Whether you work with a pure Apple ecosystem or a mixed iOS and Android fleet, you can provision and manage those devices with Esper. This article reviews the steps to begin onboarding and managing your iPads, iPhones, and Apple TVs.
In this article:
- Step 1: Setting Up Certificates with Apple MDM Management
- Step 2: Determine How Your Device Will Be Onboarded
- Step 3: Consider What Apps Your Devices Will Use
- Step 4: Change Your Device’s Blueprint
- Step 5: Manage Your iOS Devices
Step 1: Setting Up Certificates with Apple MDM Management
Your first task when setting up an iOS and tvOS fleet is to set up the certificates in Esper. You’ll need an Apple Push Notification certificate to start onboarding devices.
If you’re using Apple Business, you’ll also need to set up a Device Enrollment program token and a Volume Purchase Program token.
If your network operates behind a firewall, you will need to add general and iOS/tvOS rules.
See more:
Step 2: Determine How Your Device Will Be Onboarded
Are your devices already in Apple Business? If so, change their MDM server to Esper.
See more:
Devices not yet part of Apple Business? You’ll need to add them to Apple Business using the Apple Configurator app. Then, you’ll be able to assign them to your Esper tenant.
See more:
What if you don’t want your devices in Apple Business? You can add your devices to Esper through a QR code. Note: Only available for iPhones and iPads.
See more:
What is supervised mode? Devices in this mode allow administrators to access certain features remotely. You can learn more about supervised devices in Apple’s documentation.
While it's possible to take a picture of the QR code and download the profile without resetting the device, any unsupervised devices will have limited access to managed features. See Android and iOS differences for more information.
Step 3: Consider the Apps Your Devices Will Use
If you’re using Apple Business, you should have registered your Volume Purchasing Token. Doing so will allow you to obtain apps in Apple Business. These apps can then be managed in Esper, where you’ll be able to install them on devices.
If you’d rather not use Apple Business, Esper also allows you to upload applications to our Esper iOS Apps section.
See more:
Step 4: Change Your Device’s Blueprint
When you first onboard a device through Apple Business, you might notice it’s assigned to a Default Blueprint. Default Blueprints are “blank” blueprints without any logic associated with them (besides hiding preloaded apps). To truly use the Esper experience, you’ll want to assign the device to a blueprint.
While creating a blueprint, you can specify the apps and settings you’d like the device to have. What’s more, the same blueprint can be applied to multiple devices, no matter their operating system.
Once your blueprint is ready, change the device’s blueprint and converge the changes. Converge is a special action in Esper that sends out the latest blueprint changes to a device.
See more:
Step 5: Manage Your iOS Devices
Now that you’ve onboarded and provisioned your devices, it’s time to manage them. Need to update an app? Add the new version to a blueprint, and publish it to your fleet. You can also manage your iOS devices alongside your Android devices, allowing you to see your entire fleet from a single pane.