Automatic iOS Onboarding with Apple Business Manager

Manage your Apple® iOS devices with Esper and perform application updates for your iPad® or iPhone® fleet. You can also integrate and manage your Android fleets alongside your Apple devices. Create a consistent experience across your multi-OS fleet!

Apple Business Manager may not be available in all countries. Check the availability of Apple programs in Apple Support. 

Requirements: 

You’ll need the  following to add iOS devices to Esper with ABM:

• Apple Business Manager 
  Device Enrollment Program (DEP) Token 
• Apple Push Notification (APNS) Certificate
• Volume Purchase Program (VPP) Token 
• Apple Configurator App 
• A Mac® Computer
• Ensure your device is removed from its previous MDM or Esper tenant, and in an Unassigned or Released state in Apple Business Manager

In this article: 

• ABM vs. Direct Profile Onboarding
• Onboarding with Apple Business Manager (ABM)
• Managing your Apple Device

ABM vs. Direct Profile Onboarding

Esper allows you to onboard iOS devices via ABM or with a QR-code (also known as Direct Profile onboarding). If you already have an ABM account, onboarding with ABM will save you time, as you can seamlessly onboard and sync any devices in your account with Esper. You can also onboard your devices with Esper by scanning a QR code available in the Esper platform. You’ll need to supervise the device first with the Apple Configurator app. Devices onboarded this way do not need to be in your ABM account. Learn more about Direct Profile onboarding. 

If you have devices that you'd like to add to your ABM, see our Manual ABM Onboarding guide.

Provisioning with Esper 

In the Esper console, you can register device serial numbers before onboarding devices. That way, devices will have a blueprint once they're provisioned. This step isn't required, but it could save time for large-scale deployments. 

Go to Devices & Groups > Provision. 

Select the following: 

• Device Platform: Required. Choose iOS.
• Provisioning Method: Required. Seamless Provisioning (ABM). 
• Provisioning Group: Optional. Choose a group. 
• Blueprint: Required. Choose a blueprint. 

Then input the device's serial number or upload a CSV file to register many devices at once. Download the CSV template to get started.

Use the following data to create the CSV:

• unique_id: The device's serial number. This may be found on the back of the device or in its general settings.
• unique_id_type: For iOS devices, this is "SERIAL". 
• group_id: The group's ID (if assigning the device to a group). Find the group ID by clicking on the group in Devices & Groups. The group ID will be in the URL. Example: 3c271471-7fee-49a6-bcd5-5c7b05178531. 
• assigned_blueprint_id: The blueprint's ID. Find the blueprint ID by clicking on the blueprint. The blueprint ID will be in the URL. Example: d2196a2e-539c-46cf-9c17-d2c33635d6a8

Once you've added the CSV file or serial number, onboarding is your next step.

If your device is not yet part of ABM, but you would like to add it to ABM, use the manual ABM method.

Onboarding with Apple Business Manager (ABM) 

To begin onboarding, you’ll need to set up the Apple MDM Management certificates and token.

After setup, navigate to your ABM account. Go to the Devices section and search for the device. 

Then click on the ellipsis (...) > Edit MDM Server and select Unassign from the current MDM. 

Wait a minute, then refresh the page. The device shouldn't have an MDM assigned to it any longer. 

Now, click on the device, select Edit MDM once more, and select Assign to the following MDM. 

Choose your Esper tenant from the dropdown. 

If your device was previously in a different tenant or MDM, you will need to confirm the change. 

Then press Confirm. 

Wait a minute, then go to the Esper console. Click on your profile > Apple MDM Management and press Sync. 

The number of devices should change.

Search for the device in Devices & Groups. If the device ID is blue and you're able to click on it, you've successfully enrolled the device. 
If the device ID is black and you can't click on it, perform a factory reset on the device.

When the device sets up again, you'll be able to enroll the device and complete the setup. 

Check back in Devices & Groups to see if the device ID is blue and clickable. Esper is now managing the device.

Some devices may also display a partially set-up message. If your device shows this, follow the prompts to reset the device. It should onboard onto Esper following a reset and network connection.

Managing your Apple Device

To begin managing your iOS device, you’ll need to add it to a blueprint. Both Android and iOS devices may be added to the same blueprint. Keep in mind that the Esper Console uses Android terms to describe some of the device events (such as reboot instead of restart). 

You can provision (add a blueprint to) a device in the following ways: 

• Add the device to a Group that already has a blueprint 
• Add a blueprint to the device directly