Enrolling using DEP on Apple School Manager

 

 

In this article, you will learn how to enroll devices in Apple School Manager’s Device Enrollment Program and Mobile Guardian. 

Note: Apple’s Device Enrollment Program (DEP) has become part of Apple School Manager (ASM). 

Once your devices are set up within Apple School Manager and Mobile Guardian, you're able to manage your devices easily and effectively with Mobile Guardian.

What will you learn?

• Step 1.  How to download the public key from Mobile Guardian
• Step 2. Creating an MDM Server on Apple School Manager
• Step 3. How to upload the DEP token to Mobile Guardian
  • Recommended Device Enrollment Settings
• Step 4. Sync Devices on your Mobile Guardian Dashboard
• Step 5. Device enrolment
• Step 6: Keeping your DEP token up to date
  • Adding Devices to an MDM Server

The steps below will assist you with downloading the public key you will need to upload to the Apple School Manager server to create the DEP token to upload to Mobile Guardian.

 

Step 1.  How to download the public key from Mobile Guardian

Firstly, you’ll be downloading a public key from Mobile Guardian that will then be uploaded to ASM’s DEP - which is covered in Step 2: Creating an MDM Server on Apple School Manager.

I. Log in to your Mobile Guardian dashboard

II. Click Settings followed by iOS MDM Settings

 

III. Scroll down to the “APPLE DEVICE ENROLLMENT PROGRAM (DEP)” heading

IV. Under “Getting Started” on the right hand side of your screen, Download your public key: Mobile_Guardian_Apple_DEP_cert.pem and save it to an easily accessible location.

 

 

 

Note: The default file name is: “Mobile_Guardian_Apple_DEP_cert.pem” - if you’re downloading multiple, be sure to name them according to their applicable server

Great job! You have now downloaded the public key and are ready to move onto the next step

 

Step 2. Creating an MDM Server on Apple School Manager

In this step, you’ll learn how to use your freshly downloaded Mobile Guardian public key when creating an MDM server on Apple School Manager.

After step 2, you will have uploaded the Mobile Guardian public key to ASM’s DEP and downloaded an Apple DEP token. This Apple DEP token will then be uploaded to Mobile Guardian during Step 3: How to upload the DEP token to Mobile Guardian. 

I. Login to Apple School Manager

Note: You may be required to go through a verification process whilst logging in. Additionally, if this is the first time singing in on your device, we recommend selecting Trust when asked “Trust this browser?”

 

 

II. Click on User login and proceed to click on Preferences

 

 

III. Click on MDM Server assignment

 

IV. Select Add MDM Server

 

 

V. Specify your MDM Server Name - we suggest naming the server after the relevant school and Mobile Guardian for future clarity

VI. Click the Choose File button under “MDM Server Settings”, and locate the public key file ending in .pem

 

 

VII. Select the file and click Open to upload the public key downloaded in Step 1, and then click the Save button to save the settings & configure the server

 

VIII. Once the server is configured, Select Download Token below the name of the server and save the token somewhere easily accessible. (The file name will end with .p7m)

 

 

 

Step 3. How to upload the DEP token to Mobile Guardian

The below will guide you through uploading a DEP token to Mobile Guardian which we created in Step 2.

I. Login to your Mobile Guardian dashboard

II. Click Settings followed by iOS MDM Settings

III. Click the Upload server token

IV. Select the file downloaded in part VIII of Step 2 above (with the file name ending in .p7m)

The file will upload and a completion message will appear top right of your screen
indicating you have successfully uploaded the DEP token to the dashboard.

 

 

Congratulations!

For the DEP settings 

Mobile Guardian is easily adaptable to the particular requirements of your Mobile Device Management needs. 

Below are our minimum recommended device management settings for Mobile Guardian. Should you have a specific setup requirement, please don’t hesitate to contact us to find out how to achieve this in the best way possible.

Let’s learn more!

For effective Mobile Device Management, we recommended the following DEP Settings for Apple School Manager.

I. Log in to your Mobile Guardian dashboard

II. Click Settings followed by iOS MDM Settings

 

 

III. We recommend the following settings for iOS devices:

 

Allow Pairing 

• This should be enabled. Admins are able to retrieve device logs, allowing for devices to sync with a computer.

Supervise

• This should be enabled to ensure that all devices will be supervised.

Multi-User

• Applicable to shared devices, allowing for Multi-user management of devices.

Mandatory

• This should be enabled, to ensure devices are forced to re-enroll should a device be wiped or reset.

Allow removal of MDM?

• Allow for users to remove Mobile Guardian if they desire.

Show these Screens 

• These options allow you to choose which screens you want to see upon device reset

Click on Update Settings once you’ve made any changes to your APPLE DEVICE ENROLLMENT PROGRAM settings.

 

 

We recommend the above settings as a foundation for your MDM setup. Additionally, we recommend further customization that is complementary to your policies, be that at a grade, school, or district level.

Don’t hesitate to contact us should you wish to learn more about setting up an MDM solution that is suitable for your learning environment. 

 

Step 4. Sync Devices on your Mobile Guardian Dashboard

Whenever new devices are added to your Apple School Manager profile, you’ll have to manually sync these devices with Mobile Guardian. 

Let’s find out how!

I. Log in to your Mobile Guardian dashboard

II. Click Settings followed by iOS MDM Settings

III. Scroll down to the “APPLE DEVICE ENROLLMENT PROGRAM (DEP)” heading  

IV. Select Resync Devices to update your new Apple School Manager devices with Mobile Guardian

 

 

 

V. The new devices will populate your device list - however, they will be greyed out and will have to be reset prior to enrollment

Your new devices are now added to both Apple School Manager and Mobile Guardian! Next, we will learn about device enrollment! 

 

Step 5. Device enrolment

Prior to enrollment, devices will have to be reset.

Once reset, follow the steps in our article DEP Device Enrollment after Device Reset. 

To find out more about adding devices to an MDM server, or move existing devices between servers, see this article on how to do so.

Remember, anytime a new device is added to MDM Server, you’ll have to Resync Devices, as shown in Step 4 above.

Congratulations! You’re almost complete setting up your Apple Device Enrollment Program with Apple School Manager. 

 

Step 6: Keeping your DEP token up to date

A DEP token has a 12-month lifespan and requires updating every 12 months. 

In this article you’ll learn how to easily update your DEP token to ensure continued management over your devices.

Note: You are able to view the date of expiry of your DEP token within your APPLE DEVICE ENROLLMENT PROGRAM settings as shown below:

 

 

Well done, you have now learnt how to upload a new DEP token and update an expiring one.

 

Adding Devices to an MDM Server

Adding devices to an MDM server is important, otherwise, your devices will not sync through to the dashboard successfully.

If you would like to learn how to add devices to an MDM server or move existing devices please see this article which should guide you on how to accomplish this

NOTE: Devices can be moved into the MDM server at any time but must be following by a Resync of Devices from the Mobile Guardian Dashboard which was shown in Step 4

 

 

 

Congratulations you have learned a considerable amount about Apple Device Enrollment Program, Apple School Manager, and Mobile Guardian!

 

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