Activate your eSIM manually with an SM-DP+ address

What is an SM-DP+ address?

An SM-DP+ address is the internet hostname, for example smdp.example.com, of the Subscription Manager Data Preparation server that holds an eSIM profile ready for download. Your device needs that hostname together with a matching ID to fetch the right profile, which is why a manual setup screen asks for both.

What the SM-DP+ server does during eSIM activation

The SM-DP+ is defined in SGP.22, the consumer eSIM specification from the GSMA, the mobile operators' trade body, published with the other GSMA eSIM specifications. The server prepares a profile and hands it to the device in five steps:

1. The device contacts the server at the SM-DP+ address.
2. The device and the server set up a secure channel.
3. The server and the eSIM chip, the eUICC (embedded Universal Integrated Circuit Card) described in eUICC vs. eSIM, authenticate each other using certificates that chain back to the GSMA.
4. The server delivers the profile that belongs to the matching ID.
5. The device installs the profile and joins the network.

The address is a hostname, so it holds nothing itself. The profile sits on the server until a device collects it. The carrier runs that server, or a vendor runs it on the carrier's behalf, which is why some addresses carry a vendor's name.

Understanding the SM-DP+ address format

The SM-DP+ address is one part of a longer activation string, and only the part between the two $ signs is the address. Take LPA:1$smdp.example.com$123ABC456DEF and split it at each $ sign. LPA: tells the phone's Local Profile Assistant, the built-in software that downloads eSIM profiles and is described in the Android eSIM documentation, that this is an eSIM activation code. The 1 is the activation code format version. Then comes the SM-DP+ address, then the matching ID that tells the server which profile to release.

Some strings end with an extra flag. It means the device will ask for a confirmation code, which the carrier supplies separately. The address itself is a hostname only. It never includes https://, a space or a $ sign.

Where each part of the activation string goes

How the SM-DP+ address differs from the activation code

Three terms get mixed up on setup screens, and each has one meaning:

• The SM-DP+ address is the hostname. It says which server to contact.
• The matching ID is the value phone screens label "Activation Code". It says which profile to release.
• The full string, from LPA: to the end, is what the QR code contains.

Carriers and APIs sometimes call the full string the activation code too. A value that starts with LPA:1$ is the full string, and it has to be split before it goes into two fields. The activation code Telnyx returns for an eSIM uses this same format, so the breakdown applies to a Telnyx string as it is.

How to find your SM-DP+ address

Your SM-DP+ address comes from whoever issued the eSIM, and there are four places to look, in this order. For a Telnyx eSIM there is a shorter route: the Telnyx API returns the whole activation string as text, so there is no QR code to decode.

1. The purchase email or PDF.
2. The provider's app or web portal, under the manual install instructions.
3. The QR code, decoded as text.
4. Customer support, with your order number.

How to get the SM-DP+ address from your provider

Start with the email or PDF sent when you bought the eSIM. If the address is not there, open the provider's app or portal, find the eSIM's install instructions and look for a "manual" option. If support has to send the details again, give them your order number and ask whether the code can be reused, because that depends on the carrier.

How to read the SM-DP+ address out of a QR code

A QR code is the activation string stored as text. Scan it with any QR scanner app, and not with the phone's eSIM installer, and the app shows a line starting LPA:1$. The address is the part between the first and second $ sign.

Where is the SM-DP+ address on a SIM card?

A SIM card has no SM-DP+ address on it, because the address belongs to the carrier's profile server. The number on a card is the ICCID (Integrated Circuit Card Identifier), usually 19-20 digits, which identifies the SIM itself. The EID is a third identifier, and it belongs to the eSIM chip in the device. On iPhone, both appear under Settings > General > About. On Android, look under Settings > About phone > SIM status.

Three identifiers that get mixed up

How to get the SM-DP+ address for a Telnyx eSIM

A Telnyx eSIM's activation string comes from the Telnyx API as text. The SIM cards API has a request named Get activation code for an eSIM (GET /sim_cards/{id}/activation_code), listed in the Telnyx developer documentation. It returns the contents of the eSIM's QR code: the full string starting LPA:1$. An eSIM bought in the Mission Control Portal gets its activation code at purchase as well.

Fetch the string at the moment you install, and do not store or forward a screenshot of it. The code is one-time. Once the profile has been installed the request returns an error, and a deleted eSIM needs a new purchase.

1. Request the eSIM's activation code with Get activation code for an eSIM, or open the eSIM in the Mission Control Portal.
2. Copy the string that starts LPA:1$.
3. Take the part between the first and second $ sign as the SM-DP+ address, and the part after the second $ sign as the activation code.
4. Enter them in the "SM-DP+ Address" and "Activation Code" fields on the device.

Carrier SM-DP+ address examples

Real SM-DP+ addresses look like ordinary hostnames. Two that people search for are gsmacct.vzw.otgeuicc.com and vfgb.idemia.io.

The hostnames can be read. vzw is the long-standing abbreviation for Verizon Wireless. idemia is IDEMIA, a company that hosts eSIM platforms for operators, so the second address belongs to a carrier profile hosted on IDEMIA's platform.

What carrier hostnames tell you

An address is typically shared by many subscribers. The matching ID is the part that is unique, so an address copied from a web page activates nothing without the code your carrier issued to you. AT&T subscribers get the address inside the QR code or activation details AT&T issues.

Telnyx supplies an activation code with each eSIM. A Telnyx customer reads the address out of the string for that eSIM, and does not copy one from another SIM or from a web page.

Step-by-step guide to manually activate an eSIM with an SM-DP+ address

Manual activation takes two values, the SM-DP+ address and the matching ID, entered in labelled fields.

QR code vs. manual activation for an eSIM

The QR code and manual entry deliver the same string to the device. Manual entry is the fallback when the QR code will not scan, when the code arrives as text, or when there is no camera, as on routers and modules built around embedded MFF2 SIMs, which are soldered onto the circuit board. It also suits company-issued phones under corporate eSIM management, where IT may send the details as text.

QR code and manual entry compared

Entering an SM-DP+ address on iPhone

On iPhone, the manual fields sit behind the QR code option. Apple's eSIM guide covers the same path.

1. Open Settings.
2. Tap Cellular, or Mobile Data in some regions.
3. Tap Add eSIM.
4. Tap Use QR Code.
5. Tap Enter Details Manually.
6. Type the hostname into "SM-DP+ Address".
7. Type the matching ID into "Activation Code".
8. Fill in "Confirmation Code" only if your carrier gave you one.
9. Label the plan and choose the default line.

Entering an SM-DP+ address on Android

On Android, the path below is the Pixel-style one, and the last step depends on how many fields the screen shows.

1. Open Settings.
2. Tap Network & Internet.
3. Tap SIMs.
4. Tap Add eSIM.
5. Choose the option to enter the code manually.
6. If the screen shows one field, paste the full string starting LPA:1$. If it shows two, enter the address and the code separately.

On Samsung phones the path is Settings > Connections > SIM manager > Add eSIM. Menu names vary by model and software version, and the device needs Wi-Fi or another internet connection during the download.

What to check when manual activation fails

Match what you see to a cause before you retry. A stuck activation can also sit on the carrier's side, because an operator has to provision a SIM card on its network before the profile will attach.

Manual activation failures and fixes

Check 2 can run from code. This excerpt from the activate-sim-card-go example, checked against the Telnyx Go SDK, enables a SIM and returns the action to poll:

To run the excerpt, install the Telnyx Go SDK and create client with your Telnyx API key as described in the Telnyx developer documentation. Set simCardID to the ID of the SIM you want to enable, and import the standard context package. The excerpt sits inside a function that returns the result map and an error.

Making the most of SM-DP+ for eSIM activation

The SM-DP+ address names the server, the activation code picks the profile, and a failed activation traces back to one of them, to the device or to the connection. Check four things before the next attempt:

• The SM-DP+ address is the hostname only, with nothing before or after it.
• The activation code has not been used before and has not expired.
• The device is not carrier-locked and shows an EID.
• The device has Wi-Fi or another internet connection for the whole download.

Teams activating a fleet of devices can start with Telnyx eSIM and M2M SIM cards for machine-to-machine devices. On Telnyx IoT SIM cards, a SIM is activated with an API request, and an eSIM's activation string comes from the API as text.

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