KB218841: Common Troubleshooting steps for Apple Push Notifications with MicroStrategy Mobile 9.4.1 and later

SUMMARY:
This article describes a list of commonly encountered issues and troubleshooting steps when setting up Apple Push Notifications for use with Strategy Mobile 9.4.1 and later.
Contents

1. Prerequisites for Apple Push notifications
2. Minimum Strategy product versions for Background Fetch
3. Basic push notification troubleshooting
4. Registering the mobile device with the Strategy Intelligence Server
5. Connectivity between the Strategy Intelligence Server and the Apple Push Notification Service (APNS)
6. Apple push notification certificate configuration
7. Communication between the Strategy Intelligence Server and the APNS

 
1. Prerequisites for Apple Push notifications
Check that all of the prerequisites listed in KB201670 have been satisfied.
 
2. Minimum product versions for Background Fetch
Check that the product versions meet the requirements in KB47306 . For more information on Background Fetch, see KB47308 .
 
3. Basic push notification troubleshooting
Check that the steps in KB47485  have been followed. Additionally, check that Push Notifications have been enabled as described in KB47307 .
 
4. Registering the mobile device with the Strategy Intelligence Server

• Follow the instructions in KB35792 . For more information on the *.PEM file, see KB47483 .
• Open the PEM file from the Apple Push Notification Service (APNS) using a text editor.
• Get the UID parameter from the PEM file, discussed in Section 3 above:
   
  

  
  UID = com.companyname.xxxxx

  
  
   
• Set the UID in the mobileAPNS iPad or iPhone's Device App ID parameter through Strategy Developer:
  
  

• Include the physical address to the PEM file in the Provider certificate parameter like shown above.
• Back in the Apple iOS Provisioning Portal, create a mobile device profile and install that profile onto the mobile device.
• Log into the Strategy Mobile 9.4.1 application to register the device with the user.
• Confirm the device was registered correctly in the list of contacts, like shown below:
  
  

5. Connectivity between the Strategy Intelligence Server and the Apple Push Notification Service (APNS)
Use the following telnet commands to check the connectivity between the Strategy Intelligence Server and the Apple Push Notification Service (APNS). The first command checks connectivity to the APNS sandbox environment while the second command checks connectivity to the APNS production environment. This command should be run from the Intelligence Server Machine.
 

$ telnet gateway.sandbox.push.apple.com 2195
$ telnet gateway.push.apple.com 2195

 
If the command fails, check that a firewall is not blocking access to the required ports or to the IP address range that the APNS hostname resolves to. For more information regarding the necessary ports and IP addresses see Apple's Support article here.
 
6. Apple push notification certificate configuration
Check that the certificate has been properly set up. If there are issues preparing Apple's push notification certificate for deployment on the Strategy Intelligence Server, contact Apple Support.
Once the certificate is ready and converted into a .pem, test the SSL handshake using the following command: 
 

$ openssl s_client -connect gateway.push.apple.com:2195 -cert YourSSLCertAndPrivateKey.pem -debug -showcerts -CAfile server-ca-cert.pem

1. Replace YourSSLCertAndPrivateKey.pem with the filename for the certificate.
2. The server-ca-cert.pem refers to the Entrust CA root certificate. For more information on this certificate refer to the following Apple Support article here.

You can test the TLS/SSL handshake using the OpenSSL 

s_client

$ openssl s_client -connect api.development.push.apple.com:443 -cert YourSSLCertAndPrivateKey.pem -debug -showcerts -CAfile server-ca-cert.pem

CRITICAL | 14:48:40.304061 | Exception creating ssl connection to Apple: [Errno 1] _ssl.c:480: error:14094414:SSL routines:SSL3_READ_BYTES:sslv3 alert certificate revoked

 
Test the communication by performing the following:

1. Run a report.
2. Right click a metric header > Alerts > Mobile Notification.
3. Choose a metric to qualify on and select a condition that is always true. In the example below, the condition used is Profit is greater than or equal to 0.
4. In the delivery settings, set the Device type and the Target Application.
5. Keep Schedule as All the Time and enable the check box for Send push notification.
6. Click the check box for Run subscription immediately and click OK.
    

If the notification does not appear on the device, check the Wireshark trace for more details, or contact Strategy Technical Support if you require additional assistance.