Migrating an APNS certificate from one Apple ID to another Apple ID

As part of a recent change, I needed to migrate an APNS certificate from being associated with one Apple ID to now being associated with another Apple ID. Apple has a KBase article available which provides contact information for this, which is available via the link below:

https://support.apple.com/HT208643

For those folks with AppleCare support plans, you can also submit a ticket to AppleCare. That’s the route I took. Regardless of which support avenue you pursue, Apple will request the following information from you.

• APNS Certificate Subject DN
• APNS Certificate CN
• APNS Certificate Serial Number
• APNS Certificate Expiration Date
• The Apple ID you want to migrate from
• The Apple ID you want to migrate to

For more information, please see below the jump:

You can obtain the following information from the Apple Push Certificates Portal:

• APNS Certificate Subject DN
• APNS Certificate CN
• APNS Certificate Serial Number
• APNS Certificate Expiration Date

 

To see how to do this, please use the following procedure:

1. Log into the Apple Push Certificates Portal using the Apple ID you want to migrate from.

 

2. Make a note of the current certificate’s expiration date.

 

3. Click the ( i ) button to display the certificate information.

 

4. Make a note of the APNS certificate’s serial number.

 

5. Make a note of the APNS certificate’s Certificate Subject DN.

Note: Even though it may be displayed in the Portal site as being multiple lines, the Certificate Subject DN should be a one-line entry when you send it to Apple.

 

 

 

6. Make a note of the APNS certificate’s CN.

Note: The CN is included as part of the Certificate Subject DN information. It will be a string with information similar to this:

CN=APSP:0e77f39b-e9c8-42f9-8e8b-b5508c4abe95

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For example, if you have an APNS certificate with the following information:

	APNS Certificate Subject DN: C=US, CN=APSP:dc1a3263-443c-4779-a3c3-18c95dd11264, UID=com.apple.mgmt.External.dc1a3263-443c-4779-a3c3-18c95dd11264
	APNS Certificate Serial Number: 3bb763753df5d8dd
	APNS Certificate Expiration Date: January 4, 2024

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gistfile1.txt

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You would convert that to the following information for Apple:

	Serial Number: 3bb763753df5d8dd
	Subject CN: CN=APSP:dc1a3263-443c-4779-a3c3-18c95dd11264
	Subject DN: C=US, CN=APSP:dc1a3263-443c-4779-a3c3-18c95dd11264, UID=com.apple.mgmt.External.dc1a3263-443c-4779-a3c3-18c95dd11264
	Expiration Date: January 4, 2024

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gistfile1.txt

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The last part is identifying the Apple ID you want to migrate from, and the Apple ID you want to migrate to. For example, if you want to migrate an APNS certificate with the information listed above from an Apple ID of oldappleid@company.com to an Apple ID of newappleid@company.com, you could send in the following request via email:

	Email subject: [Apple Push Notification Service] Transferring APNS certificate with serial number 3bb763753df5d8dd from one Apple ID to another Apple ID
	Email body:
	I need to transfer the following APNS certificate from one Apple ID to another Apple ID:
	Serial Number: 3bb763753df5d8dd
	Subject CN: CN=APSP:dc1a3263-443c-4779-a3c3-18c95dd11264
	Subject DN: C=US, CN=APSP:dc1a3263-443c-4779-a3c3-18c95dd11264, UID=com.apple.mgmt.External.dc1a3263-443c-4779-a3c3-18c95dd11264
	Expiration Date: January 4, 2024
	Current Apple ID: oldappleid@company.com
	New Apple ID: newappleid@company.com
	Please let me know if you need any additional information.
	Thanks,
	Your Name Goes Here

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gistfile1.txt

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That should provide all the information Apple should need for a successful migration of an APNS certificate.