Announce: Plugin for iOS Push Email support

[Stefan Arentz]

> On Sep 5, 2014, at 5:53 AM, Charles Marcus <CMarcus at Media-Brokers.com> wrote:
> 
> On 9/4/2014 9:35 PM, Stefan Arentz <stefan at arentz.ca> wrote:
>> Although this is at version 0.1, it is working pretty well for me and I am looking for some additional testers that are interested.
>> 
>> 	Please note that it is not possible to use this project without legally running a copy
>> 	of OS X Server. You can purchase OS X Server on the Mac App Store or download
>> 	it for free if you are a registered Mac or iOS developer.
> 
> Well, that is pretty much a deal breaker for just about everyone (that isn't already running an OSX server)...
> 
> Would you mind explaining *why* the above is required? Is this just a temporary limitation of some kind?

Sorry I should have been more clear.

Let me explain.

To send native push email notifications, you need a certificate that is generated by Apple.

When you enable Push Email on OS X Server, that certificate will be generated for you and stored in your Keychain.

There is no other way to generate this certificate. This is why you need a legal copy of OS X Server.

You don’t actually have to run OS X Server. I migrated away from OS X Server to regular Dovecot on Ubuntu. So I simply took the generated certificate with me. How to export and convert it is described in the README of the daemon project.

This is possible because the certificate is not bound to specific hardware or a specific email domain. It is however connected to your Apple ID.

I understand that this is not ideal but unfortunately there is no way around this. OS X Server however is just $19.99. 

When my code is a bit more final, I will try to contact Apple and find out if they are willing to open up the certificate generation. That would sure benefit a larger audience.

 S.