Re: RFC: standardized network provisioning

[Dan Williams <dcbw redhat com>]

On Wed, 2014-06-11 at 12:12 -0400, Chuck Anderson wrote:
> Has any thought been given to implementing standardized network
> provisioning similar to how Apple's .mobileconfig works?
>
> We are using CloudPath XpressConnect to provision Windows, Mac, Linux,
> Android, iOS, etc. with our WPA-Enterprise EAP-TLS configuration &
> certificates.  XpressConnect's Linux support uses a native Linux
> binary and relies on communication with the NetworkManager DBUS API.
> The rapid changes in this API and other system components on Linux
> cause this to break frequently.  For example, XpressConnect works on a
> freshly installed Fedora 20, but not one updated with the latest
> package updates.
>
> XpressConnect for iOS just generates a .mobileconfig file server-side,
> and the client downloads that and installs it to configure- the network
> settings, install certificates, etc.  There is no client-side code at
> all.
>
> It would be nice if NetworkManager supported a similar methodolgy for
> standardized network configuration provisioning.

That would be nice, and if the .mobileconfig is well-formed enough we
might as well just use that format.  It might not be too hard to create
an importer (similar to the VPN plugin importers) that could just be run
client-side that would send all this to NetworkManager.

I've filed:

https://bugzilla.gnome.org/show_bug.cgi?id=731596

and this would be a great standalone project for anyone that wants to
help out or get into NM development!

Dan