Configuration of headless network appliances

1. A headless appliance that provides network access, comprising:

a memory configured to store content, the content being encrypted with a key before deployment of the headless appliance, the key being separately stored on a remote computing device; and

a processor coupled to the memory and configured to perform a process that includes:

booting the headless appliance and loading a fallback configuration;

in response to a user device connecting to the headless appliance, directing the user device to a captive portal and capturing credentials of a user;

forwarding the credentials to the remote computing device for verification by an identity provider;

in response to the credentials being verified as a non-administrator, granting access to a public network for the user; and

in response to the credentials being verified as an administrator, obtaining the key from the remote computing device to decrypt the content to provide access to a private network for the user.

2. The headless appliance of claim 1 , wherein the headless appliance comprises a router.

3. The headless appliance of claim 1 , wherein the public network comprises the Internet and the private network comprises a virtual private network.

4. The headless appliance of claim 1 , wherein granting access to the public network for the user includes first authenticating an Internet Protocol (IP) address of the user device.

5. The headless appliance of claim 1 , further comprising a trusted platform module (TPM) chip to prevent tampering.

6. The headless appliance of claim 1 , wherein booting automatically initiates when powered on.

7. The headless appliance of claim 1 , wherein the identity provider utilizes multi-factor authentication to determine whether the user is an administrator.

8. A computerized method for booting a headless appliance, comprising:

providing the headless appliance with content stored in a memory, wherein the content is encrypted with a key, and wherein the key is separately stored on a remote computing device;

booting the headless appliance and loading a fallback configuration;

in response to a user device connecting to the headless appliance, directing the user device to a captive portal and capturing credentials of a user;

forwarding the credentials to the remote computing device for verification by an identity provider;

in response to the credentials being verified as a non-administrator, granting access to a public network for the user; and

in response to the credentials being verified as an administrator, obtaining the key from the remote computing device to decrypt the content to provide access to a private network for the user.

9. The method of claim 8 , wherein the headless appliance comprises a router.

10. The method of claim 8 , wherein the public network comprises the Internet and the private network comprises a virtual private network.

11. The method of claim 8 , wherein granting access to a public network for the user includes first authenticating an Internet Protocol (IP) address of the user device.

12. The method of claim 8 , wherein booting automatically initiates when powered on.

13. The method of claim 8 , wherein the identity provider utilizes multi-factor authentication to determine whether the user is an administrator.

14. A headless appliance, comprising:

a Trusted Platform Module (TPM) chip configured to store a private key, a corresponding public key being separately stored on a remote computing device;

a memory configured to store an encrypted secret key, the secret key being encrypted with the private key, wherein a corresponding copy of the secret key is separately stored on the remote computing device; and

a processor coupled to the memory and TPM chip and configured to perform a process that includes:

booting the headless appliance;

in response to the TPM chip not being tampered with, loading a fallback configuration;

forwarding the encrypted secret key to the remote computing device for decryption with the public key;

in response to a secret key match at the remote computing device, receiving the secret key from the remote computing device; and

decrypting content using the secret key to boot the headless appliance with a full configuration.

15. The headless appliance of claim 14 , wherein, in response to the secret key match at the remote computing device, first forwarding a request notification from an identity provider to an administrator to approve booting with the full configuration.

16. The headless appliance of claim 15 , wherein the administrator is provided with an option to approve, deny or purge contents of the headless appliance.

17. The headless appliance of claim 14 , wherein in response to a secret key mismatch at the remote computing device, receiving an error condition from the remote computing device.

18. The headless appliance of claim 14 , wherein booting automatically initiates when powered on.

19. The headless appliance of claim 14 , wherein the identity provider utilizes multi-factor authentication to determine whether the user is an administrator.

20. The headless appliance of claim 14 , wherein the full configuration provides access to a virtual private network.