Installing a configuration profile on iPhone - programmatically

Question

I would like to ship a configuration profile with my iPhone application, and install it if needed.

Mind you, we're talking about a configuration profile, not a provisioning profile.

First off, such a task is possible. If you place a config profile on a Web page and click on it from Safari, it will get installed. If you e-mail a profile and click the attachment, it will install as well. "Installed" in this case means "The installation UI is invoked" - but I could not even get that far.

So I was working under the theory that initiating a profile installation involves navigating to it as a URL. I added the profile to my app bundle.

A) First, I tried [sharedApp openURL] with the file:// URL into my bundle. No such luck - nothing happens.

B) I then added an HTML page to my bundle that has a link to the profile, and loaded it into a UIWebView. Clicking on the link does nothing. Loading an identical page from a Web server in Safari, however, works fine - the link is clickable, the profile installs. I provided a UIWebViewDelegate, answering YES to every navigation request - no difference.

C) Then I tried to load the same Web page from my bundle in Safari (using [sharedApp openURL] - nothing happens. I guess, Safari cannot see files inside my app bundle.

D) Uploading the page and the profile on a Web server is doable, but a pain on the organizational level, not to mention an extra source of failures (what if no 3G coverage? etc.).

So my big question is: **how do I install a profile programmatically?

And the little questions are: what can make a link non-clickable within a UIWebView? Is it possible to load a file:// URL from my bundle in Safari? If not, is there a local location on iPhone where I can place files and Safari can find them?

EDIT on B): the problem is somehow in the fact that we're linking to a profile. I renamed it from .mobileconfig to .xml ('cause it's really XML), altered the link. And the link worked in my UIWebView. Renamed it back - same stuff. It looks as if UIWebView is reluctant to do application-wide stuff - since installation of the profile closes the app. I tried telling it that it's OK - by means of UIWebViewDelegate - but that did not convince. Same behavior for mailto: URLs within UIWebView.

For mailto: URLs the common technique is to translate them into [openURL] calls, but that doesn't quite work for my case, see scenario A.

For itms: URLs, however, UIWebView works as expected...

EDIT2: tried feeding a data URL to Safari via [openURL] - does not work, see here: iPhone Open DATA: Url In Safari

EDIT3: found a lot of info on how Safari does not support file:// URLs. UIWebView, however, very much does. Also, Safari on the simulator open them just fine. The latter bit is the most frustrating.

---

EDIT4: I never found a solution. Instead, I put together a two-bit Web interface where the users can order the profile e-mailed to them.

Answer 1

1) Install a local server like RoutingHTTPServer

2) Configure the custom header :

[httpServer setDefaultHeader:@"Content-Type" value:@"application/x-apple-aspen-config"];

3) Configure the local root path for the mobileconfig file (Documents):

[httpServer setDocumentRoot:[NSSearchPathForDirectoriesInDomains(NSDocumentDirectory, NSUserDomainMask, YES) objectAtIndex:0]];

4) In order to allow time for the web server to send the file, add this :

Appdelegate.h

UIBackgroundTaskIdentifier bgTask;

Appdelegate.m
- (void)applicationDidEnterBackground:(UIApplication *)application {
    NSAssert(self->bgTask == UIBackgroundTaskInvalid, nil);
    bgTask = [application beginBackgroundTaskWithExpirationHandler: ^{
        dispatch_async(dispatch_get_main_queue(), ^{
            [application endBackgroundTask:self->bgTask];
            self->bgTask = UIBackgroundTaskInvalid;
        });
    }];
}

5) In your controller, call safari with the name of the mobileconfig stored in Documents :

[[UIApplication sharedApplication] openURL:[NSURL URLWithString: @"http://localhost:12345/MyProfile.mobileconfig"]];

Answer 2

The answer from malinois worked for me, BUT, I wanted a solution that came back to the app automatically after the user installed the mobileconfig.

It took me 4 hours, but here is the solution, built on malinois' idea of having a local http server: you return HTML to safari that refreshes itself; the first time the server returns the mobileconfig, and the second time it returns the custom url-scheme to get back to your app. The UX is what I wanted: the app calls safari, safari opens mobileconfig, when user hits "done" on mobileconfig, then safari loads your app again (custom url scheme).

- (BOOL)application:(UIApplication *)application didFinishLaunchingWithOptions:(NSDictionary *)launchOptions
{
    // Override point for customization after application launch.

    _httpServer = [[RoutingHTTPServer alloc] init];
    [_httpServer setPort:8000];                               // TODO: make sure this port isn't already in use

    _firstTime = TRUE;
    [_httpServer handleMethod:@"GET" withPath:@"/start" target:self selector:@selector(handleMobileconfigRootRequest:withResponse:)];
    [_httpServer handleMethod:@"GET" withPath:@"/load" target:self selector:@selector(handleMobileconfigLoadRequest:withResponse:)];

    NSMutableString* path = [NSMutableString stringWithString:[[NSBundle mainBundle] bundlePath]];
    [path appendString:@"/your.mobileconfig"];
    _mobileconfigData = [NSData dataWithContentsOfFile:path];

    [_httpServer start:NULL];

    return YES;
}

- (void)handleMobileconfigRootRequest:(RouteRequest *)request withResponse:(RouteResponse *)response {
    NSLog(@"handleMobileconfigRootRequest");
    [response respondWithString:@"<HTML><HEAD><title>Profile Install</title>\
     </HEAD><script> \
     function load() { window.location.href='http://localhost:8000/load/'; } \
     var int=self.setInterval(function(){load()},400); \
     </script><BODY></BODY></HTML>"];
}

- (void)handleMobileconfigLoadRequest:(RouteRequest *)request withResponse:(RouteResponse *)response {
    if( _firstTime ) {
        NSLog(@"handleMobileconfigLoadRequest, first time");
        _firstTime = FALSE;

        [response setHeader:@"Content-Type" value:@"application/x-apple-aspen-config"];
        [response respondWithData:_mobileconfigData];
    } else {
        NSLog(@"handleMobileconfigLoadRequest, NOT first time");
        [response setStatusCode:302]; // or 301
        [response setHeader:@"Location" value:@"yourapp://custom/scheme"];
    }
}

... and here is the code to call into this from the app (ie viewcontroller):

[[UIApplication sharedApplication] openURL:[NSURL URLWithString: @"http://localhost:8000/start/"]];

Hope this helps someone.

Answer 3

I have written a class for installing a mobileconfig file via Safari and then returning to the app. It relies on the http server engine Swifter which I found to be working well. I want to share my code below for doing this. It is inspired by multiple code sources I found floating in the www. So if you find pieces of your own code, contributions to you.

class ConfigServer: NSObject {

    //TODO: Don't foget to add your custom app url scheme to info.plist if you have one!

    private enum ConfigState: Int
    {
        case Stopped, Ready, InstalledConfig, BackToApp
    }

    internal let listeningPort: in_port_t! = 8080
    internal var configName: String! = "Profile install"
    private var localServer: HttpServer!
    private var returnURL: String!
    private var configData: NSData!

    private var serverState: ConfigState = .Stopped
    private var startTime: NSDate!
    private var registeredForNotifications = false
    private var backgroundTask = UIBackgroundTaskInvalid

    deinit
    {
        unregisterFromNotifications()
    }

    init(configData: NSData, returnURL: String)
    {
        super.init()
        self.returnURL = returnURL
        self.configData = configData
        localServer = HttpServer()
        self.setupHandlers()
    }

    //MARK:- Control functions

    internal func start() -> Bool
    {
        let page = self.baseURL("start/")
        let url: NSURL = NSURL(string: page)!
        if UIApplication.sharedApplication().canOpenURL(url) {
            var error: NSError?
            localServer.start(listeningPort, error: &error)
            if error == nil {
                startTime = NSDate()
                serverState = .Ready
                registerForNotifications()
                UIApplication.sharedApplication().openURL(url)
                return true
            } else {
                self.stop()
            }
        }
        return false
    }

    internal func stop()
    {
        if serverState != .Stopped {
            serverState = .Stopped
            unregisterFromNotifications()
        }
    }

    //MARK:- Private functions

    private func setupHandlers()
    {
        localServer["/start"] = { request in
            if self.serverState == .Ready {
                let page = self.basePage("install/")
                return .OK(.HTML(page))
            } else {
                return .NotFound
            }
        }
        localServer["/install"] = { request in
            switch self.serverState {
            case .Stopped:
                return .NotFound
            case .Ready:
                self.serverState = .InstalledConfig
                return HttpResponse.RAW(200, "OK", ["Content-Type": "application/x-apple-aspen-config"], self.configData!)
            case .InstalledConfig:
                return .MovedPermanently(self.returnURL)
            case .BackToApp:
                let page = self.basePage(nil)
                return .OK(.HTML(page))
            }
        }
    }

    private func baseURL(pathComponent: String?) -> String
    {
        var page = "http://localhost:\(listeningPort)"
        if let component = pathComponent {
            page += "/\(component)"
        }
        return page
    }

    private func basePage(pathComponent: String?) -> String
    {
        var page = "<!doctype html><html>" + "<head><meta charset='utf-8'><title>\(self.configName)</title></head>"
        if let component = pathComponent {
            let script = "function load() { window.location.href='\(self.baseURL(component))'; }window.setInterval(load, 600);"
            page += "<script>\(script)</script>"
        }
        page += "<body></body></html>"
        return page
    }

    private func returnedToApp() {
        if serverState != .Stopped {
            serverState = .BackToApp
            localServer.stop()
        }
        // Do whatever else you need to to
    }

    private func registerForNotifications() {
        if !registeredForNotifications {
            let notificationCenter = NSNotificationCenter.defaultCenter()
            notificationCenter.addObserver(self, selector: "didEnterBackground:", name: UIApplicationDidEnterBackgroundNotification, object: nil)
            notificationCenter.addObserver(self, selector: "willEnterForeground:", name: UIApplicationWillEnterForegroundNotification, object: nil)
            registeredForNotifications = true
        }
    }

    private func unregisterFromNotifications() {
        if registeredForNotifications {
            let notificationCenter = NSNotificationCenter.defaultCenter()
            notificationCenter.removeObserver(self, name: UIApplicationDidEnterBackgroundNotification, object: nil)
            notificationCenter.removeObserver(self, name: UIApplicationWillEnterForegroundNotification, object: nil)
            registeredForNotifications = false
        }
    }

    internal func didEnterBackground(notification: NSNotification) {
        if serverState != .Stopped {
            startBackgroundTask()
        }
    }

    internal func willEnterForeground(notification: NSNotification) {
        if backgroundTask != UIBackgroundTaskInvalid {
            stopBackgroundTask()
            returnedToApp()
        }
    }

    private func startBackgroundTask() {
        let application = UIApplication.sharedApplication()
        backgroundTask = application.beginBackgroundTaskWithExpirationHandler() {
            dispatch_async(dispatch_get_main_queue()) {
                self.stopBackgroundTask()
            }
        }
    }

    private func stopBackgroundTask() {
        if backgroundTask != UIBackgroundTaskInvalid {
            UIApplication.sharedApplication().endBackgroundTask(self.backgroundTask)
            backgroundTask = UIBackgroundTaskInvalid
        }
    }
}

Answer 4

I think what you are looking for is "Over the Air Enrollment" using the Simple Certificate Enrollment Protocol (SCEP). Have a look at the OTA Enrollment Guide and the SCEP Payload section of the Enterprise Deployment Guide.

According to the Device Config Overview you only have four options:

• Desktop installation via USB
• Email (attachment)
• Website (via Safari)
• Over-the-Air Enrollment and Distribution