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Cisco Meraki Documentation

Trusted Access for Secure Wireless Connectivity - Onboarding Guide

This article provides a comprehensive onboarding guide for setting up Meraki Trusted Access, which offers secure certificate-based 802.1x authentication for wireless connectivity on various devices including iOS, macOS, Windows, and Android with Passpoint. It includes step-by-step instructions for downloading and configuring Trusted Access profiles to ensure secure network access across different operating systems.

Overview

Meraki Trusted Access is a simple and secure way to provide network access for phones, tablets, and laptops to Meraki MR wireless networks using certificate-based 802.1x authentication. To enable network access on end-user devices, download and configure Trusted Access profiles by following this guide. 

Refer to the Trusted Access Setup Guide to obtain further guidance on setting up Meraki Trusted Access in your Meraki network.

iOS/iPadOS

  1. Open the Safari browser File:Safari browser logo.svg - Wikimedia Commons on the target device and navigate to https://portal.meraki.com.
  2. Enter the network ID or network enrollment string when prompted.
  3. Log in using your username/email address, and password.
  4. Navigate to the menu dropdown located in the upper-right corner of the screen and select Join Wi-Fi.

    Select the Join Wi-Fi option from the dropdown menu. The menu is located in the upper right corner of the screen.
     
  5. Select the Device type from the dropdown menu.  Enter a name for the device in the Device name field.
  6. Click Add device.
  7. Locate the Trusted Access profile you want to enable on the device and click Download profile. 

    Locate the Trusted Access profile you want to enable on the device. Then, activate the 'Download Profile' option to proceed.
  8. Click Allow at the system prompt, then click Close in the Profile downloaded alert window.

    At the system prompt, select the 'Allow' option to grant permission. Afterward, locate the 'Profile downloaded' alert window and select the 'Close' option to proceed.
  9. Navigate to the Settings app Apple, settings, configuration, control, gear, preferences ... and click Profile Downloaded.

    Open the Settings app and select the 'Profile Downloaded' option to proceed.
     
  10. Click Install located in the upper-right corner of the screen to complete the process.

    To complete the process, navigate to the upper right corner of the screen and select the 'Install' option.
           

macOS

  1. Open the Safari browser File:Safari browser logo.svg - Wikimedia Commons on the target device and navigate to https://portal.meraki.com.
  2. Enter the network ID or network enrollment string when prompted.
  3. Log in using your username/email address, and password.
  4. Navigate to the menu dropdown located in the upper-right corner of the screen and select Join Wi-Fi.

    Locate the 'Join Wi-Fi' button in the top menu bar and select it to proceed.  
     
  5. Select the Device type from the dropdown menu.  Enter a name for the device in the Device name field.
  6. Click Add device.
  7. Click Download profile on the desired profile.
     Navigate to the desired profile and select the 'Download Profile' button to proceed.
       
  8. Installation instructions is displayed in the browser window. When prompted, click Allow on the permission prompt to enable downloads from the self-service portal.  The Trusted Access *.mobileconfig profile will download to the browser's designated downloads location.

    Installation instructions will appear in the browser window. If a permission prompt is displayed, select the 'Allow' option to enable downloads from the self-service portal.
        
  9. Open the Trusted Access *.mobileconfig profile. You might receive a notification indicating that the profile has to be installed from System Settings.

    Open the Trusted Access *.mobileconfig profile. If a notification appears, it may indicate that the profile must be installed through System Settings.      
  10. Click the System Settings iconsystem_settings_icon.png in the Dock or select Apple menuapple_menu_icon.png > System Settings to navigate to System Settings on your Mac. Then, click the Profiles option under the 'Others' category.
  11. Double-click the Trusted Access profile under the Downloaded category.

     Navigate to the 'Downloaded' category and locate the Trusted Access profile. Select the profile to activate it.

Note: If the *.mobileconfig profile is not installed within 10 minutes, it may be removed from this section and have to be re-downloaded from portal.meraki.com. 

  1.  Review the profile details and click Install at the prompt.

      Review the profile details displayed on the screen. When prompted, select the 'Install' option to proceed.
     
  2. When prompted, enter your local account password or use a fingerprint to authenticate with TouchID.
  3. Connect to the Trusted Access wireless network when it is in range.

Windows

  1. Open any available browser on the target device and navigate to https://portal.meraki.com.
  2. Enter the network ID or network enrollment string when prompted.
  3. Before logging in, click Download in the information box. The Meraki Trusted Access app will download to the designated download file location for the browser.

    Before logging in, locate the information box and select the 'Download' option. The Meraki Trusted Access app will be saved to the browser's configured download location.
     
  4. Open the TrustedAccess.appinstaller file.
  5. In the Installer window, Click Install. If you select "Launch when ready," the app will automatically launch when the installation is complete.

    In the Installer window, review the options and select 'Install' to begin the installation. If you choose 'Launch when ready,' the app will automatically open once the installation is complete.

Note: During installation, the Meraki Trusted Access app may prompt you to install additional Windows system packages required for its functionality. Follow the on-screen instructions to install these packages if prompted."

  1. After launching the Meraki Trusted Access app,  enter the network ID or enrollment string at the prompt, then click Continue.

    After launching the Meraki Trusted Access app, enter the network ID or enrollment string when prompted. Then, select the 'Continue' button to proceed.
     
  2. Log in using your username/email address and password.
  3. Enter a name for the devices in the Device name field, then click Add.

    Enter a name for the device in the 'Device Name' field. Then, select the 'Add' button to complete the action.
     
  4. Find the Trusted Access profile you want to enable on the device and click Install.

    Locate the Trusted Access profile you want to enable on the device. Then, select the 'Install' option to proceed.
     
  5. The status will change to Installed after successful installation.

    Once the profile is successfully installed, its status will update to 'Installed'.
  6. Connect to the Trusted Access wireless network when it is in range.

Note: This is the expected behavior of the Windows operating system. When a wireless network is configured through a predefined networking profile, it is the profile name that shows up in the list of available wireless networks, and not the SSID. If this feature is required the Trusted Access SSID to show up in the list of available networks after installing the Trusted Access profile, then the Trusted Access profile name set in Dashboard must be same as the SSID.

Android (with Passpoint)

Note: This feature is available for devices running Android 10+. Passpoint must be enabled on the SSID. Additional details can be found in the Trusted Access Setup Guide.

  1. Open the Chrome browser https://www.google.com/chrome/static/images/chrome-logo_112px.svg on the target device and navigate to https://portal.meraki.com.
  2. Enter the network ID or network enrollment string when prompted.
  3. Log in using your username/email address, and password.
  4. Navigate to the menu dropdown located in the upper-right corner of the screen and select Join Wi-Fi.

    Navigate to the menu dropdown located in the upper right corner of the screen. Find and select the 'Join Wi-Fi' option to proceed.
     
  5. Select Android Passpoint from the Device type dropdown menu.  Enter a name for the device in the Device name field.
  6. Click Add device.
  7. Locate the Trusted Access profile you want to enable on the device and click Download profile.

    Locate the Trusted Access profile you want to enable on the device. Then, select the 'Download Profile' option to proceed.
     
  8. Click Install at the system prompt, then click Done at the Credentials installed alert window.

    At the system prompt, select the 'Install' option to proceed. Once the 'Credentials Installed' alert window appears, select the 'Done' button to complete the process.
     
  9. Connect to the Trusted Access wireless network when it is in range.

 

 

 

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