Ipad Management Help

[Scorpio]

Hi Guys

 

Its been a while since Ive posted up here but Ive been given the task of managing 30 Ipads in a school, they are Ipad 2s 16GB, i haven't delved much into management of Tablets and never really on Apple Ipads much, but here i am with a challenge and need some help and advice from you Ipad gurus. Ive read up on DEP, VPP, Meraki and Apple Configurator and its just confused me, which i though it would knowing apple.

 

They want to clone the ipads so they can just reset them after each term maybe and they have all the same apps on then the staff can add to them for the relevant year or class. They dont have a Mac to use to do this so needs to be cloud or windows based and free if possible.

 

They were bought from a reseller such as Ebuyer or Misco, so unsure based on what i have read that they have or can be enrolled to DEP, which i understand is a way of allowing management a certain way.

 

It looks like they all sign into the same apple account ID (Which i thought wasnt allowed) but they look to be setup that way.

 

What is the best way to achieve what they want and to be able to manage or clone them from a central point including apps etc (Which i believe is something to do with VPP), any pointers would be really appreciated to guide me in the right direction.

 

Many Thanks

 

Scorps

[Guest obsidianpillar]

Hi Guys

 

Its been a while since Ive posted up here but Ive been given the task of managing 30 Ipads in a school, they are Ipad 2s 16GB, i haven't delved much into management of Tablets and never really on Apple Ipads much, but here i am with a challenge and need some help and advice from you Ipad gurus. Ive read up on DEP, VPP, Meraki and Apple Configurator and its just confused me, which i though it would knowing apple.

 

They want to clone the ipads so they can just reset them after each term maybe and they have all the same apps on then the staff can add to them for the relevant year or class. They dont have a Mac to use to do this so needs to be cloud or windows based and free if possible.

 

They were bought from a reseller such as Ebuyer or Misco, so unsure based on what i have read that they have or can be enrolled to DEP, which i understand is a way of allowing management a certain way.

 

It looks like they all sign into the same apple account ID (Which i thought wasnt allowed) but they look to be setup that way.

 

What is the best way to achieve what they want and to be able to manage or clone them from a central point including apps etc (Which i believe is something to do with VPP), any pointers would be really appreciated to guide me in the right direction.

 

Many Thanks

 

Scorps

 

Cisco Meraki's my go-to MDM for devices. You can have it for free for up to 100 devices. You need a Mac to run Apple Configurator. You could look to borrow one, or, alternatively spin up a VM using VMWare (I think that's the only one that works) and install OS X. However, the VM method does violate Apple's EULA so I'd go against that. Apple Classroom (if your looking to use it) requires an Apple 3rd Gen or later so that's something to consider depending on the use of the tablets. With the few iPads I manage (not in Education sector) they all use the same Apple ID. You also need to look at the applications you plan to use and their respective licensing costs.

 

Just a few quick pointers listed, if you require any more information let me know.

 

Cheers,

Tom

[Scorpio]

Hi Tom

 

Thanks for the reply, so are you saying definitely need a mac to manage / clone the tablets? And As these ipads are Gen2 will they not work with Apple Classroom (Or are you saying the mac requires to be gen3 that its installed on )

 

And what does Meraki do and does this run on Windows or Mac only ?

 

Had another look last night and seems so overly complex and locked into certain ways / software, which is why im not a fan of apple products.

 

If anyone else have some 2pennys to throw in, be more than welcome.

 

Thanks

 

Scorps

[Guest obsidianpillar]

You need a Mac to run Apple Configurator which you can use to install the MDM profile (Meraki used as an example). The iPad 2's won't work with the Apple Classroom App, no matter what. You need a 3rd Generation iPad (one generation newer than you've got) to be able to use the application.

 

Meraki is an MDM (Mobile Device Management) which it's feature set allows you to see the location of the device, what's installed on it, remove passcodes to name but a few. Meraki runs on OS X (Mac), Windows, iOS and Android. The features are much the same on all platforms.

 

It's not that complicated once you've got used to it, it makes life at lot easier in the long term!

 

Tom

[Scorpio]

Ive just read about about Apple School Manager, which can manage devices side by side with Meraki... this handles the Education Apple IDs so they dont need to be created individually, has anyone used this setup ?

 

If these are 1:1 ipads, as they cant be shared as the are Gen 2 is it better to setup individual Apple IDS for each ?

 

Do i need to use configurator 2? or is this just used to easily import into my MDM, if i dont use Configurator i wont need a Mac, but i will have to import the ipads into the MDM manually ? Is this correct. Once the ipads are in the MDM this means configurator would be redundant ?

 

If the ipads are not DEP enrolled or cant be i cannot enable supervision on them without Configurator, but if I can enroll to DEP then the DEP will enable supervision for me ?

 

Can i set lockdown and option settings on the IPAD using the MDM once the ipads are imported or can the MDM not do this and is this what Configurator is used for?

Edited August 13, 2016 by Scorpio

[Guest obsidianpillar]

Can't comment on the Apple School Manager setup as haven't used it, sorry. Configurator can be used to do lots of different things, in my experience I've just used it to install profiles for our MDM and RADIUS for our WiFi. You can import the profiles manually and thus will remove the need for configurator, yes.

 

You can set security policies and app management within Meraki, yes. You can, as previously mentioned remove any passcode from the device using Meraki as well.

 

Were the iPads originally purchased/activated after before March 1st 2011? I've forgotten when the iPads are out, however if I remember correctly you could only add devices that were purchased/ordered after that date to the DEP?

 

A quick Google search found me with the PDF I've linked below, it may help although I've just scanned through it quickly and seems to be what your looking for.

 

Link: https://www.apple.com/education/docs/DEP_Guide.pdf

 

Cheers,

 

Tom

Edited August 13, 2016 by obsidianpillar
Spelling Error

[Scorpio]

Thanks again for the info Tom, been reading up on this all day ready for next week. But it looks like I first have to check if the devices were purchased after March 2011 and from a DEP Authorised reseller, then i can then enroll the Apple School Manager which is the new DEP /VPP from what i understand and this will enable me to supervise the iPads, this way I dont need configurator or a MAC. I can then put the certs for ASM into Meraki and vice versa and all the devices will import, then i can setup the settings and apps from within Meraki and ASM.

 

If the iPads are not able to be DEP/ASM enrolled then I will either have to get a MiniMac with Configurator 2 on so they can be set to supervised and then managed within Meraki, or just use Meraki and add the devices manually using a browser and code and not have them supervised if we cant get a Mac.

 

I think im correct with the above, I think ASM is the new improved single sign on for DEP /VPP etc.

 

Hopefully ive understood it ok...

Edited August 13, 2016 by Scorpio

[Brimstone]

Thanks again for the info Tom, been reading up on this all day ready for next week. But it looks like I first have to check if the devices were purchased after March 2011 and from a DEP Authorised reseller, then i can then enroll the Apple School Manager which is the new DEP /VPP from what i understand and this will enable me to supervise the iPads, this way I dont need configurator or a MAC. I can then put the certs for ASM into Meraki and vice versa and all the devices will import, then i can setup the settings and apps from within Meraki and ASM.

 

If the iPads are not able to be DEP/ASM enrolled then I will either have to get a MiniMac with Configurator 2 on so they can be set to supervised and then managed within Meraki, or just use Meraki and add the devices manually using a browser and code and not have them supervised if we cant get a Mac.

 

I think im correct with the above, I think ASM is the new improved single sign on for DEP /VPP etc.

 

Hopefully ive understood it ok...

 

 

Whilst you are on the right track with ASM and getting devices into DEP in order to get them supervised, or have to use Configurator if they can not be added. I would goto your finance manager to check on the invoice for them to find out who they came from. You then need to give the reseller your DEP ID Number and also get there's so they can added once they have put in a request for you.

 

https://support.apple.com/en-gb/HT204401

 

You should not be using the same Apple ID on every iPad and importantly Managed Apple ID's created from Apple School Manager can not be used to deploy apps to devices, they are used for iTunes U and Shared iPad. Once the iPads are enroled in the MDM you can then buy apps in volume via Apple School Manager and deploy the apps using device assignment so you don't need any Apple ID for the iPads unless you were planning to use iTunes U, Shared iPad requires a more up to date iPad so can't be used with yours.

 

https://help.apple.com/schoolmanager/#/

[Scorpio]

Thanks Brimstone, much what I thought especially after burying my head in all this and reading lots of info...

 

So do i have to enroll for DEP first or ASM ? on the apple website to get a DEP number after finding out the re-seller is apple authorised then give the re-seller or multiple re-sellers (If bought from different) this ID so they can populate the apple devices for us?

 

So we dont need to use standard Apple IDs if just wanting to use Apps (Which ASM distributes using Device Assignment), if icloud is required for the 1:1 user of the iPad (As we cant use shared) the manged apple ids will take care of that for that user on that iPad assigned in ASM.

 

Cheers

 

Scorps

Edited August 15, 2016 by Scorpio