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Data Containerization for Android Device

Owned by Former user (Deleted)
Last updated: May 03, 2017
3 min read

WSO2 IoT Server enables you to register mobile devices via the BYOD or COPE device enrollment scenario. Data containerization allows you to have a separation between data. Therefore, if you are registering your device via the BYOD scenario you are able to have a clear separation between your personal data and the enterprise data. To understand the underlying concept clearly, take a look at the example given below.

Example:

MobX uses WSO2 IoT Server to manage and monitor the employees mobile devices and applications. Alex joins as the new Engineering team manager and needs to register the personal mobile device with WSO2 IoT Server, but is concerned because alex doesn't want to expose the personal data on the device to the Organization. On the other hand, MobX is concerned about not letting the other applications installed in Alex's device to access the confidential enterprise data. For example, Alex has installed an application for enterprise docs on the device. This application has access to all the enterprise docs and the personal docs as they are all stored in the same location. Therefore, it is important to clearly separate the enterprise and personal data in a BYOD device enrollment scenario. Follow the steps given below to enable data containerization on your device.

 Click here for more information on registering an Android device with data containerization, see End-user Registering an Android Device via the Managed Profile.

It is assumed that you have the downloaded Android agent before trying out the following steps.

 Click here for more information.

Follow the steps given below to get the android Agent. 


Follow the instructions given below to set up the Android work profile:

  1. Open the downloaded file, and tap INSTALL.

  2. Tap OPEN, once the WSO2 Android Agent is successfully installed.

  3. Tap Setup Work-Profile to proceed with registering the Android device via the Work-Profile.

  4. Tap SET UP.

    Tap OK to confirm.

  5. Tap UNINSTALL to uninstall the WSO2 IoTS agent you downloaded previously.

  6. Enter the server address based on your environment, in the text box provided. A confirmation message will appear.

    • Developer Environment - Enter the server IP as your server address.
      Example: 10.10.10.123:9443

    • Deployment Environment - Enter the domain as your server address.

      The Android Agent app's default port is 80. If you are using any other port, the server address should state the new port in the following format: www.abc.com :<PORT> 
      For example, if the port is 9779 the server IP is as follows: www.abc.com:9779

  7. Tap Yes to continue.
  8. Enter your details and tap Register. A confirmation message will appear.
    • Username - Enter the WSO2 IoTS username.
    • Password - Enter the WSO2 IoTS password.
    • Domain - Enter the domain only if the server is hosted with multi-tenant support.
    • Ownership type - Select the corresponding device ownership option. This will customize the device management behavior accordingly.
      • BYOD - Bring your own device.
      • COPE - Corporate owned personally enabled.
  9. Tap Yes to continue.

    • If you select BYOD, go to the preceding step - You will be shown a policy agreement, which you can either accept or reject.

      You will get access only if you accept the policy agreement.

    • If you select COPE, proceed to activate the device administrator - As it's a corporate owned device, you will not be shown a policy agreement. You will have to adhere to the company policy.
  10. Read the tenant policy agreement, and tap Agree to accept the agreement.  

  11. Set a PIN code of your choice with a minimum of 4 digits. The PIN code will be used to secure your personal data. Thereby, the IoT server will not be able to carry out critical operations on your personal data without using this PIN. 
    Example: If the device management admin needs to wipe your device or remove data from the device, he/she can not directly wipe it without the PIN code. You have to provide the PIN code to get your device wiped or you can log into the device management console and wipe your device by entering the PIN code. A confirmation message will appear.

    You will be prompted to provide a PIN code only if your device is a BYOD device.

  12. Confirm the PIN and click OK to continue.
  13. Tap ACTIVATE to enable the WSO2 Agent administrator on your device. A confirmation message will appear after enabling the device admin.
  14. You have now successfully registered your Android device. If you wish to unregister the registered device, click Unregister.

Once the registration process is complete, navigate to the launcher of your device. You will see that some applications are duplicated, with one set of the applications having a red icon. These applications are the ones used by WSO2 IoTS.

The following subsections will provide details on how data containerization is achieved via the managed-profile feature.

Setting up the work profile

Data containerization for Android devices was implemented using the Managed Profile feature that is available on the Android devices that support the Android Lollipop OS or upwards. Let's take a look at the how data containerization works on WSO2 IoT Server.

  • When you download and install the Android Agent on your Android mobile device, the agent will check if the device supports the managed profile feature. 

  • If the device supports the managed profile feature, the agent will prompt the user to set up the work profile before the installation.

    Having the Android Lollipop OS version or above will not enable you to set up the work profile. The setup might fail because of the OS customizations that would have been done on some of the devices by the manufacturers.

  • Once the profile is set up, the Android agent is automatically copied into the new work profile. Therefore, WSO2 IoT Server will prompt you to uninstall the agent you downloaded previously as it was installed in the devices personal profile.

  • After setting up the work profile you need to follow the default steps to register an Android device with WSO2 IoT Server.
    Once the registration process is completed, navigate to the launcher of the device and you will be able to see the applications that are used by the worker profile and the personal profile. The applications having the red icon are used by the WSO2 IoT Server work profile.

    • Using this approach, you don't have to switch between the personal profile and work profile as all the applications used by each profile is shown in the same launcher. 
    • Based on the underlying architecture, the profiles have their own storage locations that can not be accessed by each other.

Applying Android device operations

After registering your device with WSO2 IoT Server you can apply operations on a device. 

Click here for more information on applying operations on a device.

For more information on the operations that can and can not be applied once data containerization is enabled, see below:

  • The Android agent is the profile owner of the newly created work profile and only has control over it. Therefore, now the agent is unable to perform operations that affect the entire device, such as changing the device PIN and wiping data of the entire device.

  • If your Organization has imposed a policy to restrict the usage of the camera, you will not be able to use the camera application that is installed in the work profile. You will only be allowed to used the camera application that is installed in your personal profile.

  • The enterprise wipe operation will delete the enterprise-related data along with the work profile on your device while keeping the personal data intact.

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