A pass certificate will allow you to digitally sign your Apple Wallet Passes. In addition, it is highly recommended that the certificate owner adds contact info on the back of each Pass. The contact info may include a physical contact address, email address, and/or phone number. If the certificate owner is different from the brand then the contact info of both should be displayed on the back of the Pass. The following information should be used to generate your Apple Pass Signing Certificate. Pass Certificates need to be renewed each year. Please follow the section on ‘Instructions for Renewing A Pass Certificate’ below if you need to renew your certificate. A Pass Certificate expires the following year at the exact time the Certificate was created the previous year.
Instructions for Creating a Pass Type ID & Pass Certificate: #
1. Go to https://developer.apple.com, click the account icon (the person icon) in the top right corner, and choose “Account.”
2. Sign in with your Apple Account and locate the “Certificates, IDs & Profiles” section under “Program resources.” (If you do not already have an Apple Developer Account, you will need to register for one.) Click the “Identifiers” link.
3. Click on the [+] next to ‘Identifiers’ to add a new identifier.
On the ‘Register a new identifier’ page, select ‘Pass Type IDs’ and click ‘Continue’.
4. Under “Description,” type in a description of what this Pass Type ID represents. Keep it brief with enough detail to distinguish this Pass Type ID from your other IDs. Special characters such as @, &, *, ‘, “, hyphens (-) and periods (.) are not allowed in the description. Under “Identifier,” enter a unique identifier using a “reverse-domain” name style (for example, pass.com.example.appName). Note: the portal automatically adds “pass.” to the beginning of the identifier as soon as you start typing, so you only need to type the rest (e.g., com.example.appName). Click ‘Continue’.
5. Confirm that your Pass Type ID information is correct, then click “Register”. Your new Pass Type ID will then appear in the Pass Type IDs list on the Identifiers page.
6. Click on the newly created Pass Type ID to open its configuration page. Under the Production Certificates section, click “Create Certificate”.
Don’t have a Mac? You can skip steps 7–9 and generate the CSR in WalletThat instead. Go to Settings → Apple & Google Wallet Settings, click “Generate CSR,” enter your Pass Type ID, and click “Generate and Download CSR” (see Apple & Google Wallet Settings). Upload that CSR file in step 10. After you download the certificate in step 11, upload the .cer file to WalletThat using the “.cer file” upload method. Steps 12–14 (exporting a .p12 file) are not needed.
7. Open Keychain Access on your Mac. The easiest way is to press Command + Space, type “Keychain Access,” and press Return. (On older versions of macOS, you can also find it in Applications → Utilities.)
8. Click on “Keychain Access” in the menu bar at the top left of your screen. From there, choose Certificate Assistant → Request a Certificate from a Certificate Authority.
9. After clicking “Request a Certificate From a Certificate Authority” an application called “Certificate Assistant” will open. Fill in the “User Email Address” and “Common Name” fields. We suggest that you use your Apple Account email address for the “User Email Address” and the description you used on the Apple developer portal for the “Common Name” field. The “CA Email Address” field should be left empty. For the “Request is” option, select “Saved to disk.” Click Continue, choose where you would like to save the certificate file, and click Save. You will see a “Conclusion” message confirming that the Certificate has been created on disk. Click Done.
10. Switch back to your browser. On the “Create a New Certificate” page, you can optionally enter a name under “Enter your Pass certificate Name.” This name is only shown in the Apple developer portal to help you tell certificates apart; if you leave it blank, your Pass Type ID is shown instead. Under “Upload a Certificate Signing Request,” click “Choose File,” select the .certSigningRequest file you saved to your Mac earlier, then click “Continue” and wait for your certificate to be ready for download.
11. Click the “Download” button to download the certificate to your Mac. Save the file to your desktop as pass.cer. The Certificate creation process is completed now and you can close the browser.
12. Locate the downloaded pass.cer file and double click on it. Keychain Access will then open. Select the login Keychain and the Certificates Category and find the certificate with a prefix of Pass Type ID followed by the identifier you chose. Click on the little gray triangle to expand the certificate and unveil the private key. Select both the certificate and the private key. Choose File → Export Items.
13. Choose a location and a file name. Choose File Format Personal Information Exchange (.p12) and click “Save.” Insert a password and verify it (Tip: This password is important and required for signing passes. Please save it with all the certificate and Pass Type ID information you gather at the end of the certificate creation process).
14. You’ll be asked to insert the Password of your current account on your Mac. Click “Allow” or “Always Allow.”
How to Upload Your Certificate Information in Your WalletThat Account
- Login to your WalletThat account here: https://app.walletthat.com/platform/login.php
- Navigate to the Apple & Google Wallet Settings page under the Settings tab in the left side navigation.
- Click “Add Apple Wallet Certificate”.
- Enter your Pass Type ID and choose the Upload Method that matches how you created your CSR: the .cer file option if you generated the CSR in WalletThat, or the .p12 file option if you created it with Keychain Access on a Mac.
- Upload your .cer file, or your .p12 file and its password. Enter the email address that should receive certificate expiration reminders, then click “Save”.
If you need additional help uploading your certificate, you can use this article: Navigating Apple & Google Wallet Settings
Instructions for Renewing a Pass Certificate: #
1. Go to https://developer.apple.com, click the account icon (the person icon) in the top right corner, and choose “Account.”
2. Sign in with your Apple Account and locate the “Certificates, IDs & Profiles” section under “Program resources.” Click the “Identifiers” link.
3. Click on the name of the Pass Type ID that you need to renew the certificate for.
4. On the configuration page, under the Production Certificates section, click “Create Certificate”.
Don’t have a Mac? You can skip steps 5–7 and generate the CSR in WalletThat instead. Go to Settings → Apple & Google Wallet Settings, click Actions → Edit next to your certificate, then click “Generate CSR” and “Generate and Download CSR.” Upload that CSR file in step 8. After you download the certificate in step 9, upload the .cer file to WalletThat using the “.cer file” upload method. Steps 10–12 (exporting a .p12 file) are not needed.
5. Open Keychain Access on your Mac. The easiest way is to press Command + Space, type “Keychain Access,” and press Return. (On older versions of macOS, you can also find it in Applications → Utilities.)
6. Click on “Keychain Access” in the menu bar at the top left of your screen. From there, choose Certificate Assistant → Request a Certificate from a Certificate Authority.
7. After clicking “Request a Certificate From a Certificate Authority” an application called “Certificate Assistant” will open. Fill in the “User Email Address” and “Common Name” fields. We suggest that you use your Apple Account email address for the “User Email Address” and the description you used on the Apple developer portal for the “Common Name” field. The “CA Email Address” field should be left empty. For the “Request is” option, select “Saved to disk.” Click Continue, choose where you would like to save the certificate file, and click Save. You will see a “Conclusion” message confirming that the Certificate has been created on disk. Click Done.
8. Switch back to your browser. On the “Create a New Certificate” page, you can optionally enter a name under “Enter your Pass certificate Name.” This name is only shown in the Apple developer portal to help you tell certificates apart; if you leave it blank, your Pass Type ID is shown instead. Under “Upload a Certificate Signing Request,” click “Choose File,” select the .certSigningRequest file you saved to your Mac earlier, then click “Continue” and wait for your certificate to be ready for download.
9. Click the “Download” button to download the certificate to your Mac. Save the file to your desktop as pass.cer. The Certificate creation process is completed now and you can close the browser.
10. Locate the downloaded pass.cer file and double click on it. Keychain Access will then open. Select the login Keychain and the Certificates Category and find the certificate with a prefix of Pass Type ID followed by the identifier you chose. Click on the little gray triangle to expand the certificate and unveil the private key. Select both the certificate and the private key. Choose File → Export Items.
11. Choose a location and a file name. Choose File Format Personal Information Exchange (.p12) and click “Save.” Insert a password and verify it (Tip: This password is important and required for signing passes. Please save it with all the certificate and Pass Type ID information you gather at the end of the certificate creation process).
12. You’ll be asked to insert the Password of your current account on your Mac. Click “Allow” or “Always Allow.”
How to Upload Your Renewed Certificate in Your WalletThat Account
- Login to your WalletThat account here: https://app.walletthat.com/platform/login.php
- Navigate to the Apple & Google Wallet Settings page under the Settings tab in the left side navigation.
- Click “Edit” in the Actions drop-down next to the certificate and corresponding Pass Type ID that you have been using to issue Passes.
- Choose the Upload Method that matches how you created your CSR: the .cer file option if you generated the CSR in WalletThat, or the .p12 file option if you created it with Keychain Access on a Mac.
- Upload your new .cer file, or your new .p12 file and its password, then click “Save”.
If you need additional help uploading your renewed certificate, you can use this article: Navigating Apple & Google Wallet Settings