[ipad] CISCO MERAKI > iPAD APP UPDATES (OR NOT)

[Koldov]

It's been so long I seem to have forgotten how to do this... unless it has changed?

 

We have just had a new set of iPads, which were added to ASM/DEP by the supplier, enrolled in Meraki nicely and got profiles and apps.

 

As I've been going through things though I have noticed some discrepancies in the version number of apps that were installed.

 

It 'may' have been set up incorrectly as when we started with it, nobody knew how to actually use it and it appears there a few ways to view 'apps' details (on device or in network). In every 'network' I have assigned the apps in the 'apps section' and then set 'Targets' with any of the following 'Tags'

 

I went through all the apps in every network and pressed the 'Refresh Details' button, but at the bottom of the page it still shows the targets with the old version. I tried

 

So, for example in Meraki SM, choose a 'Network' (Year 3 iPads) > System Manager > Manage > Apps

 

Here I chose Garage Band and clicked 'Refresh Details' and it changed from version 2.3.14 to 2.3.15, then nothing!

 

Keep app up to date is ticked... all certificate up to date... devices have checked in... enough licenses available...

 

 

Whilst I was in the 'apps' section I scrolled down and selected a device to test and chose 'Push' 'Install or Upgrade'. Went to the device and 'Activity Log' which said it was Pending a Garage Band install. Refreshed it a few times and it said 'Success'... went to the apps section on the device... nope! Still 2.3.14...

 

Chose 'Update' next to the app and confirmed... nope still 2.3.14...

 

So it appears, 'Keep up to date' is not working, manually pushing the update from the 'app' page is not working and manually updating from the device page is not working!

 

Also is there a way to do this en masse for all apps on all devices (or at least per network) as doing it manually/individually is going to be a right faff!

 

One thing I did was change the 'Source - Type Store > App source to United Kingdom as they all said United States.

[robintech]

Push to all installed should work, haven't noticed any difference US or UK location . Things can take a few hours or till the next day to go through

 

Option 3 - Updating all apps on all devices

 

 

1. Navigate to Systems Manager > Manage > Apps.
   
2. Click Select > iOS from the menu bar to target all iOS apps
   
3. Click Push > Push to Installed.
   All devices within the scope of deployment for the apps will check if they has the most updated version of the app. If they do, no action will be taken on the devices. If not, the user will be prompted to update the selected app.
   
4. https://documentation.meraki.com/SM/Apps_and_Software/Updating_Managed_iOS_Apps
   

Edit: to add you can refresh the details the same way but select Edit instead of Push at step 3

Edited November 10, 2023 by ittech2342323

[Brimstone]

Have you checked that the Apps haven't disappeared from the App Store?

 

Many MDM's report the wrong version of the App because the MDM vendor doesn't keep the API's used up to date when they change.

 

A good example of this of this would Apple's new DDM (Declarative Device Management) which many MDM's have in beta, whereas Jamf already support this. Just one benefit of DDM is you no longer require a passcode to authenticate for iOS updates.

[Face-Man]

Also some versions of apple apps only install if the ios/ipados is the latest version (eg GB 2.3.15 required ipados 17 or newer)

 

I've also noticed that some time when vendors use different version number protocols that meraki does see that 2.3.14 is older than 2.3.15 might be to do with multiple decimal points

Edited November 14, 2023 by Face-Man

[Koldov]

Good shout!

 

I have resisted iOS 17 due to various issues that have been posted, I only saw the other day the latest GB requires it!