

• A device enrolled a second time matches on UDID and updates the existing record, refreshing product and iOS version rather than creating a duplicate.
• The enrollment profile serves no purpose once the response is sent. Testers can delete it from Settings → General → VPN & Device Management immediately.
• Failed responses are recorded against the enrollment with a failure code, visible in the device’s enrollment history.

Related pages

Devices

Where enrolled devices land, and how they reach Apple.

Settings

Organization name, profile identifier, and the enrollment signer.