Сonnect iOS devices to a VMware Workstation
The ability to safely and easily connect your iPhone or another iOS device to a VMware guest OS is an essential component of any modern mobile-first cloud-oriented work environment. From this article, you will learn about the most popular methods of Vmware mobile device management.
Connect iPhone to VMware with Workspace ONE
VMware Workspace ONE is a remote device management platform powered by VMware AirWatch MDM technology. With its help, you can automate routine IT administrative tasks, enroll new devices to your corporate network, apply advanced data protection measures like AI-powered security posture evaluation, remotely wipe and lock lost devices, and more.
Step 1. Install software components for VMware MDM
For this solution to work, you will need to install several software components on all of your devices. Here is the list of the most essential ones:
- Workspace ONE Access (formerly VMware Identity Manager) - an SSO and access management service for the SaaS app store. Use it to define app installation permissions based on Active Directory group, endpoint device type, and even network range:
- Workspace ONE UEM (formerly AirWatch) - mobile device management platform with many tools you can use to protect your corporate data, manage native mobile apps on all the enrolled mobile devices, and perform scheduled check-ups to ensure corporate security standards compliance for every device.
- VMware Unified Access Gateway - a platform that enables your remote employees to safely access corporate resources located in your internal network.
Step 2. Activate AirWatch MDM Getting Started Wizard
The easiest way to perform the initial platform setup is via Getting Started Wizard. Here is what you do if the Wizad won’t start automatically:
- For any non-top-level Organization Group, go to Groups & Settings > Groups > Organization Groups > Organization Group Details.
- Change your group to a customer-level one if needed.
- Click Save.
- Go to Groups & Settings > All Settings > System > Getting Started.
- Enable Getting Started Device Status, Getting Started Content Status, and Getting Started Application Status settings.
- Click Save.
Step 3. Generate APNs Certificates
Valid Apple Push Notification Service (APNs) certificates are essential for secure communication between an MDM product and iOS devices.
Here is how to generate an APNs certificate:
- Go to Groups & Settings > All Settings > Devices & Users > Apple > APNs for MDM.
- Click the Go To Apple button to open a new browser tab with the Apple Push Certificates Portal.
- Submit the AirWatch Certificate Request file in the PLIST format.
- Click Next.
- Enter your Apple ID and upload the PEM file of your AirWatch MDM certificate.
- Select Save.
After this, you can start using the platform by following the Environment URL in your browser and entering your login credentials.
Connect iPhone to VMware with USB Network Gate
USB Network Gate is a handy software for USB sharing over Network that uses advanced port redirection technology for forwarding USB devices to virtual machines. It works perfectly well with VMWare, VirtualBox, Hyper-V, and many other virtualization apps. With this software, you can connect your iPhone, iPad, or any other USB device to a guest OS with nothing more than a few mouse clicks.
USB Network Gate - an easy way to access an iPhone in a virtual environment!