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Karias Bolster
Karias Bolster

Reputation: 1035

What is the purpose of a distribution certificate in ios

Im a web tester but recently i was assigned to mobile testing. The ios devs gave me two files, a .p12 file and a provisioning profile file. My question is what is the purpose of the .p12 file? When I go to xcode, they only ask me to input the provisioning profile in the signing field (but I added the .p12 file to my keychain as I was told). So my question is, what was the purpose of that .p12 file and why do I need to have it installed into my keychain when in Xcode it only asked me for the provisioning profile and I can now build the app and test it?

Upvotes: 1

Views: 96

Answers (1)

Nima Yousefi
Nima Yousefi

Reputation: 817

The .p12 file is the encrypted certificate used to generate the provisioning profile. This ensures that you are allowed to use the provisioning profile, and the provisioning profile is how the system knows what users are or are not allowed to run your app (or in the case of distribution, who's allowed to distribute the app).

More info on all this here: https://support.magplus.com/hc/en-us/articles/203808748-iOS-Creating-a-Distribution-Certificate-and-p12-File

Upvotes: 1

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