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Intune App SDK for Android - Understand the MSAL Prerequisite

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The Microsoft Intune App SDK for Android lets you incorporate Intune app protection policies (also known as APP or MAM policies) into your native Java/Kotlin Android app. An Intune-managed application is one that is integrated with the Intune App SDK. Intune administrators can easily deploy app protection policies to your Intune-managed app when Intune actively manages the app.

Note

This guide is divided into several distinct stages. Start by reviewing Stage 1: Plan the Integration.

Stage 2: The MSAL Prerequisite

Stage Goals

  • Register your application with Microsoft Entra ID.
  • Integrate MSAL into your Android application.
  • Verify that your application can obtain a token that grants access to protected resources.

Background

The Microsoft Authentication Library (MSAL) gives your application the ability to use the Microsoft Cloud by supporting Microsoft Entra ID and Microsoft accounts.

MSAL isn't specific to Intune. Intune has a dependency on Microsoft Entra ID; all Intune user accounts are Microsoft Entra accounts. As a result, the vast majority of Android applications that integrate the Intune App SDK will need to integrate MSAL as a prerequisite.

This stage of the SDK guide overviews the MSAL integration process as it relates to Intune; follow the linked MSAL guides in their entirety.

To simplify the Intune App SDK integration process, Android app developers are strongly encouraged to fully integrate and test MSAL before downloading the Intune App SDK. The Intune App SDK integration process does require code changes around MSAL token acquisition. It will be easier to test the Intune-specific token acquisition changes if you have already confirmed your app's original token acquisition implementation works as expected.

To learn more about Microsoft Entra ID, see What is Microsoft Entra ID?

To learn more about MSAL, see the MSAL Wiki and list of MSAL libraries.

Register your Application with Microsoft Entra ID

Before integrating MSAL into your Android application, all apps are required to register with the Microsoft identity platform. Follow the steps in Quickstart: Register an app in the Microsoft identity platform - Microsoft identity platform. This generates a Client ID for your application.

Next, follow the instructions to give your app access to the Intune Mobile App Management service.

Configure Microsoft Authentication Library (MSAL)

First, read the MSAL integration guidelines found in the MSAL repository on GitHub, specifically the section using MSAL.

This guide describes how to:

  • Add MSAL as a dependency to your Android application.
  • Create an MSAL configuration file.
  • Configure your application's AndroidManifest.xml.
  • Add code to acquire a token.

Brokered Authentication

Single sign-on (SSO) allows users to only enter their credentials once and have those credentials automatically work across applications. MSAL can enable SSO across your suite of apps; by using a broker application (either the Microsoft Authenticator or Microsoft Intune Company Portal), you can extend SSO across the entire device. Brokered authentication is also required for Conditional Access. See Enable cross-app SSO on Android using MSAL for more details on brokered authentication.

This guide assumes that you're enabling brokered authentication within your application(s) following the steps at the link above, especially Generate a redirect URI for a broker and Configure MSAL to use a broker for configuration and Verify broker integration for testing.

If you are not enabling brokered authentication in your application, pay extra attention to Intune-specific MSAL configuration.

Intune-specific MSAL environment configuration

By default, Intune will request tokens from the Microsoft Entra public environment. If your application requires a non-default environment, such as a Sovereign cloud, the following setting must be added to your application's AndroidManifest.xml. When set, the Microsoft Entra authority entered will issue the tokens for your application. This ensures Intune's authentication policy is properly enforced.

<meta-data
    android:name="com.microsoft.intune.mam.aad.Authority"
    android:value="https://AAD authority/" />

Caution

Most apps should not set the Authority parameter. Additionally, applications that do not integrate MSAL must not include this property in the manifest.

For more detail on non-Intune-specific MSAL configuration options, see Android Microsoft Authentication Library configuration file.

For more detail on Sovereign clouds, see Use MSAL in a national cloud environment.

Exit Criteria

  • Have you integrated MSAL into your application?
  • Have you enabled broker authentication by generating a redirect URI and setting it in the MSAL configuration file?
  • Have you configured the Intune-specific MSAL settings in the AndroidManifest.xml?
  • Have you tested brokered authentication, confirmed that a work account is added to Android's Account Manager, and tested SSO with other Microsoft 365 apps?
  • If you implemented Conditional Access, have you tested both device-based CA and app-based CA to validate your CA implementation?

FAQ

What about ADAL?

Microsoft's previous authentication library, Azure Active Directory Authentication Library (ADAL), is deprecated.

If your application has already integrated ADAL, see Update your applications to use Microsoft Authentication Library (MSAL). To migrate your app from ADAL to MSAL, see Migrate Android ADAL to MSAL and Differences between ADAL and MSAL.

It is recommended to migrate from ADAL to MSAL prior to integrating the Intune App SDK.

Next Steps

After you've completed all the Exit Criteria above, continue to Stage 3: Getting Started with MAM.