How to setup Co-Management – Part 1 (Roles and Certificates)

I don’t explain what is co-management in my post, because you can read all about those from Microsoft doc and videos. These series posts are not just about co-management, it actually includes how to setup cloud management gateway, cloud distribution point, use PKI etc. Microsoft ConfigMgr team has done really great job develop these features and make them better and easier to setup during last year, so if you are not using PKI or not planning to use PKI in ConfigMgr environment, stop here, this is not for you.  You can read another post from Jan Ketil Skanke https://www.scconfigmgr.com/2019/01/08/how-to-setup-cloud-management-gateway-with-enhanced-http/

If you are using PKI or plan use PKI which is still recommended, then these posts are for you.

More details about Co-management, see here:
https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/sccm/core/clients/manage/co-management-overview

Prerequisites

• You will need to have ConfigMgr 1710 and Windows 10 1709 to support Co-management. The setup of the co-management feature itself is very easy, however we will need to build up other necessary features to fully support it’s functionality.
• Azure AD
• You also need to setup AD connector, but I won’t cover those details in this time.
• Azure AD automatic enrollment enabled. https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/intune/windows-enroll#enable-windows-10-automatic-enrollment
• EMS or Intune license for all users
• Intune standalone (MDM authority in Intune set to Intune)

In my test lab, I setup one Primary Site (CM01.zit.local) and one site system server (CM02.zit.local).

• CM01.zit.local (Primary Site):
  This server is for support internal connection clients and whereas it is not required to use SSL, it is recommended.Roles:
  • Management Point (https)
  • Distribution Point (https)
  • Software Update Point (https)
• CM02.zit.local (site system server):
  This server is for support internet-based connection clientsRoles:
  • Cloud management gateway connection point
  • Management Point (https, use gateway)
  • Software Update Point (https, use gateway)

Co-Management Setup

There are two scenarios of Co-Management, and requirements are different:

• Scenario 1: Use Co-Management for Azure AD joined machines
  In this scenario, you will need setup these features in ConfigMgr:
  • Cloud Management service – Azure AD user discovery
  • Cloud Management Gateway
  • Cloud Distribution point (NOTE: this is no longer needed in CB1806 and up. With CB1806, a CMG can now also serve content to clients. This functionality reduces the required certificates and cost of Azure VMs. To enable this feature, enable the new option to Allow CMG to function as a cloud distribution point and serve content from Azure storage on the Settings tab of the CMG properties)
  • Enable Co-Management feature
• Scenario 2: Use Co-Management for domain joined machines
  In this scenario, you only need enable Co-Management feature.

In order to walk you through the entire process of setting up the co-management feature, I am going to break this down into a number of parts;

• How to setup Co-management – Part 1 (Roles and Certificates) – This post
  
• How to setup Co-management – Part 2 (Create Certificates)
• How to setup Co-management – Part 3 (Cloud Management Gateway)
• How to setup Co-management – Part 4 (Management point and Software Update point)
• How to setup Co-management – Part 5 (Cloud Distribution point)
• How to setup Co-management – Part 6 (Setup Co-management in ConfigMgr)
• How to setup Co-Management – Part 7 (Deploy ConfigMgr client to Azure AD joined devices from Intune)

Setup – Roles & Certificates

Cloud Management Gateway (feature)

Devices communicate over the internet to ConfigMgr via the Cloud Management Gateway. Certificates are required.

1.  Azure Management certificate
2. Cloud management gateway certificate
3. Root certificate

Cloud Distribution Point (feature)

• NOTE: this is no longer needed in CB1806 and up. With CB1806, a CMG can now also serve content to clients. This functionality reduces the required certificates and cost of Azure VMs. To enable this feature, enable the new option to Allow CMG to function as a cloud distribution point and serve content from Azure storage on the Settings tab of the CMG properties

A cloud-based distribution point is ConfigMgr distribution point that is hosted in Microsoft Azure. Clients that are on internet connection can download contents from cloud distribution point without any need for a VPN connection back to their corporate network. Certificates are required.

1. Azure Management certificate
2. Cloud Distribution Point certificate
3. Client Authentication certificate for domain joined clients

Management Point (CM01.zit.local, https)

Certificates are not required, but recommended.

1. Web server cert for server authentication
2. Client Authentication certificate for domain joined clients

Distribution Point (CM01.zit.local, https)

Certificates are not required, but recommended.

1. Web server cert for server authentication
2. Client authentication certificate for domain joined clients
3. Certificate for distribution point

Software Update Point (CM01.zit.local, https)

Certificates are not required, but recommended.

1. Web server cert for server authentication
2. Client authentication certificate for domain joined clients

Management Point (CM02.zit.local, https)

A certificate is required for HTTPS mode if you want to use Azure AD to authenticate instead of client certificates. If you are using client certificates instead of the Cloud Management Gateway, an HTTPS management point is optional, but recommended.

If you are using Azure AD to authenticate for on premises or internet clients, an HTTPS management point is required.

1. Web server cert for server authentication
2. Client authentication certificate for domain joined clients

Software Update Point (CM02.zit.local, https)

1. Web server cert for server authentication
2. Client authentication certificate for domain joined clients

Next in Part 2, we will create certificates for these roles.

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Zeng Yinghua

Sandy is an Enterprise Mobility MVP since 2018. She has been working in the IT industry since 2009, primarily dealing with device management solution planning and implementation. Sandy has worked with SCCM, MDT, Group Policy, software packaging, problem solving. Sandy currently works for a large Finnish company with several thousand endpoints as system architect. In 2016, Sandy founded the https://thesccm.com blog and is now a guest blogger on SCConfigMgr.