SAP Afaria - Experiences in pre-deployment configuration

[Former Member]

I am a developer working on an account for a client who uses SAP Afaria as their chosen MDM solution.

The client wishes to use Afaria to "pre configure" mobile apps, so that when they are deployed onto a user's device, they already have some configuration details set. An example of this would be Citrix Receiver, which has to be configured with a server URL before it is of any use to the user. The ideal, would be that the app would get some configuration information from Afaria, so that when it boots up for the first time, it's already got the server URL set. The same principal applies to a couple of other apps downloaded from the app store.

My understanding is that this kind of pre configuration in Afaria is only possible in apps that implement the Afaria API. The API exposes a method of supplying a configuration file in the Afaria webconsole, which can called by the app to get config information. This means the majority of app store apps would not work in this method, and it is only really a viable option for enterprise apps developed in-house.

Firstly, could anyone confirm/correct my understanding?

If this is the case, are there any alternatives to the above?

Your help is greatly appreciated!

[Former Member]

Hi Peter,

Your understanding is correct.

Afaria has a feature called "Application Onboarding". To use this, a customer's enterprise app must include the Afaria Static Link Libraries (SLL) to invoke the methods included in the library.

Compile applications with the Afaria Static Link Library (SLL) with calls that retrieve data

from Afaria as defined in an application policy defined in Afaria. You would need to follow the documented procedures for using the library to make a retrieveSeedData call. Then, as required for your application, develop a response for retrieving, using, and deleting the data.

Other than using the App Onboarding feature, there is no other pre-defined way in Afaria to implement this.