Chrome Story

Chrome OS support ONC files to easily import network configurations to Chromebooks. This article explains how to import ONC files on Chromebooks.

Open Network Configuration

According to the project page, the objective of Open Network Configuration project is to “….create a simple, open, but complete format to describe multiple network configurations for WiFi, Ethernet, Cellular, Bluetooth/WiFi-Direct, and VPN connections in a single file format, in order to simplify and automate network configuration for users.”

Explaining how the ONC would work, the project page continues “We propose a single-file format for network configuration that is human-readable, can describe all of the common kinds of network configurations, supports integrity checking, certificate and key provisioning, and updating. The file can be encrypted with a single passphrase so that upon entering the passphrase the entire configuration is loaded. The format can be described as an open format to enable multiple OS vendors to interoperate and share configuration editors.”

Import ONC Files

To import an ONC file:

1. Open a new tab and go to chrome://network
2. Go to the General tab.
3. Under Import ONC File, click Choose File.
4. Browse and select the ONC file.

This completes importing an ONC file into Chrome OS.

Hope you found this quick tutorial useful. If there is any additional resource that administrators can refer to (for example, ONC file generators), please share that in the comments section.