How to upload certificates for VPN with KSP in Knox Manage

Environment

• Knox Manage (KM)
• Knox Service Plugin (KSP)
• Android Enterprise (AE)

Prerequisites

User and CA certificates according to your security requirements for VPN remote access.

Overview

Knox Service Plugin provides the option of installing your certificates for VPN connection silently in the device keystore. This article will explain how to prepare and upload certificate data correctly with KSP.

How to upload certificates for VPN with KSP in Knox Manage?

Normally, in VPN configs you need to provide the VPN client with a user certificate. This may be signed by a CA and if it's not a public CA, then you also need to add the CA.

How to install CA cert (pem encoded X509 certificate) with KSP

1. Open your pem file with an editor.
2. Copy the whole contents except the 1st (-----BEGIN CERTIFICATE-----) line and last (-----END CERTIFICATE-----) line and paste the result to the Certificate data field in KSP config. Enter your CA alias.
3. The Certificate type field should be: CA.
4. The Certificate usage field should be: For VPN & Apps.
5. The Private key password field should be blank.
6. Select Store presence > Pricing & Distribution.
7. Navigate to KSP Config > DO/PO policy > Certificate management policies (Premium) and select Install Certificate in keystore(s) silently.

How to install user cert (.pfx\.p12) with KSP

For installation, ensure you have bundled the required certificate as below:

openssl pkcs12 -export -inkey private/<your_private_key>.key.pem -in certs/<user_cert>.crt.pem -name "KNOX VPN Cert" -out p12/samsung.knox-vpn.p12

On a Linux machine, open terminal and execute the following command. Then, execute the remaining steps:

base64 p12/samsung.knox-vpn.p12 > p12/samsung.knox-vpn.pem

1. Copy whole contents of the samsung.knox-vpn.pem file and paste the result to the Certificate data field in KSP config.
2. The Certificate type field should be: Other.
3. The Certificate usage field should be: For VPN & Apps.
4. The Private key password field should have an actual password if the user cert has been exported with a password and be blank for certs that have no passwords.
5. Navigate to KSP Config > DO/PO policy > Certificate management policies (Premium) and select Install Certificate in keystore(s) silently.