MDM Integration: VMware Workspace ONE (Airwatch)

GroundControl has deep integration with VMware Workspace ONE (formerly AirWatch). The instructions below describe how to set up GroundControl to use AirWatch APIs. Optionally, you may add an Enrollment Profile for touch-free enrollments of non-DEP devices.

AirWatch API Integration is recommended for both DEP and non-DEP enrollments. API integration adds many additional features to customize your workflows, including unenroll-before-enroll, assigning organization groups, setting friendly names, and more.

Enable API Integration in GroundControl

In GroundControl, navigate to Admin > MDMs. Click + Add, and select AirWatch.
Switch the API Integration setting to ON. Click Configure. In the configuration dialog, you will add API settings that you obtain from the Workspace ONE admin console.

Enable AirWatch Rest APIs

In your Workspace ONE (AirWatch) console, visit Groups & Settings > All Settings > System > Advanced > API > REST API > General.
Ensure that Enable API Access is selected.
Add a new API key, and label it “GroundControl”.
Copy the newly created API key and paste it into GroundControl’s API Key field.
Enter the hostname of the REST API URL, for example “as700.awmdm.com”. Do not include “https” or a trailing slash. NOTE: this may be different from your AW console URL. See VMware KB 82724 for more information.
After enabling APIs, create a dedicated administrator account for API authentication, ensuring the administrator has a role of “Console Administrator” or above. Then, select an authentication method using Option 1 or 2 below.

Authenticate with user & certificate

Navigate to the Authentication tab. Ensure Certificate authentication is enabled.
In Accounts > Administrators > List View, select or create an AirWatch administrator account to use with GroundControl. You can use a Basic or Directory account.
To enable API access for one of your administrator accounts, edit the administrator and click the API tab.
Select Certificates, then enter a Certificate password and click Generate Client Certificate.
Export Client Certificate and click Save.
In GroundControl, upload the certificate, enter admin username and the certificate password you just created.
Click Test to confirm connection has been established. Click Save.

Important: If the API admin user account is locked, authentication will fail. Make sure the admin account is unlocked by resetting the user’s password.

If the API admin user’s password expires, API integration will continue to work as expected.

Authenticate with username & password

Navigate to the Authentication tab. Ensure Basic authentication is enabled.
In Accounts > Administrators > List View, select or create an AirWatch administrator account to use with GroundControl. You can use a Basic or Directory account. Note: If using this method, we recommend a dedicated directory account for GroundControl, and using certificate based authentication as AirWatch may enforce a periodic password change for Basic users.
To enable API access for one of your administrator accounts, edit the administrator, and click the API tab. Make sure Basic authentication is enabled.
In the Roles tab, ensure the administrator has a role of Console Administrator or above.
Important: Each Administrator must log in once to the AirWatch console to accept the AirWatch terms & conditions.
Enter this AirWatch administrator username and password in GroundControl.
Click Test to confirm connection has been established. Click Save.

Non DEP Device Enrollment

Enrollment profiles are not required for DEP enrollments. If you have non-DEP devices to enroll, follow these instructions to obtain an enrollment profile from AirWatch.

Select an Enrollment Organization Group

Non-DEP devices will enroll devices into this group. You may use API integration to move devices into any child organization group of the enrollment group. Note you can not use APIs to move devices “sideways” into another group, only “down.” For maximum flexibility, we recommend you use the root organization group for enrollment.

Create a Staging User

AirWatch requires that every device is associated with a user. You will need to create a user (not administrator) to associate devices. Create this user in your staging organization group. You only need to enter the required fields. The password can be anything, as it will never be used.

If you are sharing devices, then this configuration is sufficient. All devices will belong to the same staging user. But if you are staging devices for later one-to-one assignment, select the Enable Device Staging box. With this box checked, the device may be re-assigned to a particular user later in the process.

Click Save when done.

Export the Enrollment Configuration Profile

The section to download the enrollment configuration profile is buried deep within Settings. Go to Devices > Device Settings > Apple > Automated Enrollment.

Ensure the correct staging organization group is selected at the top of the screen.

Enable Automated Enrollment, and Apple iOS.
For shared devices, set the staging mode to “None.” To stage 1-1 deployments, select “Single User.”
Select the correct Default Staging User.

Click Export to download a configuration profile containing this enrollment information. (If you are on a Mac, your Mac will attempt to install this configuration profile. Click Cancel or you will enroll your Mac into AirWatch!)

Locate the downloaded configuration profile on your Mac or PC. Upload this file into the AirWatch setting within GroundControl.

MDM Integration: VMware Workspace ONE (Airwatch)

Enable API Integration in GroundControl

Enable AirWatch Rest APIs

Non DEP Device Enrollment

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