In the past, Esper used Templates to create a uniform device experience. However, templates couldn’t be updated. Compliance policies needed to be added, and then applied to devices. With Blueprints 2.0, users now have tighter control over the updates for their devices without the need to create compliance policies.
In this article:
- Comparing Templates to Blueprints 2.0
- Requirements to use Blueprints 2.0
- Understanding Blueprints 2.0
- About Sample and Default Blueprints
Comparing Templates to Blueprints
Not only would you need to cross-reference the template to remember all previous settings, but you would also have to cross-reference any previously created compliance policies to apply those settings.
Now, with our newest iteration of Blueprints, you’ll be able to update blueprints and apply those updates to devices in a centralized manner.
No need to remember previous settings.
Have a small change? Update the blueprint, publish, and converge.
Have a big change? Update the blueprint, publish, and converge.
All devices are provisioned through a blueprint, so there’s no need to apply those new changes every single time, making Blueprints the fastest choice when it comes to device management. You’ll also have total control over which devices receive the updated blueprint. Test out the updates on one device before applying it to your whole fleet.
Migrating from Templates to Blueprints 2.0
Want to try out the new Blueprints 2.0 experience? If you’re on the Templates experience, you’ll be able to upgrade to the Blueprints experience at any time with just two steps:
- Copy the Blueprint from a Template
- Upgrade the devices
Note that Blueprints 2.0 won't be immediately available to Templates customers at release. Templates-based customers will receive the update in upcoming releases.
Requirements to Use Blueprints 2.0
Would you like to migrate to our latest Blueprints experience?
Your devices will need to be on a minimum Esper Agent v 7.8 (recommended v7.17) to use Blueprints. Some features may require later versions. Check your Esper Agent version.
See how to:
Understanding Blueprints 2.0
Blueprints 2.0 encodes the Desired State of a device. Basically, anything in a blueprint will be on a device, and anything not on the blueprint won’t be.
Key term: Desired State.
The way a device should behave is based on the blueprint.
Whenever you create a blueprint, you specify the Desired State for a device. This is true for applications, brightness settings, Wi-Fi access points, and other settings.
Here’s another way to understand how a blueprint controls a device.
| Controlled by blueprint (Desired State) | Not controlled by blueprint |
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Linking
After creating a blueprint, it can be linked to a device or a group of devices. We called this a link.
There are different ways to link a device to a Blueprint:
- Link a single device to a blueprint
- Link a group to a blueprint
- Add a device to a group that has a linked blueprint
There may be different reasons why you would link a blueprint to a device or a group. Keep in mind that changing the linked blueprint for a group will only affect newly provisioned devices to that group, or devices moved into that group. The devices that are already in that group won't change their blueprint.
Key term: Converge
The action of bringing a device to a Desired State.
However, there may be points where the device needs to change its configurations. Currently, if the device no longer matches its blueprint (if you've made updates to the blueprint, for example), it's called drift.
Key term: Drift
The action of bringing a device out of the Desired State.
You might keep a device in drift as you perform tests with the new blueprint. But once it's time to bring the device back to the desired state, simply converge it to the new blueprint.
This flexibility allows you to have control over your device fleet without sacrificing the user experience.
Blueprint Settings
Blueprint Settings have also been updated.
Now, you'll be able to choose when the setting is applied:
Always - Always apply the setting whenever the device converges with the blueprint. This setting helps keep devices in compliance after each blueprint update.
Provisioning Only - Only apply the setting during provisioning. This behavior mimics the Template experience and may be useful for some use cases where device settings vary after provisioning.
Ignore - For settings that give users total control of the device.
About Sample and Default Blueprints
Every new tenant comes equipped with a sample blueprint, and in some cases, a default blueprint.
Sample Blueprint
The sample blueprint contains typical settings to get you set up quickly when provisioning your first device.
Default Blueprint
You may have a default blueprint because of the following scenarios:
- For customers on our previous Blueprints experience, you might have devices that weren't linked to a blueprint.
- Your devices might also be assigned a default blueprint if you add an iOS device without assigning a blueprint.
A default blueprint will not change the device they’re linked to in any way.
To view the device's blueprint, locate that device in Devices & Groups, click on it, go to the Overview tab, and click on the blueprint.
When you click on the blueprint, you'll see that all settings are set to Ignore.
You can always change the blueprint for these devices, or update the blueprint they’re currently on.