The iPhone Configuration Utility allows the administrator to define common settings governing password policy, Server ActiveSync, certificates, wireless access points, VPN connectivity, LDAP access and more in a single configuration file and deploy those configuration settings to any number of iPhone devices.

With the release of OS 3.0 for the iPhone, the Configuration Utility has been updated to version 2.0 to reflect the new features available in the operating system. For an overview of the new features available in OS 3.0, read this article - http://blog.brightpointuk.co.uk/whats-new-enterprise-os-30-iphone

The iPhone Configuration Utility can be downloaded from the Apple web site for both Windows and Mac platforms - http://www.apple.com/support/iphone/enterprise/

More information on using the utility is available in the iPhone Enterprise Deployment Guide - http://manuals.info.apple.com/en_US/Enterprise_Deployment_Guide.pdf

General

This section defines the name and description of the configuration profile. The Security field allows the administrator to define whether the profile can be removed from the device by the user.

Passcode

This section defines the password policy - whether or not a password is required on the device, what strength that password should be, how many attempts the user has to enter their password correctly before the device is wiped, and how long the device can remain unlocked for without user interaction before the device will lock itself automatically.
How often a password must be changed, or whether passwords can be re-used can also be defined.

Restrictions

This section defines whether third party applications can be installed on the device by the user as well as controlling access to the Safari web browser, You Tube and the device camera.

WiFi

This section defines any wireless access points required, including authentication settings. Supported standards include:

• WEP
• WPA Personal
• WPA Enterprise
• WPA2 Personal
• WPA2 Enterprise
• EAP-TLS
• EAP-TTLS
• EAP-FAST
• EAP-SIM
• PEAP v0, PEAP v1
• LEAP

VPN

This section defines PPTP, L2TP or Cisco IPSec VPN server settings, including Proxy Settings if required.

Email

This section defines POP and IMAP email account settings.

Exchange

This section defines Exchange Server ActiveSync account settings.

LDAP

This section defines LDAP server settings for contact lookup.

CalDAV

This section defines server and account settings for a web-based calendar server using the CalDAV access protocol. NOTE - this is not a protocol used by Microsoft Exchange.

Subscribed Calendars

This section should be used in conjunction with the above CalDAV section - specific shared calendars are defined here rather than the server itself.

Web Clips

Web Clips are links added to the iPhone home page that allow fast access to favourite web pages. URLs, names and icons can be defined here.

Credentials

This section allows the administrator to add any required certificate files to the configuration package.

SCEP

This section allows the administrator to define SCEP server settings. SCEP is the Simple Certificate Enrollment Protocol and allows devices to be registered and authenticated automatically provided that they possess the appropriate certificate in order to be able to correctly respond to a challenge. Once authenticated the mobileconfig configuration file containing the remainder of the device settings can be downloaded to the device.

Advanced

This section defines cellular access point (GPRS / 3G) details, including Proxy Server settings if required.

Once the required profile settings have been defined, the configuration can be exported to a single configuration file, digitally signed if desired:

This configuration file can be deployed to a connected device directly via USB, or can be downloaded to the device from a web server or as an email attachment.