Migrate to the New Wi-Fi Library Item

By Trevor Gerzen

Learn when and how to migrate to the new Wi-Fi Library Item

If you have existing Wi-Fi Library Items assigned to devices, it is not necessary to upgrade them to the new Wi-Fi Library Item unless you are changing network configurations, or need to take advantage of new Wi-Fi Library Item features.


Changing or removing Wi-Fi profiles assigned to your devices introduces a risk that those devices will lose network connectivity and be unable to reconnect until they are manually reconfigured or connected to another network source, such as Ethernet. Carefully plan and order the steps necessary to make changes so that your devices do not lose connectivity.

If you choose to migrate to a new Wi-Fi Library Item, migration will differ based on your environment. This article describes the necessary steps and considerations at a high level. 

  1. Design, install and configure your network infrastructure.
  2. Configure the new Wi-Fi Library Item(s) to match the requirements of your network.
  3. Deploy the Wi-Fi Library Item to a set of test devices and verify that they can successfully connect to the network.
  4. Optionally, perform additional testing with a group of pilot devices and users.
  5. Deploy the Wi-Fi Library Item to the rest of your fleet and verify devices can successfully connect to the network.
  6. After devices are connected to the network, turn off old networks or SSIDs as necessary.
  7. Remove old Wi-Fi Library Items from the device Blueprints to remove the configuration profiles from the devices.

Migrate Wi-Fi Library Items with a Single Network

Wi-Fi Library Items that contain a single Wi-Fi network (SSID) will be migrated to the new Wi-Fi Library Item automatically. If you need to change settings, refer to Configure the Wi-Fi Library Item for more information.

Migrate Wi-Fi Library Items with Multiple Networks

Wi-Fi Library Items that contain multiple Wi-Fi networks (SSIDs) will not be migrated automatically. Create multiple Wi-Fi Library Items if you need to configure multiple networks; you can place more than one Wi-Fi Library Item in a Blueprint. Refer to Configure the Wi-Fi Library Item for more information.

The new Wi-Fi Library Item added support for enterprise networks using 802.1X. Configuration of these networks is more complex than configuring networks that use a pre-shared key (PSK). To reduce complexity and increase reusability, the Wi-Fi Library Item now supports only a single SSID per Library Item. 

Your previously configured Wi-Fi Library Items will remain editable. For example, you can change an SSID or a password or turn off Auto join network. You can also remove networks from the Wi-Fi Library Item, which will remove the configuration payload from the scoped devices. You cannot add additional networks to an existing Wi-Fi Library Item. 

Migrate from a Custom Profile

Custom Profile Library Items that configure devices for your networks will not be migrated automatically. If your Custom Profile Library Items are working as desired, it is not necessary to migrate to the new Wi-Fi Library Item unless you are changing network configurations or need to take advantage of new Wi-Fi Library Item features.

Create multiple Wi-Fi Library Items if you need to configure multiple networks; you can place more than one Wi-Fi Library Item in a Blueprint. Refer to Configure the Wi-Fi Library Item for more information.