How to test a Knox Enabled App is actuall knox enabled

Question

I've just gone through the motions of making a Knox Enabled App (KEA) and nothing seems to happen on the device - it just runs like another app. How do I tell if is in-fact Knox Enabled? I understand that my apps should be in their own Knox Container? - is there a way to find that out or test it?

Answer 1

Per the Knox API (Standard or Premium), there is no way to simply query if Knox is already activated. Specifically there is no simple boolean return "knoxlib.isKnoxActivated();"

First of all, let me review how the Knox activation process works:

1. Your Knox Enabled app needs to call 'activateLicense' for both the ELM & KLM (Enterprise License Management and Knox License Management classes).

2. The device needs to have a network path to the Knox license server, whether that's Samsung's central one online, or your organizations on-premise Knox license server.

3. Your Knox Enabled app must have a broadcast receiver to receive a reply from the Knox license server.

Also don't forget to register the broadcast receiver in the Manifest, like this:

<receiver>
    android:name=".KnoxLicenseReceiver"
    android:enabled="true"
    android:exported="true"
    <intent-filter>
        <action android:name="edm.intent.action.license.status" />
        <action android:name="edm.intent.action.knox_license.status" />
    </intent-filter>
</receiver>

Your broadcast receiver class should look something like this below.

public class KnoxLicenseReceiver extends BroadcastReceiver {

    private final String LOGTAG = KnoxLicenseReceiver.class.getSimpleName();

    @Override
    public void onReceive(Context context, Intent intent) {
        SharedPreferences.Editor sharedPrefEditor = context.getSharedPreferences(Constants.SHARED_PREF_NAME, Context.MODE_PRIVATE).edit();
        String action;
        int errorCode;
        if (intent != null) {
            action = intent.getAction();
            if (action != null) {
                // If received an ELM response
                if (EnterpriseLicenseManager.ACTION_LICENSE_STATUS.equals(action)) {
                    errorCode = intent.getIntExtra(EnterpriseLicenseManager.EXTRA_LICENSE_ERROR_CODE, Constants.DEFAULT_ERROR);
                    // If successfully activated
                    if (errorCode == EnterpriseLicenseManager.ERROR_NONE) {
                        Log.i(LOGTAG, "ELM activated successfully.");
                        sharedPrefEditor.putBoolean(Constants.ELM_ACTIVATED, true);
                    } else {
                        Log.i(LOGTAG, "ELM failed to activate with error code: " + errorCode);
                        sharedPrefEditor.putBoolean(Constants.ELM_ACTIVATED, false);
                    }
                }

                // If received a KLM response
                if (KnoxEnterpriseLicenseManager.ACTION_LICENSE_STATUS.equals(action)) {
                    errorCode = intent.getIntExtra(KnoxEnterpriseLicenseManager.EXTRA_LICENSE_ERROR_CODE, Constants.DEFAULT_ERROR);
                    // If successfully activated
                    if (errorCode == KnoxEnterpriseLicenseManager.ERROR_NONE) {
                        Log.i(LOGTAG, "KLM activated successfully.");
                        sharedPrefEditor.putBoolean(Constants.KLM_ACTIVATED, true);
                    } else {
                        Log.i(LOGTAG, "KLM failed to activate with error code: " + errorCode);
                        sharedPrefEditor.putBoolean(Constants.KLM_ACTIVATED, false);
                    }
                }
            }
        }
        // Store shared pref changes
        sharedPrefEditor.apply();
    }
}

Answer 2

Just a note - The previous answers requires internet connectivity.
If you deployed solution uses the KNOX OnPremise license server (and not the Cloud Based/Internet option) you will need network connectivity to the On-Premise server.