Ipad Deployment - Server Choice & Information

[Darylrese]

Hi,

 

Our new head loves Apple and wants us to purchase ipads and Imac's around the school. We are starting off with just 25 ipads and will expand when the budget allows.

 

We have been asked to spec up a cost effect solution for managing the ipads and other devices.

 

We are looking at getting the top spec MAC mini i7, 4gb, two 1tb, OSX Mountain Lion Server, a keyboard and mouse and a 27" HDMI monitor from a local store. Will this combination be sufficiant for our needs? We are hoping to use Apple configurator to configure and deploy the ipads.

 

What functionality will it give us in terms of ipad deployment? Can we restrict them and install apps in bulk?

 

Sorry for the complete lack of knowledge, this has all been sprung upon us with no training and i come from a windows background with zero first hand experience in apple products.

 

Many thanks

[JackCPickup]

Good morning,

 

It may or may not be of any use to you, but have you looked into Meraki System Manager?

Meraki Systems Manager

 

We're going to be using it instead of investing in an OSX server because it's free.

 

Regards,

Jack

[Darylrese]

I have looked at Meraki and i cant figure out how to set it up for the life of me lol All i got when installing was a constant annoying pop-up about setting up a VPN connection on my desktop :/

[JackCPickup]

Yeah we had a few cockups early on.

 

I just log into the Meraki dashboard on my Win7 desktop, go through the steps for the Apple Push certificate whatnot, then go to m.meraki.com on the iPad and enter the given code and then the Meraki server detects the iPad.

 

The only real problem we had was with firewall settings.

 

Regards,

Jack

[Darylrese]

Ok so i have the push cirtificate uploaded to the Meraki Desktop, browsing to m.meraki.com is asking for a Network ID I just need to find out what and where that is?? Edited January 25, 2013 by Darylrese

[JackCPickup]

When you first log in to the dashboard, on the right you should see a list of Windows, OS X, iOS and Android with either "Download" or "Setup" next to each. Got to "Setup" for iOS and it will take you to a page with instructions. Your network ID should be on that page

 

Regards,

Jack

[Darylrese]

Yeah problem is i cant find the dowloads now i have created the account a few weeks back

[JackCPickup]

Which downloads do you mean?

 

Regards,

Jack

[Darylrese]

theres no setup files in my dashboard, i saw them when i first set the account up a few weeks back but cant find anything now? They are on the overview tab shown below on intial setup i believe

 

 

EDIT: Not to worry, i created a new account and the download and setup menu is now there. My ipad is stuck on the waiting for the device to check in page now so i will try admin access and see what happens

Edited January 25, 2013 by Darylrese

[JackCPickup]

Good this is where configuring your school's firewall might be needed.

 

(Copied from their website)

[h=3]What ports do I need open on my firewall?[/h]

• Mac/Windows: *.meraki.com:443, *.amazon.com:80
  
• iOS: *.meraki.com:443, *.amazon.com:443, *:2195,2196,5223 (Apple Push Notification Service)
  
• Android: *.meraki.com:443, *:5228 (Google GCM/C2DM Service)
  

 

 

Also, Systems Manager MDM - Meraki Documentation , just in case there's any information in there useful to you

 

Regards,

Jack

[Darylrese]

Many thanks Jack. I have asked the council to unblock the ports for us and will try again once they have unblocked them.

 

Daryl

[JackCPickup]

More than welcome. I'll keep an eye on this thread in case you have any more troubles.

 

Regards,

Jack

[jonnykewell1]

just signed up to this and the only problem I have is with apple products working through the firewall/proxy android seem fine., i can connect and register the devices but the apps don't download. I have e-mailed the lea to open up ports and see what happens, other than that it works great on a normal line. Thanks for the recommendation.

[mrpdf]

Don't forget get a case for the iPad. Just read about this one that can be customized for schools in San Francisco Chronicle. Worth a look.

[Squip]

The only reason we are using OS X servers and Apple Configurator in our schools is for deploying Apps. From what I remember if you install an App through Meraki it comes up with an pop up that can't be bypassed. I'm sure this isn't something implemented by Meraki but instead Apple.

 

Except for that it really is a fantastic tool

[kerchung]

Darylese, thinking of going to 1:1 iPad deployment?

[Darylrese]

Hi guys,

 

To keep you updated, i was presented with an MAC Mini Lion Server , keyboard, mouse and 27" Monitor on Friday...let the fun begin! Not sure where to start having never touched a MAC before!

[jdell]

Darylrese,

 

There are some really nice help guides on the Apple site for setting up MDM on them. Once you work out your way around the OS your be fine, I set your iPad's in a day with the MDM.

[Darylrese]

Thank-you. Exciting times ahead but hopefully we will get there! Do you just use MDM to manage the ipads? If so what sort of things can it do?

[jdell]

Volume app purchasing distribution, you can also completely configure profiles which either give the ipad network settings or Lock down what a use can do. It's very powerful

[Darylrese]

Does the Volume purchasing cost a lot? Is it an anual cost? Sounds good, just what we need!

 

Im guessing our MAC Mini can plug straight into any HDMI Monitor? Got a 27" LG Monitor we picked up cheap on its way with an HDMI port.

 

Many thanks

[jdell]

To set up volume purchasing you need a school credit card and its a per app cost in most cases over 20 units you get a fee pence off each one, we bought about 50 copies of each app and got a reasonable discount. If you go to the Apple website you can register it takes about 10 days.

 

Is far as the screen goes you should be okay if it's the latest model you ordered , older ones need an adapter

[WithoutMotive]

I've looked into Lightspeed Mobile Management for when we go down this route. Integrates with Apple Volume Purchasing.

 

Any thoughts?

[jdell]

We tired a few merkai and a couple of others but they all do the same thing the apple mdm does for free and you then can integrate the Mac server to you network to support , Mac suits etc.

[jdell]

Suites not suits