Onboard a macOS device to a Wi-Fi network with certificates

In this topic, you will learn how to onboard using certificates, the self-onboarding portal, a macOS computer, and a Wi-Fi network managed by Portnox™ Cloud.

To onboard to a network using a certificate, you need to generate, download, and install the configuration profile. In macOS, all network configurations for 802.1X authentication are managed using profiles.

Download and install the certificate configuration profile

In this section, you will generate, download, and install the certificate configuration profile on your device.

  1. Enter the URL of the self-onboarding portal in your browser.

    To learn how to set up the self-onboarding portal and obtain the URL, see the following topic: Set up the self-onboarding portal.

  2. In Step 1, select the third option: CLEAR account certificate management and click on the Next button.

  3. In Step 2, you can select the Corporate email address option or the Corporate username and password option. Select the Corporate email address option if Portnox Cloud manages your user repository. Select the Corporate username and password option if you have integrated Cloud with an external repository. Proceed with the following steps depending on your choice.
  4. If you have chosen Corporate email address:
    Important: Only choose the Corporate email address option if Portnox Cloud manages your user repository. Cloud manages the user repository if it’s not integrated with any external repositories such as Microsoft Azure (Entra ID), Google Workspace, or Okta Workforce Identity.
    1. In the Email field, enter your corporate email address and click on the SIGN IN button.

      If you activate the Automatically generate secure password and send me by email checkbox, you will receive a separate email with a Portnox Cloud password. If so, you should use this password in the next steps.

    2. Open your email client and find the email received from Portnox Cloud containing a one-time activation code. Copy this code to the clipboard.

      If you activated the Automatically generate secure password and send me by email checkbox in the previous step, do not confuse the password email with the code email. They are two separate emails.

    3. In the self-onboarding portal, paste the code in the Activation code field and click on the CONFIRM button.

  5. If you have chosen Corporate username and password:
    1. Click on the tile that represents the authentication repository you want to use to sign in. If you want to use Okta Workforce Identity, enter your Okta login and password and click on the SIGN IN button.

      Note: Options depend on the repositories integrated with Portnox Cloud: Microsoft Azure (Entra ID), Google Workspace, and/or Okta Workforce Identity.
    2. Complete the steps needed to sign in. These steps depend on the chosen authentication repository.
  6. Click on the OBTAIN CERTIFICATE button to download the user certificate profile generated for your device.

    Note: If you want to replace a certificate you created earlier, for example, because the old one expires soon, click on the REISSUE CERTIFICATE button instead.
  7. Install the downloaded certificate configuration profile.
    1. Open the macOS System Preferences application.

    2. In the System Preferences window, click on the Profiles icon.

    3. In the Profiles window, click on the Install button.

Result: You downloaded and installed the certificate.

Download and install the connection configuration profile

In this section, you will use the self-onboarding portal to generate a configuration profile that configures your network for you.

  1. Go back to Step 1 of the self-onboarding portal by clicking on the Back link.
  2. In Step 1, select the second option: CLEAR account activation and Device provisioning and click on the Next button.

    Important: The Wi-Fi network in the group that the account belongs to must be configured for EAP-TLS authentication. For more information, see the following topic: Advanced network configuration.
  3. Follow the same steps as above to authenticate using your corporate email or corporate username and password.
  4. Click on the tile in the Wireless Enrollment Profile section that represents the macOS operating system to download the configuration profile.

  5. Install the downloaded configuration profile.
    1. Open the macOS System Preferences application.

    2. In the System Preferences window, click on the Profiles icon.

    3. In the Profiles window, click on the Install button.

    macOS configures the network settings for the Wi-Fi network configured in your Portnox Cloud group.

  6. In the status menu bar, click on the Wi-Fi icon to open the list of available Wi-Fi networks, and select the network configured in previous steps.

Result: Your macOS computer is connected to a Wi-Fi network managed by Portnox Cloud.

Troubleshooting information: See the following topic: How to troubleshoot typical device onboarding issues.