Using OEMConfig apps to apply advanced device configuration policies in MaaS360

Administrators can use Android OEMConfig to remotely deploy OEM (Original equipment manufacturer)-specific settings to the managed devices.

OEMConfig is an Android standard that allows device manufacturers to create custom OEM-specific settings for Android Enterprise devices. MaaS360 uses OEMConfig apps built by device manufacturers to deploy advanced device configuration settings that are not natively available in the MaaS360 Portal. For example, you can use Samsung's Knox Service Plugin app to configure Knox security settings such as advanced VPN configurations on the device. The OEM apps use the managed app configuration to remotely configure those settings on the devices.

Benefits of OEMConfig

  • Provides advanced management capabilities and granular control over the devices.
  • Zero-day support for new capabilities provided by the device manufacturer (OEM). New features, updates, and bug fixes are deployed as soon as they are made available by the device manufacturers without having to wait for upgrades to the MaaS360 agent app.
  • Provides a consolidated and standardized way to configure device settings.
  • Settings on the device are executed by the OEMConfig app, instead of the MaaS360 agent app.

How it works

  1. Device manufacturers build their own OEMConfig app that contains OEM-specific APIs and publish it to the Managed Google Play store.
  2. MaaS360 dynamically displays the list of OEMConfig apps in the MaaS360 Portal.
  3. Administrators customize the OEMConfig settings that are included by the device manufacturers and then publish the configuration.
  4. MaaS360 pushes the configuration to the devices. The OEMConfig app applies the configuration to the devices.

Prerequisites

  • Devices must be enrolled in Android Enterprise.
  • Managed Google Play must be enabled.
  • Devices must be upgraded to Android OS version 5 or later.

Supported OEMConfig apps

MaaS360 supports the following OEMConfig apps:
Vendor OEMConfig app
Archos Archos OEMConfig
Aquos Aquos Config
Ascom Ascom OEMConfig
Bartec Bartec OEMConfig
Bluebird BOS™ OEMConfig
CipherLab CipherLab OEMConfig
Datalogic Datalogic OEMConfig
Honeywell Honeywell OEMConnect
Honeywell OEMConfig for ScanPal EDA Devices
Inventus Inventus OEMConfig
Lenovo Lenovo OEMConfig
Kyocera Device Config Plugin
HMD Global OEMConfig for Nokia 4.2
OEMConfig for Nokia 7.2
Moto Moto OEMConfig
RugGear RugGear OEMConfig
STK STK OEM Configuration pack V2
STK X3 OEM Config
Social Mobile Rhino OEMConfig
Samsung Knox Knox Service Plugin
Seuic Seuic OEMConfig
Spectralink Barcode (Spectralink)
Buttons (Spectralink)
Device (Spectralink)
Logging (Spectralink)
VQO (Spectralink)
Unitech Unitech OEMConfig
Zebra Zebra OEMConfig powered by MX
Note: This app is supported on Zebra devices running Android OS version 11 and Android OS versions 13 or later.
Zebra Legacy Zebra OEMConfig
Note: This app is supported on Zebra devices running Android OS versions 11 and earlier.

Considerations before creating OEMConfig profiles

  • MaaS360 does not have any control over the OEMConfig app's schema (configuration settings) that is accessible in the MaaS360 Portal. The settings are based on what the device manufacturer included in the OEMConfig app. If you need assistance with the schema, you must contact the device manufacturer.
  • In the event of a conflict between MaaS360 MDM policies and OEM configuration settings, the settings applied last are applied to devices.
  • When the device manufacturer updates the schema or supported features, MaaS360 automatically syncs the latest version of the OEMConfig app from the Managed Google Play. MaaS360 does not maintain the older versions of the OEMConfig app. If there are conflicts with versioning, contact the device manufacturer.
  • If an OEM setting is blank or not selected, the key-value pair is excluded from the configuration.
  • The OEMConfig apps are specific to the device manufacturer. For example, the Knox Service Plugin app does not work on Zebra devices. Ensure that the right OEMConfig app is added and deployed to the supported devices.
  • Ensure that the OEMConfig app is up-to-date.

Creating an OEMConfig profile

Follow these steps to create an OEMConfig profile:

  1. From the MaaS360 Portal Home page, navigate to Security > Android OEMConfig. The Android OEMConfig page is displayed.
  2. Click Add configuration. The Add OEMConfig window is displayed.
  3. Enter a name for your configuration, select the OEMConfig app that you want to configure, and then click Next. The detail view of the OEM app config page is displayed.
    Add OEMConfig
    Note: The selected OEMConfig app is automatically added to the App Catalog and automatically installed on devices when the app configuration is distributed.
  4. Configure the OEMConfig settings. For information on configuring OEMConfig settings, see Understanding OEMConfig settings.
    OEMConfig page
    Note:
    • Refer to the OEM vendor documentation and ensure that you enter the correct information in the settings. If you provide inaccurate data, the profile is still deployed to the devices.
    • The default values supplied by the device manufacturer are selected by default for each setting.
    • The settings are included by the device manufacturer. MaaS360 does not validate the information you enter in those settings.
    • The configurations for Gmail, Exchange, ActiveSync, or other VPN apps override similar settings assigned to devices by the Android MDM policy.
    • Use custom attributes such as username(%username%) or domain(%domain%) to configure these settings.
    • Configurations such as bundle array types are supported on Android 6+ only.
  5. Click Next. The Distributions tab is displayed.
    OEM Profile add
  6. Choose the entities that you want to distribute the app configuration to:
    Note: The OEMConfig profile with the lowest precedence is applied to the device.
    • Set as default configuration: The default configuration is automatically distributed to the device if another configuration is not specified for that device through group-based or device-based distribution.
    • Groups: Select the groups that receive the app configuration.
    • Specific devices: Select the individual devices that receive the app configuration.
  7. Click Publish. The configuration settings are deployed to the device. The app configuration is displayed at Security > Android OEMConfig. The OEMConfig app is also added to the App Catalog and the corresponding app configurations are displayed in the App Configurations section on the App Summary page.