iPad Bulk Management

ITGURU · January 6, 2016

I am anti-Mac , however the school are looking to bulk buy some iPads for classroom use.

We have half a dozen which all use the same apple id to keep things simple, and just download/buy the free apps as necessary, but users can download free apps etc as they wish.

With the intention of a set being purchased I want to find a simple management tool to be able to manage the ipads.

I need to be able to:

Stop users downloading free Apps from the AppStore, but allow us tech's to download and install new Apps also purchase apps.

be able to track the ipads.. we've had some go "missing" in the past. From what I recall you could prevent access to AppStore, but then you would have to change settings, and check in the ipad so it then gave access again to download apps.

I used to use Meraki but couldn't get the hang of it and seemed a bit complex. Are there any other free solutions out there worth looking at ?

If people could let me know how they do it in a school environment I would be grateful for any advise prior to these being purchased!

Thanks.

Norphy · January 6, 2016

If you're not going to be managing that many, a Mac running OS X server and Profile Manager is probably your best bet imo. Sign up for a VPP account and you'll be able to push free apps out automatically.

ITGURU · January 6, 2016

If you're not going to be managing that many, a Mac running OS X server and Profile Manager is probably your best bet imo. Sign up for a VPP account and you'll be able to push free apps out automatically.

On that note we do have a few Mac's in an IT suite that were recommended to us, but then they were only set up for dual boot and ever used on windows.. so what cost would I be looking at? Can it be Mac Mini or something for running os x server?

Norphy · January 6, 2016

Yes. It can be any kind of Mac you like as long as it can run El Capitan.

Eudora931 · January 6, 2016

Hijack - sorry - I've set up Mac server running Yosemite , am I going to have issues with profile manager and iPads?

Kingstech · January 6, 2016

You need a mac running Apple configure to initially set them up and use something like meraki or lightspeed MDM to set restrictions for different. Lightspeed have a good online training section.

Norphy · January 6, 2016

Hijack - sorry - I've set up Mac server running Yosemite , am I going to have issues with profile manager and iPads?

Depends on the version of iOS they're running. Apple being Apple, they generally have a habit of being fussy if the version of iOS is newer than the version of Profile Manager. You're best making sure you're running the latest.

Brimstone · January 7, 2016

You need a mac running Apple configure to initially set them up and use something like meraki or lightspeed MDM to set restrictions for different. Lightspeed have a good online training section.

You DO NOT need a Mac, I would steer clear of OS X Profile Manager completely, process as follows;

Look at a reasonably good MDM, Meraki (FOC for under 100 iPads), or Lightspeed/Casper (paid for, but signficantly more powerful) Would be worth checking out a free MDM trial with one of your existing iPads for testing with your filtering, ports, proxies, push settings first.

Sign up for DEP and VPP at deploy.apple.com

Order iPads requesting DEP Enrolment for them (Only Apple Education Solutions Experts will be able to do this for you)

iPads will be supervised, enroled into MDM upon activation.

biz · January 7, 2016

You DO NOT need a Mac, I would steer clear of OS X Profile Manager completely, process as follows;

Look at a reasonably good MDM, Meraki (FOC for under 100 iPads), or Lightspeed/Casper (paid for, but signficantly more powerful) Would be worth checking out a free MDM trial with one of your existing iPads for testing with your filtering, ports, proxies, push settings first.
Sign up for DEP and VPP at deploy.apple.com
Order iPads requesting DEP Enrolment for them (Only Apple Education Solutions Experts will be able to do this for you)
iPads will be supervised, enroled into MDM upon activation.

Any idea (roughly) how much Lightspeed or Casper cost per year per device?

Brimstone · January 8, 2016

Any idea (roughly) how much Lightspeed or Casper cost per year per device?

Lightspeed is £5.00 per device, Casper Suite is around £10.00 per device (but is significantly more powerful)

Renfield-64 · January 20, 2016

Hi, I am trying to use Meraki and all seems well so far but the main thing I want to do is set up 35 iPads. I don't want to have to go thro' the 'Hello' etc thing on each iPad. Where do I go from here?

NB9457 · January 20, 2016

Hi, I am trying to use Meraki and all seems well so far but the main thing I want to do is set up 35 iPads. I don't want to have to go thro' the 'Hello' etc thing on each iPad. Where do I go from here?

Usually do this through the supervision thing. Are the iPads supervised and assigned to an Apple ID? If not, APPs won't push out without prompting for user details.

3s-gtech · January 20, 2016

We've stuck with a Mac Server for years as it was originally purchased to manage our Mac suites, and has come in for managing iPads too.

Our experience with it for both Workgroup Manager and Profile Manager has been good, with around 50 iPads. It makes more sense if you're managing Macs too, though other MDMs may suit you so have a look. Ours is still running Yosemite and managing iOS 9.2/9.3 fine.

Edited January 20, 2016 by 3s-gtech
Garbled gibberish

Renfield-64 · January 20, 2016

No the iPads aren't set up, they are straight out of the box. I want Meraki to set them up or some automation anyway.

NB9457 · January 20, 2016

No the iPads aren't set up, they are straight out of the box. I want Meraki to set them up or some automation anyway.

Then you'd either need a Mac or I believe now the supplier can preconfigure them with DEP, though I'm not 100% sure as I have Mac, so just use that!

Blue_Cookeh · January 20, 2016

Then you'd either need a Mac or I believe now the supplier can preconfigure them with DEP, though I'm not 100% sure as I have Mac, so just use that!

Yes, your supplier can assign the devices to your DEP account which will preconfigure them for your chosen MDM. Unfortunately you have to be careful of where your iPads come from, we've been stung recently because our supplier cannot add them to DEP for whatever reason, so now we're looking elsewhere.

Edited January 20, 2016 by Blue_Cookeh

pbainbridge · January 20, 2016

You might want to have a look at what's coming in the next OS upgrade. It seems finally that Apple recognise that iPads really aren't good in a multi user environment.

Education - Preview - Apple

NB9457 · January 20, 2016

You might want to have a look at what's coming in the next OS upgrade. It seems finally that Apple recognise that iPads really aren't good in a multi user environment.

Education - Preview - Apple

I'm so happy right now. Does that mean Apple technically has its own MDM as from that link, Apple say their product will do all Meraki seems to do and more!

X-13 · January 20, 2016

You might want to have a look at what's coming in the next OS upgrade. It seems finally that Apple recognise that iPads really aren't good in a multi user environment.

Education - Preview - Apple

Thanks for reminding me about that...

Just shot off an email to them, let's see how jammy I am.

Norphy · January 20, 2016

I'm so happy right now. Does that mean Apple technically has its own MDM as from that link, Apple say their product will do all Meraki seems to do and more!

Apple technically already do have an MDM. It's Profile Manager.

I expect that they will allow the other MDM vendors to use the same hooks for management at the same time and that Meraki et al will catch up very soon.

NB9457 · January 20, 2016

Apple technically already do have an MDM. It's Profile Manager.

I expect that they will allow the other MDM vendors to use the same hooks for management at the same time and that Meraki et al will catch up very soon.

Be interesting to see if they charge for this new system as it looks good in writing and having everything from just one place would be a god send!

Norphy · January 20, 2016

I would be seriously surprised if the features couldn't be turned on using a combination of Profile Manager and Configurator. I don't think that Apple are that interested in cloud management of these things at the moment and to be honest, the idea of an iCloud based MDM gives me the heebeejeebees

Renfield-64 · January 20, 2016

Ok I have a Mac, so what program do I need to use and do I plug each one in to set them up?

Norphy · January 20, 2016

You need Apple Configurator. That will allow you to get the initial Wifi profile on there, supervise the device and get some initial settings set. It will allow you to set a default wallpaper and let you put in a URL to automatically sign itself up to an MDM. Configurator is a free download from the App Store.

You can use Profile Manager as an MDM or you use another of your own choice. Profile Manager is part of OS X Server which is a ~£20 one-off purchase from the app store.

Renfield-64 · January 20, 2016

Ok thanks for your help. Will give it a go.

iPad Bulk Management

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