Authored by santosh.kushwah@ibm.com ,co-authored by kayajnan@in.ibm.com

In Maas360, we have seen a trend of users managing multiple accounts where they use one account to configure and test a policy and another account to push same policy configurations to all devices.To do so, users must remember each policy configuration which they have tested and apply it on their production account. Policy Bulk Edit feature can only be used when user wants to apply same policy configurations within the account.

To overcome this limitation, we have introduced policy Export and Import feature which allows users to Export configured policy from any account and import them into another account.

Scenarios which are supported by this feature:

•           Export policy from customer A and Import policy to customer B within same environment (Same portal instances). (Staging  staging)
•           Export policy from customer A and Import policy to customer B within different environment (Different  portal instances). (Stagingproduction)
•           Export policy from Partner A and Import policy to Partner/customer A.

Supported Platforms: Android, iOS, Windows, MacOS, and Endpoint/Threat Management policy.

Export Policy:

Export policy feature is already existing in Maas360 in the form of excel export, which can be used for auditing purpose. Maas360 has introduced additional export type as Maas360 Policy Export Format, which allows user to export policy configuration and import same policy configuration into other account. Maas360 policy export Format encrypts the policy configurations by expecting a secret from user before exporting so that sensitive information such as Passwords, WIFI configurations etc. are not exposed and tempered.

If there are any validation Errors present in policy, then Export Maas360 Policy Export Format is disabled.

Steps to Export policy:

•           Navigate to polices listing page and click on Export button to view export window or click on view policy and then click on more options (3 dots) to view export option as shown in below screenshot.

•           Select Maas360 Policy Export Format to export policy configurations.

•           Provide password to encrypt policy file configurations and click on export. Remember this password as this is required while policy import. 

Import Policy:

This feature will provide capability to users to import the policy configurations.Only file which has maas360 file extension is allowed to import which expects the same password which was provided while exporting the file to decrypt the exported file.Maas360 policy Import has the logic to check if the file is invalid/outdated and this is done based on the backward compatibility checks.Policy status will be changed to Imported once the export changes are applied.The import changes are saved in browser and will only take effect when user clicks on save as draft.

Note: Any external references such as Certificates, Wallpapers, Configuration files and Home Screen templates will be imported only if the name of these files matches in both export and import accounts.

Validation Scripts and Warning Message:

After Import Validation Script will be executed to validate imported changes.

A warning message will be shown to user if there are any difference in the customer setup (customer Properties used by policy) between the accounts where the policy was exported and imported.

if there are policy files like Certificates, Wallpapers, Configuration files and Home Screen templates having same name present between exported policy and imported policy customer, but file content is different, a warning message with option to update the content is provided.

Note: Publish is only allowed once all the validation errors are fixed .if there are any warning  publish policy is still allowed.

Steps to Import policy:

•           Navigate to policies listing page and Click on view policy and then click more option (3 dots ) then click on import and upload maas360 policy export format file, provide password used while exporting and click on Import.

•           Policy status will be changed to Imported once the export changes are applied.

•           If there are any policy files content mismatch a warning will be provided where you can fix it by updating policy content.

Discard/Save Imported Changes:

·      Click on save as draft to save import changes.

·      To discard imported changes, click on cancel and don’t save.

Conclusion:

By using Export/Import feature users can easily migrate polices from one account to other accounts.