Onboard a ChromeOS device through self-onboarding

In this topic, you will learn how to onboard using the self-onboarding portal, a ChromeOS device such as a Chromebook, and a wireless network managed by Portnox™ Cloud.

Authenticate with the self-onboarding portal

In this section, you will learn how to authenticate with the self-onboarding portal using your corporate identity.

  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. Click on one of the available buttons representing authentication repositories. Then, complete the login process as required by your authentication repository.

    Note:
    The buttons available on this page will depend on the authentication repositories integrated with your Portnox Cloud. It is very likely that your organization will only use one of them. The Corporate email option is available only if you configured the self-onboarding portal to allow end-users to use and create Portnox accounts using the self-onboarding portal.
    1. Optional: If the Corporate email option is available, and you want to use a Portnox account to authenticate with the self-onboarding portal, click on the button, enter your email address in the Email field, and then click on the Sign In button. Then, check your email account. You will receive a code via email. Copy the code, paste it in the Activation code field, and click on the Confirm button.

  3. In the Select your device’s operating system field, select the Chrome OS option.
  4. Continue with the next sections depending on your requirements.

Get and import the certificate

In this section, you will learn how to get the certificate issued by Portnox Cloud for your ChromeOS device and how to import it into Chrome.

Note:
You only need to obtain a certificate if your group in Portnox Cloud is set to use certificate-based authentication. If your group does not use certificates, you only need to configure the network adapters.
  1. Click on the Obtain Certificate button to download the certificate.

  2. Install the certificate in Chrome:
    1. Open a new tab in Chrome, and type the following URL: chrome://certificate-manager/clientcerts/platformclientcerts.
      Note:
      You can also copy this URL from the self-onboarding tab by clicking on the  ⧉  icon next to the URL, and then you can paste it in the address bar of the new browser tab.

    2. In the left-hand side menu, select the Your certificates option, and in the right-hand side pane, click on the Import and Bind button.

    3. In the Select a file to open window, select the downloaded certificate file, and then click on the Open button.

    4. In the Enter certificate password window, do not enter any password, and click on the OK button.

    Result: You will see the imported certificate on the list.

Configure the wireless network adapter

In this section, you will learn how to use the self-onboarding portal to automatically configure the wireless network adapter (Wi-Fi) on your ChromeOS device.

  1. Click on the Download configuration button.

  2. Open a new tab in Chrome, and type the following URL: chrome://network.
    Note:
    You can also copy this URL from the self-onboarding tab by clicking on the  ⧉  icon next to the URL, and then you can paste it in the address bar of the new browser tab.

  3. Scroll the page all the way down, and in the Import ONC File section, click on the Choose File button.

  4. In the Select a file to open window, select the downloaded certificate file, and then click on the Open button.

    Result: You will see the message: Networks imported: 1 below the Choose file button.

Reissue a certificate before it expires

In this section, you will learn how to issue a new certificate if your current certificate is about to expire, and what steps you need to do after you reissue the certificate to remain connected to the network.

Important:
If you use the self-onboarding portal to get certificates and configure your network, once the certificate expires, you will lose access to the network. This process is not automated like when you use AgentP or an UEM/MDM solution. Before the certificate expires, you need to manually issue a new certificate and configure your Chromebook to use the new certificate.

When you reissue the certificate, the old certificate is revoked, which means it becomes invalid even if it has not yet expired. If you just reissue the certificate but you do not reconfigure the Chromebook, you will lose access to the network even before the old certificate expires.

  1. Click on the Reissue certificate button.

    When the process finishes, you will see the information: * Certificate reissued.

  2. Follow all the sections and steps in this topic from the beginning to get the new certificate, install it in the operating system, and configure the wireless network adapter to use the new certificate.