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    Roaming Profiles Setup

    Table of Contents

    Roaming Profiles Setup

    Roaming Profiles setup guide
    Where Can I Use This?What Do I Need?
    • Windows Environment
    Roaming profiles allow users' browser data—including bookmarks, settings, saved passwords, and extensions—to follow them across different Windows computers without requiring cloud sync or internet connectivity.

    Understanding Roaming Profiles in a Network Environment

    Roaming profiles are a powerful feature within Windows environments designed to offer users a consistent and personalized computing experience, irrespective of the physical machine they log into. This technology achieves a level of user mobility by ensuring that a user's local, personalized browser data is not tied to a single computer but is instead stored on a central network server.

    Key Components of a Roaming Profile

    The central advantage of a roaming profile is its comprehensive coverage of critical user-specific browser data. This typically includes:
    • Bookmarks and Favorites: All saved web links and organizational folders remain consistent.
    • Browser Settings and Preferences: Custom configurations, such as default homepage, security settings, and display options, are preserved.
    • Saved Passwords and Credentials: For ease of access, encrypted login information for various websites follows the user securely.
    • Extensions and Add-ons: Any installed browser extensions are synced, maintaining the user's customized functionality.
    • Browser History and Cache: While sometimes managed separately for performance reasons, core history can be included.

    The Mobility Mechanism (without cloud sync)

    The defining characteristic of roaming profiles, particularly in high-security or air-gapped environments, is the ability to achieve this data persistence without requiring cloud synchronization or active internet connectivity once the data is on the local network.
    1. Login: When a user logs onto any domain-connected Windows computer, the system checks for a designated roaming profile path on the network server.
    2. Download: The entire profile data—a copy of the user's local browser data stored on the server—is downloaded to the local machine's drive.
    3. Usage: The user works with this local copy of their profile.
    4. Logoff: Upon logoff, the operating system meticulously copies any changes made to the profile (new bookmarks, settings changes, etc.) back up to the central network location, ensuring the server-side profile is up-to-date for the next login.
    This local-network-centric design provides a robust, reliable, and network-performance-optimized method for maintaining user consistency, particularly beneficial in corporate or educational settings where users frequently switch workstations.
    How does it work?
    Prisma Browser stores profile data in a portable file (profile.pb) within the Windows roaming profile folder. When users log into different machines, Windows copies this file, and Prisma Browser restores their data.
    For detailed information on setting up Windows Roaming Profiles, see Folder Redirection and Roaming User Profiles overview. For detailed step-by-step directions, see Deploy Roaming User Profiles

    Prisma Browser Setup

    Enable Roaming Profiles:
    Set the following registry key on each machine:
    Registry PathRegistry ValueValue
    Software\Policies\Palo Alto Networks\PrismaAccessBrowserRoamingProfileSupportEnabled1 (DWORD)
    The Profile Sync control only governs cloud synchronization and has no impact on this policy.
    Change roaming profile Location (Optional)
    Each user’s roaming profile is kept in a file named profile.pb. By default, this file is located in %APPDATA%\Palo Alto Networks\PrismaAccessBrowser\User Data\Default\profile.pb, under the Windows Roaming Profile directory.
    To configure a different location for profile.pb, set the RoamingProfileLocation registry key. You can use any of the supported path variables.
    If setting the RoamingProfileLocation policy, do not set either the UserDataDir or the DiskCacheDir policy to the same directory. Doing so may cause the local profiles to interfere with roaming profiles and voids the benefits of the feature.
    You can point RoamingProfileLocation directly to a network share (e.g., \\Server\Profiles\${user_name}). In this case, Prisma Browser reads/writes profile.pb directly to the network. Windows Roaming User Profiles is not required.
    To customize the location, set:
    Registry PathRegistry Value
    Software\Policies\Palo Alto Networks\PrismaAccessBrowserRoamingProfileLocation{roaming_app_data}\PrismaBrowser
    If you disable the RoamingProfileSupportEnabled policy or don't configure it, this value stored in this policy isn't used.

    Example Setup

    What Syncs
    SyncsDoes Not Sync
    BookmarksCookies
    Saved PasswordsActive Sessions
    Autofill DataCached Files
    Browser SettingsDownloads
    ExtensionsTemporary Data
    Browseing History
    Important Limitations
    LimitationDetails
    No simultaneous sessionsUsers cannot run Prisma Browser on two machines at the same time. The profile file is locked during use.
    Mutually exclusive with cloud syncRoaming Profiles and Browser Cloud Sync cannot be used together. You need to choose one.
    Single profile recommendedMultiple browser profiles may not map correctly across the machines.
    Large profiles slow loginThousands of bookmarks / extensions increase Windows login time
    Your users cannot run Prisma Browser on two machines at the same time. The profile is locked during use.

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