How to configure the APNS.Certificate in the arm template - powershell

Question

I am using the following azuredeploy.json file for setting up the notification hub on the Azure cloud.
{
"$schema": "https://schema.management.azure.com/schemas/2015-01-01/deploymentTemplate.json#",
"contentVersion": "1.0.0.0",
"parameters": {
"Gcm.GoogleApiKey": {
"type": "string",
"metadata": {
"description": "Google Cloud Messaging API Key"
},
"defaultValue": "AIzaSyAyp9MernKgMS3wFNM3yNWByiP-TaGrqEg"
},
"APNS.Certificate": {
"type": "string",
"metadata": {
"description": "A certificate (in base 64 format) provided by Apple on the iOS Provisioning Portal"
},
"defaultValue": ""
},
"APNS.certificateKey": {
"type": "string",
"metadata": {
"description": "The Certificate Key provided by the iOS Provisioning Portal when registering the application"
},
"defaultValue": "ce469bf21dfa7b9d595d4999bfaca8a94ea47e46"
},
"APNS.endpoint": {
"type": "string",
"metadata": {
"description": "The APNS endpoint to which our service connects. This is one of two values: gateway.sandbox.push.apple.com for the sandbox endpoint or gateway.push.apple.com, for the production endpoint. Any other value is invalid."
},
"allowedValues": [
"gateway.sandbox.push.apple.com",
"gateway.push.apple.com"
],
"defaultValue": "gateway.push.apple.com"
}
},
"variables": {
"hubVersion": "[providers('Microsoft.NotificationHubs', 'namespaces').apiVersions[0]]",
"notificationHubNamespace": "[concat('hubv2', uniqueString(resourceGroup().id))]",
"notificationHubName": "notificationhub"
},
"resources": [
{
"name": "[variables('NotificationHubNamespace')]",
"location": "[resourceGroup().location]",
"type": "Microsoft.NotificationHubs/namespaces",
"apiVersion": "[variables('hubVersion')]",
"comments": "Notification hub namespace",
"properties": {
"namespaceType": "NotificationHub"
},
"resources": [
{
"name": "[concat(variables('NotificationHubNamespace'),'/',variables('NotificationHubName'))]",
"location": "[resourceGroup().location]",
"type": "Microsoft.NotificationHubs/namespaces/notificationHubs",
"apiVersion": "[variables('hubVersion')]",
"properties": {
"GcmCredential": {
"properties": {
"googleApiKey": "[parameters('Gcm.GoogleApiKey')]",
"gcmEndpoint": "https://android.googleapis.com/gcm/send"
}
}
},
"dependsOn": [
"[variables('NotificationHubNamespace')]"
]
}
]
}
],
"outputs": {
}
}
Now I tried to set up the apple push notification service also using the following snippet:
"apnsCredential": {
"properties": {
"apnsCertificate": "[parameters('APNS.Certificate')]",
"certificateKey": "[parameters('APNS.certificateKey')]",
"endpoint": " gateway.sandbox.push.apple.com or gateway.push.apple.com",
}
}
With the above changes, I executed the Deploy-AzureResourceGroup.ps1 using powershell command prompt and on executing it I am getting an error with message 'Bad Request'
Can anyone help me to fix this issue.

Answer 1

Add the proper APNS.Certificate and APNS.certificateKey.
It is failing on trying to verify your details, hence the bad request.
You need a base 64 formatted APNS.Certificate.
APNS.Certificate:
This is the Apple Push Notification certificate in base 64 string-format.
You can use PowerShell to convert the certificate like this (then copie the key from the output file ‘MyPushCert.txt’ and use it.):
$fileContentBytes = get-content ‘Apple_Certificate.p12’ -Encoding Byte
[System.Convert]::ToBase64String($fileContentBytes) | Out-File ‘MyPushCert.txt’
APNS.certificateKey:
This is the password you specified when you exported the certificate.(The password you created on Apple at the time of creating the cert.)

Answer 2

It's impossible to know exactly what caused this without knowing more about your environment/setup. According to this post, one possible issue could be how strong your password is:
After a few hours of pulling my hair out and not getting anything
beyond “Bad Request”, I finally thought to use a password stronger
than “pass#word1”. I’ll be darned, it worked. Not only that, but
provisioning with Azure Resource Manager is asynchronous, so your
scripts finish a heck of a lot sooner than they used to because VMs
provision in parallel.
The post recommends going through Troubleshooting common Azure deployment errors with Azure Resource Manager.

Answer 3

I'm not sure you should be dynamically setting the apiVersion for your templates. They vary depending on what you are deploying.
See Best Practices:
Avoid using a parameter or variable for the API version for a resource type. Resource properties and values can vary by version number. IntelliSense in a code editor cannot determine the correct schema when the API version is set to a parameter or variable. Instead, hard-code the API version in the template.
The correct apiVersion for notification hubs appears to be 2015-04-01: https://github.com/Azure/azure-resource-manager-schemas/blob/master/schemas/2015-04-01/Microsoft.NotificationHubs.json

Answer 4

I had to use PowerShell to resolve this problem.
Partially the idea was taken from here: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/notification-hubs/notification-hubs-deploy-and-manage-powershell
Below is the script, which tested locally and is working.
Microsoft.Azure.NotificationHubs -Version 1.0.9 used.
We adopted it for VSTS Release as one of the PowerShell tasks/steps after Notification Hub has been created with ARM template.
Login-AzureRmAccount
Select-AzureRmSubscription -SubscriptionName my-subscription-here
Write-Host "Begin process..."
try
{
# Make sure to reference the latest version of Microsoft.Azure.NotificationHubs.dll
Write-Host "Adding the [Microsoft.Azure.NotificationHubs.dll] assembly to the script...";
$scriptPath = Split-Path (Get-Variable MyInvocation -Scope 0).Value.MyCommand.Path;
$packagesFolder = $scriptPath + "\packs";
Write-Host $packagesFolder;
$assembly = Get-ChildItem $packagesFolder -Include "Microsoft.Azure.NotificationHubs.dll" -Recurse;
write-Host $assembly.FullName;
Add-Type -Path $assembly.FullName;
Write-Host "The [Microsoft.Azure.NotificationHubs.dll] assembly has been successfully added to the script.";
# Create requered variables
$HubNamespace = "hub-namespace";
$HubName = "hub-name";
$ResourceGroup = "resource-group";
$GcmApiKey = "api key here";
# Possible values: gateway.push.apple.com, gateway.sandbox.push.apple.com
$ApnsEndpoint = "gateway.push.apple.com";
# A certificate (in base 64 format) provided by Apple on the iOS Provisioning Portal
$ApnsCertificate = "base 64 certificate here";
$ApnsCertificateKey = "certificate key/password here";
$GcmCredential = New-Object -TypeName Microsoft.Azure.NotificationHubs.GcmCredential -ArgumentList $GcmApiKey;
$ApnsCredential = New-Object -TypeName Microsoft.Azure.NotificationHubs.ApnsCredential;
$ApnsCredential.Endpoint = $ApnsEndpoint;
$ApnsCredential.ApnsCertificate = $ApnsCertificate;
$ApnsCredential.CertificateKey = $ApnsCertificateKey;
# Query the namespace
$FoundNamespaces = Get-AzureRmNotificationHubsNamespace -Namespace $HubNamespace -ResourceGroup $ResourceGroup
# Check if the namespace already exists
if ($FoundNamespaces -and $FoundNamespaces.Length -eq 1)
{
$CurrentNamespace = $FoundNamespaces[0];
Write-Host "The namespace [$HubNamespace] in the [$($CurrentNamespace.Location)] region was found.";
$HubListKeys = Get-AzureRmNotificationHubListKeys -Namespace $HubNamespace -ResourceGroup $ResourceGroup -NotificationHub $HubName -AuthorizationRule DefaultFullSharedAccessSignature;
# Check to see if the Notification Hub exists
if ($HubListKeys)
{
# Create the NamespaceManager object used to update the notification hub
Write-Host "Creating a NamespaceManager object for the [$HubNamespace] namespace...";
$NamespaceManager = [Microsoft.Azure.NotificationHubs.NamespaceManager]::CreateFromConnectionString($HubListKeys.PrimaryConnectionString);
Write-Host "NamespaceManager object for the [$HubNamespace] namespace has been successfully created.";
# Update notification hub with new details
Write-Host "The [$Path] notification hub already exists in the [$HubNamespace] namespace." ;
$NHDescription = $NamespaceManager.GetNotificationHub($HubName);
$NHDescription.GcmCredential = $GcmCredential;
$NHDescription.ApnsCredential = $ApnsCredential;
$NHDescription = $NamespaceManager.UpdateNotificationHub($NHDescription);
Write-Host "The [$HubName] notification hub was updated";
}
else
{
Write-Host "The [$HubName] notification hub does not exist."
}
}
else
{
Write-Host "The [$HubNamespace] namespace does not exist."
}
}
catch [System.Exception]
{
Write-Error($_.Exception.Message)
}
Hope that helps someone.