Integrate MicroStrategy Mobile for iOS with MobileIron

You can use the MobileIron platform to add an extra layer of security to iPhones and iPads that are running MicroStrategy Mobile. Instructions for integrating MicroStrategy Mobile with MobileIron are provided below:

• Prerequisites  

• Set Up the MobileIron Core Admin Portal Environment  

• Deploy MicroStrategy Mobile with MobileIron Support

You can choose the combination of security policies and configuration that you want MobileIron to apply on your device. These policies and configurations can help the enterprise to manage the devices and data. There are three kinds of security policies available on MobileIron to help administrators prevent data leakage.

• Copy and Paste. This policy determines whether users can copy/paste content from/to an app managed by MobileIron. When you disallow this policy, no data can be copied from or pasted to the app. The only exception is that you can still copy text in an input box embedded in an HTML container, but only data entered by the user will be copied.  
• Print. This policy determines whether users can print content from an app managed by MobileIron. When you disallow this policy, no data can be printed in the app.
• Open in. This policy determines whether users can open files in some specific apps managed by the MobileIron Core Admin Portal. The administrator can choose to allow users to open files in all apps, apps that are managed by MobileIron, or apps in a white list. The Open In policy manages all app interaction and data loss prevention features, such as applying URLs, opening files in third-party apps, and so on.

The level of security you choose for each option is determined by the stringency of the security requirements in your environment versus the need for less restrictive data transfer.

Prerequisites 

The following are required to deploy the MicroStrategy Mobile application with MobileIron support.

• Your organization must be enrolled in the iOS Developer Enterprise Program. For information about this program, visit the iOS Developer web site.
• See What's New in the Mobile SDK for iOS for the Xcode and Apple iOS SDK versions you need to use to develop and compile your application. Previous versions can be downloaded from the Apple Download site.
• You must create a wildcard App ID for your application, using the iOS Provisioning Portal. A wildcard App ID is of the form [BundleSeedID].*, where:  
• BundleSeedID is an alphanumeric code that is generated by Apple when you create the App ID.  
• The asterisk (*) is a placeholder for the Bundle Identifier of the App ID. The Bundle Identifier is used by iOS to identify the application on your device. Depending on whether you plan to install more than one MicroStrategy Mobile application on a single device, you can use either the default value—com.microstrategy.iPad for an iPad app or com.microstrategy.MSTRMobile for an iPhone app—or define a custom Bundle Identifier.
• For Enterprise Deployment:
  • You must have a location on your network that users can access through their web browsers, using HTTPS protocol. The distributable archive of the application must be saved to this location.
  • Depending on how you plan to provide users with the URL to the manifest file for the application, you may need to create a web page on your network where users can access the URL.
• For a list of supported iPhone and iPad devices and operating systems, see the MicroStrategy Readmes.

Set Up the MobileIron Core Admin Portal Environment

To set up your MobileIron Core Admin Portal environment so users can install the MicroStrategy Mobile application with MobileIron support on their mobile devices, perform the administrative tasks listed below. For a detailed explanation of how to perform these tasks, refer to the MobileIron Core Admin Portal Admin Guide.

1. Register yourself on the official MobileIron web site.  
2. Install your MobileIron Core Admin Portal.
3. Log in to the MobileIron Core Admin Portal and add MicroStrategy to the MobileIron managed apps.
4. Create your security policy set and security configurations for MicroStrategy Mobile, depending on your requirements.  
5. Add the users in your organization who are allowed to use MicroStrategy Mobile.  
6. Register the devices of the added users so that they can be notified to install the MobileIron app on their devices.  
7. Create Labels on the MobileIron Core Admin Portal and apply them to the users who share the same set of policies. A Label is a combination of security policies and configurations.  
8. If you want to use the App Tunnel feature from MobileIron, you can configure the Sentry on the MobileIron Core Admin Portal. App Tunnel is a secure way for enterprise apps to access data behind the enterprise firewall. Once App Tunnel and Sentry are configured, all access to the enterprise server goes through the Sentry and is protected by MobileIron.

Deploy MicroStrategy Mobile with MobileIron Support

Use Xcode to configure and build your MicroStrategy Mobile application. Then distribute the application using the Apple App Store, your own internal app store, or the iOS Enterprise Deployment process to install the application on your users’ devices.

Once you have met the prerequisites and set up your MobileIron environment, do the following:

1. Download and install the MicroStrategy Mobile SDK integrated with MobileIron
2. Configure the MicroStrategy Mobile application  
3. Compile and distribute the application

A detailed description of each step is provided below.

The third-party products discussed below are manufactured by vendors independent of MicroStrategy, and the information provided is subject to change. For detailed instructions to perform the following tasks, refer to the iOS Developer Library.

1. Download and install the MicroStrategy Mobile SDK integrated with MobileIron    

   1. On a Mac computer, go to the MicroStrategy Download site and download the latest DMG file for the MicroStrategy Mobile SDK Secured by MobileIron. This includes the MicroStrategy Mobile Xcode project and a MobiileIron integration framework called the MSIAppConnect.framework. You must have a username and password to access the download site.

      The latest Mobile SDK may or may not be the same version as the version of Intelligence Server you are using.

   2. Double-click the downloaded DMG file.  

   3. Click Agree to accept the terms of the license agreement. This opens the disk image.  

   4. Copy all the folders to your local drive.  

   5. Eject the disk image.

2. Configure the MicroStrategy Mobile application

   Make sure that you have created and installed the distribution certificate for MicroStrategy Mobile on your Mac and created and downloaded the distribution provisioning profile. Use the Keychain Access utility on your Mac and the iOS Provisioning Portal to create these files.

   1. In the MicroStrategyMobile folder copied from the disk image on your Mac, double-click MicroStrategyMobile.xcodeproj. The MicroStrategy Mobile project opens in Xcode.
   2. Choose either the MicroStrategyMobileIPhone_AppConnect or MicroStrategyMobileIPad_AppConnect scheme, depending on the type of device you are creating the application for.

   3. Decide whether you will use the default Bundle Identifier for the application or your own custom Bundle Identifier. This decision will be driven primarily by whether you plan to install more than one MicroStrategy Mobile application on this device. Multiple applications with the same Bundle Identifier cannot be installed on one device. A unique Bundle Identifier must be used for each application because iOS uses the Bundle Identifier to identify the application on the device. The recommended practice is to use a custom Bundle Identifier to prevent potential clashes when a MobileIron-secured MicroStrategy Mobile app and a standard MicroStragegy Mobile app are installed on the same device. For example, this will prevent the possibility that a MicroStrategy Mobile app downloaded from the App Store might accidentally overwrite your application.

      To use a custom Bundle Identifier, do the following:
      

      1. Open the appropriate property list file—Info_IPad.plist for an iPad and Info_IPhone.plist for an iPhone.
      2. Change the Bundle Identifier of the application.
      3. Change the URL scheme for the application.
         • Navigate to Item 0 -> URL Types.
         • Find the item where the value starts with ac.
         • Change this value by appending the new Bundle Identifier to ac. For example, if the new Bundle Identifier is com.bigCompany.test, you would change the value of the property to accom.bigCompany.test.

3. Compile and distribute the application

   You can distribute the application in three ways—using the iOS Enterprise Deployment process, using your own internal app store, or using the Apple App Store.

   • Compile and distribute using the iOS Enterprise Deployment process
     1. Create a distributable archive of the application
        1. From the Build menu, select Build and Archive. An archived version of the application is built, with an ipa extension.
        2. Open Xcode's Organizer window, select the archived application, and click Share Application. The Share Archived Application dialog box opens.
        3. Click Distribute for Enterprise. The archive is built, and you are prompted to enter information for the application's manifest file, which devices use to download the application.
        4. In the URL field, enter the web address for the network location where users can download the application, in the format https://YourNetworkLocation/.
     2. Upload and distribute the application
        1. Copy the following files to the network location where users can download the application:
           • Application archive—for example, MicroStrategyMobile.ipa.
           • Manifest file—-for example, manifest.plist

        2. To distribute the application, provide users with a URL to the manifest file, using syntax like that shown below:

           itms-services://?action=download-manifest&url=https://YourNetworkLocation/path/to/manifest.plist

           You can provide this URL in an email or on a web page that users can connect to.

   • Compile and distribute using your own internal app store.
     1. Build the project into an IPA file by creating a project archive
        1. Select Build -> Archive from the menubar.
        2. When the archive process completes successfully, the Organizer window should open. If it does not, it can be opened manually from the Window option in the menubar.

     2. Export the compiled IPA file

        Refer to the iOS and MobileIron documentation for instructions on how to do this.

     3. Upload the IPA file to the MobileIron Core
        1. Log in to the MobileIron Core (VSP).
        2. From the top menubar, select Apps. The App Catalog section should open.
        3. Choose Add+.
        4. Select In-house.
        5. Use Browse to locate the compiled IPA file.
        6. Click Next to begin the upload process.
        7. Once the upload completes, you will be given the option to enter details under the "describe" step.
        8. Click Next on the App Store step. Accept the default options.
        9. Click Finish on the App Configuration step. Accept the default options.
     4. Apply your label to the uploaded application to tie everything together
        1. On the MobileIron Core (VSP), locate the app that was just uploaded.
        2. Select the app with the checkbox and from the top, select Actions ->Apply to Labels.
        3. Select your label and choose Apply.

After these steps, the application should be ready for deployment.