How To Distribute Shield Network Profiles to Your Devices via Microsoft Intune

Devices require a network profile so they know how to connect to and authenticate with your network. This guide explains how to distribute these profiles to your devices using Microsoft Intune.

Overview - How to Distribute Network Profiles Your Intune Managed Devices

Microsoft Intune is a Mobile Device Management (MDM) platform that allows you to configure and manage your organization’s devices, including Windows PCs, macOS devices, Apple Mobile (iOS/iPadOS) devices, and Android devices.

To get your Intune devices connected to your network, you will need to push a Network Profile, which includes the necessary network settings, authentication methods, and certificates required for the devices to connect and authenticate with your network. The process is pretty similar across different device platforms, but there are some platform-specific steps and considerations that you need to be aware of.

How Does Distributing Network Profiles via Intune Work?

Pushing a network profile to a managed device in Intune requires a few different pieces to properly configure trust, encryption, and authentication. This typically involves:

  1. Trusted Certificate: For a device to trust your Shield identities, server endpoints, and network infrastructure, it must have your Shield’s Root CA certificate pushed to its trusted certificate store. Without this certificate, the device will not be able to establish a secure connection to Shield for network access or authentication.
  2. SCEP Certificate: Every Intune managed device needs its own identity and certificate, which is delivered via the Simple Certificate Enrollment Protocol (SCEP). Shield communicates with your device and with Intune via Intune’s SCEP service to ensure that each device has a unique and trusted identity for network authentication.
  3. Wi-Fi Profile: A Wi-Fi profile contains the necessary network settings, such as the SSID, security type, and authentication method, required for the device to connect to your network. This profile ensures that the device can automatically connect to the network using the appropriate credentials and certificates provisioned through Intune.

What Operating Systems Are Supported in Intune for Network Profile Distribution?

Microsoft Intune and Keytos Shield support all major operating systems for network profile distribution, including:

  • Windows: Windows 10 and later versions.
  • macOS: macOS 11 and later versions.
  • iOS/iPadOS: iOS 14 and later versions.
  • Android: Android 10 and later versions.
  • Linux: Although Intune doesn’t have built-in SCEP support for Linux devices, network profiles can still be distributed using custom scripts or configuration profiles that handle certificate enrollment and Wi-Fi settings.