User Guide

Appendix B Configuration Profile Format 71

Payload Content

The PayloadContent array is an array of dictionaries, where each dictionary describes an

individual payload of the profile. Each functional profile has at least one or more entries

in this array. Each dictionary in this array has a few common properties, regardless of

the payload type. Others are specialized and unique to each payload type.

PayloadIdentifier String, mandatory. This value is by convention a dot-delimited

string uniquely describing the profile, such as

“com.myCorp.iPhone.mailSettings” or

“edu.myCollege.students.vpn”. This is the string by which profiles

are differentiated—if a profile is installed which matches the

identifier of another profile, it overrides it (instead of being

added).

PayloadDisplayName String, mandatory. This value determines a very short string to

be displayed to the user describing the profile, such as “VPN

Settings”. It does not have to be unique.

PayloadDescription String, optional. This value determines what descriptive, free-

form text will be shown to the user on the Detail screen for the

entire profile. This string should clearly identify the profile so the

user can decide whether to install it.

PayloadContent Array, optional. This value is the actual content of the profile.

If it is omitted, the whole profile has no functional meaning.

PayloadRemovalDisallowed Boolean, optional. Default is No. If set, the user won’t be able to

delete the profile. A profile with this set can be updated via USB

or web/email only if the profile identifier matches and is signed

by the same authority. If a removal password is provided, the

profile can be deleted by specifying the password.

With signed and encrypted profiles, having this locking bit in

plain view is without consequence because the profile can’t be

altered and this setting is also shown on the device.

Key Value

PayloadVersion Number, mandatory. The version of the individual payload.

Each profile can consist of payloads with different version numbers.

For instance, the VPN version number can be incremented at a

point in the future while the Mail version number would not.

PayloadUUID String, mandatory. This is usually a synthetically generated unique

identifier string. The exact content of this string is irrelevant;

however, it must be globally unique.

PayloadType String, mandatory. This key/value pair determines the type of the

individual payload within the profile.

PayloadOrganization String, optional. This value describes the issuing organization of the

profile, as it will be shown to the user. It can be, but doesn’t have to

be, the same as the root level PayloadOrganization.