Acquire iOS Certificates and Profiles
Before you can sign iOS builds in Oore CI, you need signing certificates and provisioning profiles from Apple. This guide explains how to obtain them.
What you need
- An Apple Developer Program membership ($99/year)
- Access to App Store Connect and the Apple Developer portal
- A Mac with Keychain Access (for certificate export)
Signing concepts
iOS code signing requires two assets:
| Asset | Purpose | Where to get it |
|---|---|---|
Signing certificate (.p12) | Proves your identity as the developer | Created in Apple Developer portal, exported from Keychain |
Provisioning profile (.mobileprovision) | Links your certificate to specific apps and devices | Created in Apple Developer portal |
1. Create a signing certificate
- Go to the Apple Developer portal — Certificates
- Click the + button to create a new certificate
- Choose the certificate type:
- Apple Development — for development/testing
- Apple Distribution — for App Store or ad hoc distribution
- Follow the instructions to create a Certificate Signing Request (CSR) using Keychain Access on your Mac
- Upload the CSR and download the certificate
- Double-click the downloaded
.cerfile to install it in your Keychain
Export as .p12
Oore CI needs the certificate in .p12 format (which includes the private key):
- Open Keychain Access on your Mac
- Find the certificate you just installed (under "My Certificates")
- Right-click and select Export
- Choose Personal Information Exchange (.p12) format
- Set an export password (you'll need this in Oore CI)
- Save the file
2. Create a provisioning profile
- Go to the Apple Developer portal — Profiles
- Click + to create a new profile
- Choose the profile type:
- iOS App Development — for development builds
- Ad Hoc — for distributing to registered test devices
- App Store — for App Store submission
- Select the App ID for your application
- Select the certificate you created in step 1
- For Ad Hoc profiles, select the test devices
- Name the profile and download it
3. Upload to Oore CI
See one of:
- Manual signing — upload certificate and profile files
- API signing — use App Store Connect API for automatic management