Block apps from running on fully managed Android devices

My customer is using Microsoft Intune to manage Android devices (Samsung A51) which have been enrolled as "fully managed" devices. We have a device configuration profile in place to manage the device restriction settings. The customer also wants to block consumer and system apps that are pre-installed by the OEM and gave us a list of apps.

First I looked at a restricted apps policy. This is used to allow or prevent specific apps on devices. It is supported on Android and Samsung Knox Standard devices but is only available for "device administrator" management.

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/mem/intune/configuration/device-restrictions-android#restricted-apps

Next I decided to look at uninstall packages for the apps. I created packages for some of the apps based on their URL in the Google Play Store. Then I assigned the packages as Uninstall to the Android device group. This worked well but unfortunately, not all the apps were available in the Play Store, so this was an incomplete solution.

I found the answer with Android Enterprise system apps.

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/mem/intune/apps/apps-ae-system

This allowed me to create the app packages using the Package Name, with no reference to the Play Store. Every Android app has a registered package name. You just have to be able to find it.

This search link will give you details on package names for all system apps pre-installed on many Samsung models. I found everything I needed and was able to create the uninstall packages.

• Navigate to the Endpoint Manager admin center to create the apps.
• Click Apps > All Apps > Add
• For the App Type, look at the bottom option and choose Android Enterprise system app.
  

• Click Select to commence the Add App wizard.

• This is where you enter the app details. Pay particular attention to the Package name. It must be entered correctly. The tooltip tells us to contact the device manufacturer to get the system apps package name of the format com.example.app. Click Next to continue.
• You only have two options on the Assignments page. To enable an app, assign the system app as Required. To disable an app, assign the system app as Uninstall. System apps cannot be assigned as available. Select the assignment groups and click Next.
• Review and create the app.

I was able to prevent the apps in the table below from running and satisfy the customer requirement.

App	Package Name
Netflix	com.netflix.mediaclient
Galaxy Store	com.sec.android.app.samsungapps
Verizon Call Filter	com.vzw.ecid
Verizon Cloud	com.vcast.mediamanager
Verizon Digital Secure (Safe)	com.securityandprivacy.android.verizon.vms
My Verizon	com.vzw.hss.myverizon
AR Zone	com.ARZone.arzone
Bixby Voice	com.samsung.android.bixby.agent
Bixby Voice Stub	com.samsung.android.bixby.agent.dummy
Bixby Home	com.samsung.android.app.spage
Bixby Service	com.samsung.android.bixby.service
Bixby Vision Framework	com.samsung.android.bixbyvision.framework
Game Launcher	com.yujimny.android.gamelauncher
Samsung Internet	com.sec.android.app.sbrowser

I hope this helps. Until next time....

CMG and VPN split tunnelling

Let's first consider some CMG scenarios. First and foremost we deploy a CMG to manage internet-based clients. However, when the CMG is in place it can also be used to alleviate traffic on the VPN, subject to configuration of VPN split tunnelling. It is important to note the distinction between internet-based clients and those using the VPN. They are both remote clients but ConfigMgr handles them differently. Clients using the VPN will be deemed to be on the Intranet because they can communicate with a domain controller and a management point. Otherwise they are deemed to be on the Internet. 

Scenario 1: 

No additional boundary/boundary group configuration - CMG can manage devices truly on the internet that are not connected via VPN. Policy and content requests will be directly to internet with no chance of using corporate network.

Scenario 2: 

Configure boundary group for VPN subnets and associate with CMG for policy and content - VPN devices will connect to CMG for policy and Cloud distribution point for content. These requests will be made through the corporate network unless the traffic is routed directly to internet. Split tunnelling configuration is required to implement.

So what do we need to add to the split tunnelling configuration? It's very straightforward if your VPN configuration supports URLs. You need entries for the CMG and the storage account. The URLs are easy to find.

You'll find the service name in the properties of the CMG in the ConfigMgr console. You can see that the example from my lab is https://gerryhcmg.emslab.ie

What about the storage account? You'll find that in the Azure portal. See the example from my lab https://gerryhcmg.blob.core.windows.net/

You can also see this information in the log files on a ConfigMgr client. I have a test client installing software over CMG.

You can see the CMG URL in the CAS.log file.

Have a look in the DataTransferService.log file for the URL of the storage account. You'll see a line like:

Modifying download source from https://gerryhcmg.emslab.ie:443/downloadrestservice.svc/getcontentxmlsecure?pid=GH100009&cid=CONTENT_4E6083C7-411E-4CAD-AF2C-2633F6A4DCAA.1&tid=GUID:6B6A5684-4D64-44D8-ACD7-1CB28AB77307&iss=MEM.HAMPSON.LOCAL&alg=1.2.840.113549.1.1.11&st=2020-08-18T08:32:19&et=2020-08-18T16:32:19 to https://gerryhcmg.blob.core.windows.net/content-gh100009/Content_4e6083c7-411e-4cad-af2c-2633f6a4dcaa.1 (pre download)

What do you do if your VPN does not support split tunnel configuration via URL? It will be necessary to use IP addresses and ranges

The IP address of the CMG will not be known until it is deployed.

Then you'll find it in the Azure portal. It's 52.174.178.234 in my lab.

The IP ranges for Azure storage are published by Microsoft in a json file. However, it can be challenging to extract the information needed for your region. A Microsoft PFE (Ken Wygant) has published a community script to extract this information.

https://pfe.tips/get-azure-ip-ranges-your-cloud-management-gateway/

It gives you a list of IP ranges like this (this example is for EastUS2 region).

Then you can configure your split tunnel.

Thanks to Bryan Dam and Sandy Zeng for helping me to figure this out on the MVP distribution list.

I hope this helps. Until next time.....