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Configuration profile to add CardDAV accounts to iOS devices

This documents help you create and deploy a configuration profile to add CardDAV accounts to iOS devices.

CardDAV is a protocol that simplifies contact management by allowing devices to synchronize contact data with a server. Setting up CardDAV helps users keep their contacts up to date across multiple devices and platforms. The configuration profile described here lets you add CardDAV accounts to iOS devices to enable contact data synchronization of the devices with the server. By using Hexnode’s Deploy Custom Configuration feature, IT admins can deploy the configuration profile to iOS devices.

Note:

This configuration profile is supported on devices running iOS 4.0 or later.

Disclaimer:

The configuration profile provided below is adapted from a third-party open-source site.

How to add CardDAV accounts to iOS?

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?> 
<!DOCTYPE plist PUBLIC "-//Apple//DTD PLIST 1.0//EN" "http://www.apple.com/DTDs/PropertyList-1.0.dtd"> 
<plist version="1.0"> 
<dict> 
       <key>PayloadContent</key> 
       <array> 
         <dict> 
             <key>CardDAVAccountDescription</key> 
             <string>Organization Contacts</string> 
             <key>CardDAVHostName</key> 
             <string>google.com</string> 
             <key>CardDAVPassword</key> 
             <string>John@3451</string> 
             <key>CardDAVPort</key> 
             <integer>443</integer> 
             <key>CardDAVPrincipalURL</key> 
             <string>google.com</string> 
             <key>CardDAVUsername</key> 
             <string>johnsmith@gmail.com</string> 
             <key>PayloadDisplayName</key> 
             <string>Contacts #1</string> 
             <key>PayloadIdentifier</key> 
             <string>com.apple.carddav.account.B0C21676-A485-4E88-BD26-02710F0292C5</string> 
             <key>PayloadType</key> 
             <string>com.apple.carddav.account</string> 
             <key>PayloadUUID</key> 
             <string>B0C21676-A485-4E88-BD26-02710F0292C5</string> 
             <key>PayloadVersion</key> 
             <integer>1</integer> 
           </dict> 
       </array> 
       <key>PayloadDisplayName</key> 
       <string>Untitled</string> 
       <key>PayloadIdentifier</key> 
       <string>52378973-A9C5-4F44-A7FA-5C92B1532106</string> 
       <key>PayloadType</key> 
       <string>Configuration</string> 
       <key>PayloadUUID</key> 
       <string>52378973-A9C5-4F44-A7FA-5C92B1532106</string> 
       <key>PayloadVersion</key> 
       <integer>1</integer> 
       </dict> 
       </plist>

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>

<!DOCTYPE plist PUBLIC "-//Apple//DTD PLIST 1.0//EN" "http://www.apple.com/DTDs/PropertyList-1.0.dtd">

<dict>

<key>PayloadContent</key>

<array>

<dict>

<key>CardDAVAccountDescription</key>

<string>Organization Contacts</string>

<key>CardDAVHostName</key>

<string>google.com</string>

<key>CardDAVPassword</key>

<key>CardDAVPort</key>

<key>CardDAVPrincipalURL</key>

<string>google.com</string>

<key>CardDAVUsername</key>

<string>johnsmith@gmail.com</string>

<key>PayloadDisplayName</key>

<string>Contacts #1</string>

<key>PayloadIdentifier</key>

<string>com.apple.carddav.account.B0C21676-A485-4E88-BD26-02710F0292C5</string>

<key>PayloadType</key>

<string>com.apple.carddav.account</string>

<key>PayloadUUID</key>

<key>PayloadVersion</key>

</dict>

</array>

<key>PayloadDisplayName</key>

<string>Untitled</string>

<key>PayloadIdentifier</key>

<key>PayloadType</key>

<string>Configuration</string>

<key>PayloadUUID</key>

<key>PayloadVersion</key>

</dict>

</plist>

The above configuration profile is used to add a CardDAV account for contact synchronization with a server.

Configure the keys below in the configuration profile to add CardDAV accounts.

<key>CardDAVAccountDescription</key>: This key allows you to add a description for the CardDAV account. For example, Organization Contacts.
<key>CardDAVHostName</key>: This key specifies the hostname of the CardDAV server. It is the server address that devices connect to synchronize contact data. For example, google.com or server.example.com.
<key>CardDAVPassword</key>: This key is used to specify the password for the CardDAV account. Specify the password in the place of John@3451.
<key>CardDAVPort</key>: This key specifies the port number that the device connects to the CardDAV server.
<key>CardDAVPrincipalURL</key>: By specifying the principal URL in the configuration profile, the device can identify the user’s address book on the server.
<key>CardDAVUsername</key>: The username is an email address associated with a specific account. By specifying the username in the profile, the device knows which user account to use when connecting to the CardDAV server. Specify the desired username in the place of johnsmith@gmail.com.

What happens at the device end?

After associating the configuration profile policy on the device, the configured CardDAV account will be added to the device. The CardDAV account will be added to the iOS device under Settings > Contacts > Accounts.

Notes:

If the CardDAVPassword key is left empty or if the password specified in the configuration profile is incorrect, a prompt will appear on the device asking the user to enter the correct password for the CardDAV account.
To create and customize configuration profiles, you can use tools like Apple Configurator, Profile Manager or manually create them using text editors.
Use non-encrypted .mobileconfig, .xml, or plist files to deploy profiles across devices.
Ensure that you do not associate conflicting configurations with the devices.
Use wildcards to fetch key values from the portal.
It is recommended to manually validate the configuration profile on a system before executing it in bulk.
Hexnode will not be responsible for any damage/loss to the system on the behavior of the configuration profile.

Configuration profile to add CardDAV accounts to iOS devices

How to add CardDAV accounts to iOS?

What happens at the device end?

See also