Remove Lightspeed profile without deleting apps?

[Bev]

I am moving from Lightspeed to JAMF. I can 'forget' the device in Lightspeed and it removes the profile, and allows me to manually add the JAMF profile. All works well, except it deletes all the apps and reinstalls them, and one of the apps we use (Explain Edu) saves all the work internally to the app. So when the app is deleted and reinstalled all the old work is lost.

 

Is there anyway to tell Lightspeed to leave the apps when the profile has been removed? I am sure I've seen a setting somewhere but I can't find it.

[Brimstone]

When you move a Supervised device to another MDM it will need to be wiped, there is no way around this but Jamf put together a useful guide...

 

https://www.jamf.com/blog/10-things-to-consider-when-switching-between-mdm-solutions/

 

https://www.jamf.com/resources/e-books/a-migration-guide-for-switching-mobile-device-management-solutions-in-education/

[Bev]

I’ve read that but I have successfully moved a number of iPads without wiping the iPad. You ‘forget’ the iPad in lightspeed and then register it in Jamf. The supervison is retained.

 

Apart from the issue of the apps disappearing and reappearing it appears to work well.

[Brimstone]

I’ve read that but I have successfully moved a number of iPads without wiping the iPad. You ‘forget’ the iPad in lightspeed and then register it in Jamf. The supervison is retained.

 

Apart from the issue of the apps disappearing and reappearing it appears to work well.

 

It’s not a workaround. All you’ve done by doing that is removed the management licence from the iPad so that it doesn’t appear in Lightspeed anymore. It’s typically used when devices are stolen so you can use that licence for a replacement iPad.

 

If the iPad ever gets wiped it will try and renenroll into your Lightspeed MDM because you have not removed the DEP profile or the signing certs created in Lightspeed, even if you delete Lightspeed from Apple School Manager.

 

Good luck with that.

[Bev]

Even if I have changed the Apple

School manager to point to JAMF?

[Bev]

I have tested this process this morning, and I just thought I'd put my findings here in case it helps anyone else.

 

I had an iPad that was already registered in Lightspeed.

I used the Forget Device option in Lightspeed, this deletes the iPad from Lightspeed, and also removes the profile from the iPad and removes all the managed apps.

I then logged into ASM and changed the Device Management from Lightspeed to JAMF and refreshed DEP in JAMF.

 

I used the Manually add device option in JAMF to install the JAMF profile.

This adds the iPad to JAMF and installs all the relevant apps.

 

The iPad remains supervised throughout the process.

 

Then in order to check we were completely removed from Lightspeed, I wiped the iPad and set it back up, It successfully picked up the new JAMF profile, and works fine.

 

 

There are a few minor issues.

When you manually install a JAMF profile, it can be removed by the user. I am happy to accept this limitation for the moment.

 

All the Managed apps are deleted as soon as the profile is removed, and then reinstalled when it's linked to JAMF. Any app that saves data internally, rather than in Files or in the Cloud will lose it's data. This was my initial problem, as our teaching staff have a lot of work saved in Explain Everything.

 

"Forgetting" the iPad leaves it supervised. For what I am currently doing, that is actually what I want. But when the students leave school, and I want to remove the profiles from their iPads, then this process won't work and the iPads will need to be wiped to remove the supervision.

[howartp]

Reading this thread with interest.

 

We're both Meraki and Airwatch at the moment but looking to move to Jamf for our staff iPads and next student scheme.

 

All the Managed apps are deleted as soon as the profile is removed, and then reinstalled when it's linked to JAMF.

In Airwatch we can tick per app whether the app should be removed when the profile is removed; can you go and untick that (per app) in Lightspeed before you remove the profile?

Then in Jamf, tick the "attempt to make existing unmanaged installs managed" on the app.

 

I used the Manually add device option in JAMF to install the JAMF profile.

This adds the iPad to JAMF and installs all the relevant apps.

Does this prompt anything on the iPad, or (because it's supervised) does it go straight on?

Most of our students won't notice that we've changed supplier if the profile just changes, so they won't try and remove it (they tried that at the beginning and realised it doesn't work) - but if they get prompted for a new profile, they'll try their luck in removing it.

 

Has anyone else gone through a change of MDM mid-scheme / with existing devices?

 

Jamf is ~£15 per license

Airwatch is ~£27 per license

Meraki was free (hence why we have it) but is now ~£41 per license

 

Peter

[Bev]

We are moving from Lightspeed to Jamf mid-scheme.

We operate a three year lease scheme, and the pupils keep the iPads for the fourth year.

 

Currently, the new starters are on Jamf. The 2nd year lease have been moved from Lightspeed to JAMF by wiping their iPads, and changing DEP, third year are still in lightspeed.

 

I would really like to move the 3rd year ones as then in September I can drop Lightspeed completely BUT I also need to move Staff iPads which are not on a lease scheme and get kept for longer periods of time.

 

The Staff use an app called Explain Edu which stores all of the data on the iPad. It's not in any obvious place such as Files, it's held internally. Some of the staff have 100s or 1000s of files saved in here, all their planning for a number of years. They are not keen on losing this work. I can't back up the iPad and restore, as a restore returns the iPad to the original MDM, you can export the files to google drive but it is a very slow manual process.

 

I have tested the process I listed above, and it works pretty well, it's not an approved process but if it works then I am ok with that.

 

The issue that I am having is, that even though the iPad isn't wiped, it still removes all of the apps, and then JAMF reinstalls them. For most apps, that doesn't matter but for this specific Explain Edu app, it is deleting all the associated files.

 

 

To answer your questions - You can't move the iPads invisibly. You either need to change DEP and wipe the iPad, then when it reboots it will pick up the new MDM.

Or if you use the Forget option, then you will have to manually add the profile by either scanning a QR code, or entering a URL and then accepting the profile in Settings. I collect the iPads in from a class and tell them they are being updated or maintained, so they don't see the process. We do occasionally have a student remove the profile, but you get sent an email, so they get dealt with pretty quickly.

 

 

If JAMF is your cheapest option, then I would recommend it. I like it a lot more than Lightspeed. We are using JAMF School, which is £5 per device per year, but I did have to pay a setup fee for setup and training.

 

I find it very intuitive to use, and when you make a change to a profile or add an app, the iPads respond very quickly. Sometimes we will have very long waits for Lightspeed profiles to update.

 

Hope that helps,

[Brimstone]

@Bev

 

Which version of Explain Everything do the teachers use?

[Bev]

They used Explain Edu which is a single payment rather than a subscription and doesn’t save their work to the cloud.