Deploying 802.1X wifi profiles on OS X 10.6.6

I've just been told that the wifi routers and settings have just been updated and all MacBook Pro's need these settings updating too. Specifically for the 802.1X system Profile for logging in Wirelessly. I've put a few posts up about setting that up, and thankfully these new settings are very similar to the old.

ICT Services told me that the new wifi was WPA2 + AES, and had a different name.

What I really wanted to know was whether I could 'deploy' these settings to all the computers I administer. Well, it looks like the answer is 'Yes'.

I found this forum which discussed some command line tools which export and import, and change the settings. The command line tool was "networksetup" and I'm sure I've used it before.

Before starting down this route, I decided to look at the GUI, and I found that you could simply export all your settings as a file, double click this file to load it up on another computer. This, for the time being, was quicker (I realise not in the long run), but as my Short Term time was limited, I had to resort to it. Basically:

1. Set up one computer with profile and make sure it works
2. In Network Preferences, highlight Airport and click the cog at the bottom of the list
3. Select "Export Configurations..."



Airport Export Configurations...

1. 
   
4. I selected all the settings to export, thought there was no harm in this. Just being comprehensive.



Airport Export Configurations dialogue box

1. 
   

Loading this file on another computer worked just fine. Though in the end I just worked out all I had to change was the the previous System profile used the new Network.

I'll come back to the "networksetup' command line utility though, as it is the proper solution, meaning it could be fully automated - the ultimate solution.