Apple Configurator 2 is a great new evolution in iOS initial and configuration management. And there are lots of great options. And to help you wrap your head around all this new fun stuff, I’ve written up a quick and dirty guide for using Apple Configurator 2. It’s not completely done, but it will be shortly. Hope this help someone. Enjoy!
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Manage Profiles To Control Settings On iOS Devices With Apple Configurator 2
Enter Apple Configurator 2, a free tool on the Mac App Store. This tool basically fixes most setup challenges for iOS, but does so over USB. This means that Apple Configurator is not necessarily a replacement for MDM. In fact, you can deploy Trust and Entrollment profiles for MDM and automate the MDM enrollment for a device through Apple Configurator 2. Instead, Apple Configurator 2 is a tool that can either help to manage iOS devices during a mass deployment and do so in a manner that is easy enough that you don’t need a firm background in IT to manage devices on a day-to-day basis. Here is what Apple Configurator can do: Update…
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Upgrade Devices And Apps Using Apple Configurator 2
Apple Configurator has always been able to upgrade devices. But it can also now upgrade apps that are on devices. To run an upgrade, first open Apple Configurator 2. Once open, right-click on a device and click on the Update… option. You can update all assets on the device concurrently, using the default option. Here, we’re going to select to update only the items we need to in the drop-down menu. Select Only Some Apps and then you’ll see a list of each app that needs an upgrade on the device. Check the box for the apps to be updated and then click on the Update button. Apps are updated…
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Using Apple Configurator 2 Blueprints to Manage iOS Devices
Blueprints are a new option in Apple Configurator 2. Blueprints allow you setup a template of settings, options, apps, and restore data, and then apply those Blueprints on iOS devices. For example, if you have 1,000 iOS devices, you can create a Blueprint with a restore item, an enrollment profile, a default wallpaper, skip all of the activation steps, install 4 apps, and then enabling encrypted backups. The Blueprint will provide all of these features to any device that the Blueprint is applied to. But then why not call it a group? Why call it a Blueprint? Because the word template is boring. And you’re not dynamically making changes to devices over…
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Create A Backup In Apple Configurator 2
One of the more common tasks performed in Apple Configurator is to create a backup of a device and restore that backup to multiple devices. This backs up the icon placement on screens, the settings on the device and anything not stored in the operating system or secure enclave of a device. Once you’ve created a backup, you can assign that backup to a blueprint or deploy the backup to individual devices. To create a backup, first open Apple Configurator 2 and tether a device to the computer running Apple Configurator. Next, right-click on a device and then choose the Back Up option. Once you unlock the device (if locked) the…
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Restore A Device Backup Using Apple Configurator 2
One of the common tasks to perform when doing some larger iOS deployments is to restore an iOS device as part of setting the device up for users. Restoring a device will retain a few things like icon placement on a device. To restore a device, we’ll first create a backup, described here. As of Apple Configurator 2, you can use iTunes and Apple Configurator 2-sourced backups of devices. You can also now assign the restore task to a Blueprint or do so manually. To get started with restoring a device, first plug in a device and open Apple Configurator. Right-click on a device and then choose the Restore from Backup… option.…
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Install Apps To iOS Devices Using Apple Configurator 2
One of the primary use cases for Apple Configurator 1 and Apple Configurator 2 is to get apps on devices. Even with MDM, you can use Apple Configurator 2 for app deployment. The value here might be that you end up transferring 10 gigs of apps over a USB cable, rather than over the air in larger deployments. Here, we’ll look at a basic app deployment using Apple Configurator 2. To get started, first download the app and get it in iTunes. This can be accomplished by copying the .ipa file for an app onto a device, or syncing an iOS device with iTunes that has the app installed. Take care that…
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Use The Fitbit App With Your iPhone Instead Of A Fitbit
Recently, I had my third Fitbit in a year break. I decided to pick up a Jawbone UP3 instead. But I got to missing my Fitbit friends and some of the other features that are great on the Fitbit. So I looked into using the Fitbit app without a Fitbit device. And I was in luck; I found that the Fitbit app has a feature called MobileTrack. MobileTrack allows you to use your iPhone as a Fitbit, in a way. To setup MobileTrack, install the Fitbit app from the App Store and login with your FitBit account. From the Fitbit app, tap on the “Account” icon in the icon bar. You’d normally add your Fitbit…
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Rename An iOS Device Using Apple Configurator
Apple Configurator 2 can rename iOS devices. To use Apple Configurator to rename a device, first plug it into a Mac running Apple Configurator 2. From Apple Configurator, right-click on the device and choose Device Name… from the Modify menu. At the “Rename device” screen, enter a new name for the device and click on Rename. Alternatively, you can use the (+) menu to choose variables to use during the renaming process. Here, you can choose to base a name on a Serial number, the Number, the device Type, or the Capacity of the device. Once you enter new information, click the Rename button to change the name of the device.
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Set Device Wallpaper Using Apple Configurator 2 On Supervised Devices
You can set a wallpaper on both the home screen and lock screen of a supervised iOS device. As mentioned, the device will need to be supervised. Supervision can be implemented via Apple’s Device Enrollment Program (DEP for short), but DEP will require MDM to implement supervision, and with a device enrolled and supervised via MDM, you’ll need to use the MDM to set the wallpaper. You can also use Apple Configurator 2. To use Apple Configurator 2 to set a wallpaper on a supervised iPhone or iPad, first save the image or images lo call on an iOS device. Once saved to the Apple Configurator machine, open Apple Configurator 2…