iPads on 2008 domain

[staningrimsby]

Hi guys,

i was wondering if there was a way of connecting the iPads to a 2008 domain ?

At Easter i am going to set up a 2008 member server on the domain to run IIS and Webdav, this should then
allow the iPads and iPods to save work the children do on the network instead of the individual devices.

i have also been told about a program called "fingerprint" that will enable almost any printer to become an iOS printer enabling all apple devices to print.

but how do I get the devices to authenticate on the network, I appreciate they don't connect to AD so would some sort of VPN have to be configured ???

[DEvans]

iPads unfortunately do not authenticate with an active directory domain, full stop. That's the black and white of it. Yes I know, it sucks.

Obviously there are apps that support WebDAV, there are apps that support LDAP authentication but these are app specific, not iPad (as in the device itself) specific.

They also don't support multiple users. One user per device.

Need to set them up with Apples Configurator app which allows deployment of apps and settings as well as enabling restrictions. If you haven't looked at it yet you need to.

Additionally, purchase the apps via Apple's Volume Purchase Programme (VPP), get yourself enrolled.

Need to look at synchronisation as well, unless you want to manually set them up yourself. Griffin do some great cheap static towers, sync trollies get expensive.

There are apps out there that allow AD authentication but don't be fooled into believing that it can be used in any similar way to a windows device.

Still learning new things about them though, but my experience so far is to treat them as luxury additions to your IT equipment, not additions to your domain/network.

If you have any questions don't hesitate to message me, I've setup almost 100 iPads over the last couple weeks, at different schools, all with different intentions on how to use them, I've spoken to Apple, AT, Stone and other resellers. I certainly don't know everything but I'll tell you the things they won't as obviously they all work to the "Apple is the future" religion.

Can save you a lot of headaches, but won't promise to completely save you from them, sleepless nights are also another side effect of those glass/aluminium shiny toys.

[FN-GM]

Look at Lightspeed they can do it.

PS @staningrimsby an iPad is not a mac.

[Sean-OC04]

iPads unfortunately do not authenticate with an active directory domain, full stop. That's the black and white of it. Yes I know, it sucks.

Incorrect....Lightspeed's bottle rocket device and licensing for iPads allows them to authenticate against an AD Domain as the Bottle Rocket pulls all of the AD users settings from the network and applies those to mobile devices

Mobile Learning: Make education safe, mobile, collaborative

Obviously there are apps that support WebDAV, there are apps that support LDAP authentication but these are app specific, not iPad (as in the device itself) specific.

Incorrect...we resell a software solution that connects all of your AD users with WebDav, this in turn allows each user to log in to their home directories using their AD username/password and then upload documents, Photo's and videos, works exactly the same as if they were using a networked computer. Any apps that don't have webDAV support can use the "open in" function to copy the item to the App.

Foldr - Remote File Access From Any Device & Workflow Solution For iOS

They also don't support multiple users. One user per device.

Need to set them up with Apples Configurator app which allows deployment of apps and settings as well as enabling restrictions. If you haven't looked at it yet you need to.

Additionally, purchase the apps via Apple's Volume Purchase Programme (VPP), get yourself enrolled.

Need to look at synchronisation as well, unless you want to manually set them up yourself. Griffin do some great cheap static towers, sync trollies get expensive.

There are apps out there that allow AD authentication but don't be fooled into believing that it can be used in any similar way to a windows device.

Still learning new things about them though, but my experience so far is to treat them as luxury additions to your IT equipment, not additions to your domain/network.

If you have any questions don't hesitate to message me, I've setup almost 100 iPads over the last couple weeks, at different schools, all with different intentions on how to use them, I've spoken to Apple, AT, Stone and other resellers. I certainly don't know everything but I'll tell you the things they won't as obviously they all work to the "Apple is the future" religion.



Can save you a lot of headaches, but won't promise to completely save you from them, sleepless nights are also another side effect of those glass/aluminium shiny toys.

You've obviously not been speaking to the right Apple Solutions Experts, contrary to popular belief we don't all think Apple is a religion

[DEvans]

I don't mean to upset you, certainly not. Without a product such as yours how would you go about this natively.

That's the only point I'm putting across. Natively, as in inbuilt, as in by design without third party applications, you cannot do these things you speak of.

I'm always welcome to new ways but what costs are involved in your solution?

[synaesthesia]

Could you roll back in time a little for us and explain exactly what the intentions are? For all intents and purposes so far it sounds like some iPads have been bought under false expectation or not enough knowledge of the product itself. You're going to be spending money on fixing it and depending on the number of clients involved, possibly quite a lot. Therefore should you be changing the product rather than the way they're being used?

[DEvans]

I can't speak for author of the topic, I've been clearly put in place by a man who knows more than me haha.

I think you are right in saying that devices have been bought with the wrong expectations, its become quite a common thing though, this time of year in the UK where schools are blowing what remains of their budget before new financial year.

From my experiences I've dealt with a variety of suppliers and all of them offer different ways of iPad setups. Most of which do not offer the services mentioned in the post above.

It still all feels like a work around however, need to buy this to allow for that etc.

At BETT I met representatives from lightspeed, what they said sounded great but for schools controlled by the LA its just not feasible unless they get in touch with people paid significantly more than myself.

It entirely depends whether schools are willing to pay more costs to make them work, which is hard to translate as teachers tend to think apple products are very much a "work out of the box" type of deal.

[truebluesteve]

There is almost always a way of solving every problem for a price. I'm sure Lightspeeds offering works very well but it's yet another cost and very soon you'd be better off just buying a goddam Windows laptop!

There is definitely a view amongst some that iPads are some sort of panacea for both staff use and teaching and learning. I think they can be useful tools but certainly aren't the answer to eveything

[Sean-OC04]

I don't mean to upset you, certainly not. Without a product such as yours how would you go about this natively.

That's the only point I'm putting across. Natively, as in inbuilt, as in by design without third party applications, you cannot do these things you speak of.

I'm always welcome to new ways but what costs are involved in your solution?

Sorry didn't mean to offend just get a bit fed up with all the misinformation on here about iPads some of the solutions I mentioned are expensive with the Lightspeed solution starting at around 2k.

We are currently running some trials of the Foldr solution with a number of LA's so schools can save content to their AD servers. PM me if you would like more info.

[DEvans]

No offence taken, if you weren't passionate about what you do you wouldn't be any god at it.

Can certainly recall many times I've stepped out of line with my managers because they were talking about things they thought they knew loads about when they didn't.

In this business you're a fool to think you know everything.

All new information is very much welcome and I will take your offer of contact in the near future.