In order to use the Apple Volume Purchase Program (VPP), you will need an MDM solution (Profile Manager, Jamf Pro, MobileIron, Meraki, FileWave, etc). The same program is used for device-based VPP or user-based VPP. There are two programs, which is meant to simplify the experience of setting up an MDM solution and long-term maintenance. The first is the traditional VPP account, available to companies and other non-educational environments that have a DUNS number. The second is the newer Apple School Manager, for educational institutions. Before starting to buy apps and associating those apps from an MDM solution, there are a few things you should know. The first is that…
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Enable Push Notifications In macOS Server 5.4 On High Sierra
Push Notifications can be used in most every service that macOS Server 5.4 (for High Sierra) can run. Any service that requiring Push Notifications will often provide the ability to setup APNS during the configuration of the service. But at this point, I usually just set up Push Notifications when I setup a new server. To enable Push Notifications for services, you’ll first need to have a valid AppleID. Once you have an AppleID, open the Server app and then click on the name of the server. Then click on the Settings screen and click on the checkbox for Notifications. At the Settings screen for your server, click on the check-box for…
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Setup Profile Manager On macOS Server 5.4
Profile Manager first appeared in OS X Lion Server as the Apple-provided tool for managing Apple devices, including Mobile Device Management (MDM) for iOS based devices as well as Profile management for macOS based computers, including MacBooks, MacBook Airs, Mac Minis, Mac Pros and iMacs running Mac OS X 10.7 and up. Profile Manager has seen a few more updates over the years, primarily in integrating new MDM options provided by Apple and keeping up with the rapidly changing MDM landscape. Apple has added DEP functionality, content distribution, VPP, and other features over the years. In macOS Server 5.4, there are plenty of new options, including the ability to deploy VPP…
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Before You Upgrade to macOS Server 5.4 on High Sierra (macOS 10.13)
The latest version of the Apple Server app is out (macOS Server 5.4), and before you upgrade, there are a few points to review: As always, make a clone of your computer before upgrading. During the upgrade to High Sierra, if the operating system is running on a solid state drive, the drive will automatically upgrade to APFS. You cannot share APFS volumes over AFP, so if you’re running file services, make sure you’re aware of that. You can choose not to upgrade to APFS using the command line to upgrade a server. Even though the file sharing services are not in the Server app, you can still configure ACLs…
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Export All Profile Manager Data Into CSV
If you fire up a connection to Postgres on a Profile Manager server, you can see a list of all the databases and tables on the server, respectively: sudo -u _devicemgr psql -h /Library/Server/ProfileManager/Config/var/PostgreSQL devicemgr_v2m0 devicemgr_v2m0=# \list devicemgr_v2m0=# \dt The list of tables is as follows: Name | Owner | Encoding | Collate | Ctype | Access privileges ----------------+------------+----------+---------+-------+--------------------------- devicemgr_v2m0 | _devicemgr | UTF8 | C | C | postgres | _devicemgr | UTF8 | C | C | template0 | _devicemgr | UTF8 | C | C | =c/_devicemgr + | | | | | _devicemgr=CTc/_devicemgr template1 | _devicemgr | UTF8 | C | C | =c/_devicemgr + |…
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Debug Logging Profile Manager on macOS Servers
OS X Server stores most logs in files that are in the /Library/Logs/ProfileManager directory. Logs are split up between php, devicemgrd.log, scep_helper.log, servermgr_devicemgr.log, profilemanager.log and others. In my experience, if there’s a lot of errors at first, or if the service doesn’t work, just reformat and start over. But, once a server is in production, you don’t want to re-enroll devices after you do that. So, as with all good error prodding, start with the logs to troubleshoot. By default the logs can appear a bit anemic. You can enable more information by increasing the logging level. Here, we’ll shoot it up to 6, which can be done with the…
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Setup And Manage Profile Manager On macOS Server 5.2
Profile Manager first appeared in OS X Lion Server as the Apple-provided tool for managing Apple devices, including Mobile Device Management (MDM) for iOS based devices as well as Profile management for OS X based computers, including MacBooks, MacBook Airs, Mac Minis, Mac Pros and iMacs running Mac OS X 10.7 and up. Profile Manager has seen a few more updates over the years, primarily in integrating new MDM options provided by Apple and keeping up with the rapidly changing MDM landscape. Apple has added DEP functionality, content distribution, VPP, and other features over the years. In El Capitan Server, there are plenty of new options, including the ability to deploy…
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Profile Payload Best Practices
Apple has defined some best practices to be taken when using Profiles. Obviously these don’t cover every situation, but they cover all but edge cases and lay out a pretty good description of why you should do the things we’ve mostly figured out to do by trial and error thus far. Great job to the OS X Server documentation team! https://help.apple.com/profilemanager/mac/5.1.5/#/apdE3493-C50A-4E9E-A1B6-CBCBC8C73507
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Gist to fully reset Profile Manager
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Create Classes In Profile Manager For The Classroom App
Creating a classroom is a pretty straight forward process in Profile Manager. To do so, open the Profile Manager web interface and click on Classes in the sidebar. For your first class, click Add Class (for future ones, click the plus sign (+). At the New Class screen, click into New Class in the title bar and provide a name for the class. Optionally, provide a description, as well. Click on the Save button to save the class. Then click on the Instructors tab and use the plus sign towards the bottom of the screen and then choose the user or group you’d like to add as the Instructor for the class.…