Charles Proxy Guide for Apple TV

For TV OS 11

Doris Sooläte avatar
Written by Doris Sooläte
Updated over a week ago

Required:

  • Mac Computer v10.12.6+ or v10.13.1+

  • Apple Configurator 2 v2.5+  (available in the App Store)

  • Apple TV 4th Generation (tvOS) v11.1.  
      - Must be past the initial Setup steps  
      - I.e. Language selection, iTunes sign-in, etc  
      - iCloud should be setup, this setup will perform a reset and your AppleTV   needs to be restored from iCloud

  •  USB-C cable

Step 1: Supervise Device

  1. Connect the Apple TV device to the Mac via the USB-C cable

  2. Connect the Apple TV to the power supply

  3. Launch Apple Configurator 2

  4. Under “All Devices” select the Apple TV device, it should be highlighted in a  grey box

5. From the menu select > Action > Prepare...

6. Select Prepare with: ‘Manual Configuration’ and select the checkboxes for ‘Supervise devices’ and ‘Allow devices to pair with other computers’, uncheck all others.

7. Enroll in MDM Server - select: ‘Do not enroll in MDM’

8. Enter your information on the Create an Organization, you will need your Apple ID for this step

9. It is advised you leave all Setup steps active > click Prepare

10. Your Apple TV device will perform a reset and you will be guided through the setup again. Your previously installed apps and settings should be restored from iCloud. Afterward, your device should be set to Supervision mode!

Step 2: Profile Creation

  1. Open Apple Configurator and navigate to  File -> New Profile.

2. Give your profile a name and a unique identifier. Typically you’ll be setting it up to   go through the same PC you’re using, so indicating this is encouraged (e.g.Charles-JoeLaptop ).

3. Select Global HTTP Proxy* on the left and click configure.

4. Input your IP address of the machine running Charles and 8888 (default) for the port.*

Note: You can find your internal IP address in Settings → Network on your Mac (either under Wi-Fi or Ethernet, depending on your connection):

5. Open Charles and navigate to  Help -> _SSL Proxying -> Save Charles Root Certificate.

6. Save the certificate as a  Binary certificate (.cer)  file

7. Back in Configurator, select Certificates on the left and click Configure.    

8. This brings up a dialog, select the recently created relevant certificate and click Open.

9. It may say,  “This root certificate is not trusted.”  This just reflects the status of the   user you’re using on the Mac.

10. Verify that both ‘Global HTTP Proxy’ and ‘Certificates’ state ‘1 Payload configured’

11. Close the Profile by clicking the red circle and save the configuration  (.mobileconfig file).

Step 3: Profile Installation

1. Connect the Apple TV device to the Mac via the USB-C cable
2. Connect the Apple TV to the power supply
3. Open up Apple Configurator 2.
4. The Apple TV should show up under All Devices.
5. Select the device (make sure it is highlighted in a grey box) and click on the Add   button at the top of the window.

6. Select Profiles and find the profile  (.mobileconfig file)  you recently created, then click Add Profiles.

7. After the Profile installs, you will see a Connection request on your computer running Charles Proxy - Click ‘Allow’

8. In Charles Proxy open Proxy → SSL Proxying Settings

9. Add a new Host   ‘*’ and click OK

Note: You will not be able to access the App Store on the Apple TV while SSL proxying is Enabled. As a workaround, you can disable SSL Proxying in this menu by removing the checkmark.

10. Analytics and Heartbeat calls will now display in Charles Proxy from your Apple TV. Further instructions on focused hosts will be provided in your run details if necessary.

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