Enabling Wireless Before Logon for Active Directory

Solution 1:

note: this will get the laptop online before login, so all users are online using the same credentials--there could be a way to enable wifi so that users can get online themselves before logging in (Apple bring that back!!)

since newer MacOS dropped the plus in 802.11x pill (and we want it as a computer profile, not user profile), I used "Apple Configurator 2" app, File menu > New Profile, then configured my Certificates (I first went into my Keychain Access app, searched for "pitt.edu", my school domain, then click and dragged that cert out to my desktop to make a copy easy to find), opened aformentioned .cer, then configured Wi-Fi, noting that I had to click the Trust pill and check the box for the aformentioned cert, closed and saved (note: you may not need a cert, so you might skip that stuff)

then I right-click and open with TextEdit that new xml file, and inside the first <dict></dict> section, added (like right after where ssid mentioned):

   <key>SetupModes</key>
   <array>
      <string>Loginwindow</string>
      <string>System</string>
   </array>

then in terminal, run (be sure to be root or sudo, otherwise, it will just be a user profile add):

   sudo profiles install -type startup -path thefileyoujustcreated.mobileconfig -forced
   sudo shutdown -r now