Use Apple Configurator 2 to quickly configure large numbers of devices connected to your Mac via USB with the settings, apps, and data you specify for your students, employees, or customers. Rebuilt from the ground up, Apple Configurator 2 features a flexible, device-centric design that enables you to configure one or dozens of devices quickly. This applies to free apps as well as paid apps. Just be sure in Configurator 2 you are signed in using the proper VPP account in the STORE tab. Configurator 2 then assigns licenses of each app (even the free ones) to each iPad. Be sure to 'buy' enough licenses of the free apps to cover your fleet of iPads. I hope this helps. In addition, Clover Configurator can check for the latest Clover EFI revision, and helps you download and install the bootloader. The Clover Configurator app is organized around two major functionalities: you can use the available tools to perform certain tasks, or you. Apple Configurator for Mac 2.13.1 Apple Configurator makes it easy for anyone to mass configure and deploy iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch in a school, business, or institution. The app can be used to configure large numbers of devices with specific settings, apps, and data for students, employees, or customers. Apple Configurator 2 is free on the Mac App Store.
Enter Apple Configurator 2, a free tool on the Mac App Store. This tool basically fixes most setup challenges for iOS, but does so over USB. This means that Apple Configurator is not necessarily a replacement for MDM. In fact, you can deploy Trust and Entrollment profiles for MDM and automate the MDM enrollment for a device through Apple Configurator 2. Instead, Apple Configurator 2 is a tool that can either help to manage iOS devices during a mass deployment and do so in a manner that is easy enough that you don’t need a firm background in IT to manage devices on a day-to-day basis. Here is what Apple Configurator can do: - Update iOS devices to the latest version of iOS.
- Rename devices using a numbered scheme (e.g. iPad 1, iPad 2, etc).
- Erase (wipe) iOS devices.
- Backup and Restore iOS devices.
- Deploy profiles/policies (e.g. no Siri for you, disable cameras, setup wireless, etc) to iOS devices.
- Export profiles.
- Activate devices (after all a restore of a freshly activated device is an activation).
- Push any kind of app to devices.
- Track Volume Purchase Program (VPP) codes used on devices.
- Manage the wallpaper on “Supervised” devices (more on supervision later).
- Manage the names of devices en masse.
- Load content to apps on devices.
- Skip initial Activation steps on devices.
- In order to push apps through Apple Configurator, the system running Configurator needs access to Apple’s servers and Apple Configurator needs an AppleID associated with it that is not the VPP facilitator if you are leveraging any paid apps.
- You can use Apple Configurator “off-line” or without an AppleID to Prepare devices with Profiles, just not to Activate devices. For the initial device activation process, Macs running Apple Configurator will need to be online. Additionally, you’ll be prompted to enter your Apple ID routinely.
- If you push Trust and Enrollment profiles to automatically join Profile Manager (or another MDM vendor) the device isn’t associated with a user unless the MDM has been prepped to designate each UDID or Serial Number to a given user.
- If you accidentally plug in your iPhone to a machine and you’re using Apple Configurator on it and you’ve chosen to Erase in the application, then it will wipe your phone along with the 30 iPads you’re wiping. It’s awesome and scary like that (yes, I’ve accidentally wiped my phone).
- Company and education labs: manage devices end-to-end (no MDM, iTunes iPhone Configuration Utility or other tools needed), managed by the lab manager.
- One-to-One environments (schools): Manage the distribution of infrastructure settings (mail, wireless networks, etc) for devices as well as Trust Profiles to make it faster to enroll in MDM environments and Web Clips to manage the links for enrollment.
- Device distribution: Pre-load applications (that can’t be updated unless they’re cradled again), renaming, profiles, activation, iOS software updates, etc.
- Backup and Restore only stations where you don’t interfere with later iTunes use.
Click on Wi-Fi and then click on the Configure button. Here, enter the SSID of the deployment network (MDMEnroll in this example). We’ll use the Hidden Network field to indicate the SSID is suppressed and we’ll use the network type of WEP and throw the password into the Password field as well. Now, before we move on, notice that there’s a plus and minus sign in the top right of the screen? You can deploy multiple of each, so if you have 10 wireless networks, 4 Email accounts, 9 VPN connections, 29 SSL Certs etc, you could deploy them all easily with multiple entries of each.
Next, we’ll go ahead and enter a name for our Web Clip and the URL that the device will point to. We’ll also disable certain features of iOS. To do so, click on Restrictions, and uncheck various boxes in order to disable features you don’t wish to use. Go ahead and close the window and you’ll be prompted to save the profile. You’ll then see MDM Enrollment Staging.mobileconfig in the Finder where you selected to store it. You can also save an enrollment profile from Profile Manager as we explained here. We could go that further further and actually enroll the device by exporting the enrollment profile as well, but again, I want each user to provide their username and password so I as an administrator don’t have to go through and attach each device to a user in this scenario. I’ve been looking at importing devices and associating them with users via postgres, but that’s going to be another 3am article, on another night… Conclusion![Apple Apple](/uploads/1/3/4/1/134134414/185921497.jpg)
Last updated October 29, 2019
What is Apple Configurator?
Apple Configurator is a macOS application that allows administrators to create configurations and apply them to iOS devices. Before Apple Configurator, Apple offered iPhone Configuration Utility. Apple Configurator is the continuation of this sunset utility.
The range of configuration options in Configurator is extensive. Administrators can control minimum security requirements for passcodes, VPN configurations, on-device certificates, and even fonts. Generally, any configurations that can be applied via mobile device management (MDM) are also available in Apple Configurator.
Additionally, Apple Configurator provides the ability for an administrator to select which apps to install to iOS. https://summitnew512.weebly.com/airplay-download-mac-os-x.html. Sign in with an Apple ID and select any app downloaded or purchased previously under that Apple ID.
How Does it Work?
Apple Configurator combines these two capabilities to create a blueprint:
- Configurations (aka profiles – made up of individual payloads)
- Apps
An administrator is able to create multiple blueprints. Common groupings include role-based (executive, manager, contributor) or department-based (sales, marketing, support). Blueprints can also be layered on a device, allowing multiple configurations to overlap.
With blueprints configured, place Apple Configurator in ‘prepare’ mode. Then, each iOS device connects via USB or lightning and Apple Configurator pushes the configuration to the device. Also during this time, administrators can wipe devices, upgrade iOS, place into supervision mode, enroll with an MDM, etc.
The process can be time-consuming if one’s upgrading iOS or switching to supervised mode (which requires a system wipe). In these cases, we find many administrators use high-capacity USB hubs. Though we haven’t used it personally, the Cambrionix PowerPad15 is an example of a USB hub for this very purpose.
Sidenote: If looking to purchase a hub, check the capacity of power to the hub. If the wattage is too low, devices may not charge while plugged in. Decide if this is a requirement for your organization.
Why Use Both Configurator and MDM?
After explaining the functionality of Apple Configurator, an often asked question is: So why do I need MDM if I can manage configurations and apps this way? The question is a fair one, and the answer largely depends upon your organizational needs.
Apple Configurator can provide parity with MDM for some organizations with limited requirements. The big difference is the ability to control configurations after deployment. With Configurator, once an administrator unplugs the device, no further communication occurs unless the device plugs back into a computer. With MDM, administrators control configurations via WiFi or cellular connection.
![App configurator 2 macbook App configurator 2 macbook](/uploads/1/3/4/1/134134414/913472902.png)
Limited abilities exist to manage apps in Configurator. It only enables the basic process of installing selected apps. However, MDM will allow administrators to distribute company-owned app licenses purchased through Apple Business Manager (formerly Volume Purchase Program – VPP) as well as remotely update and remove apps. MDM is even capable of pushing app-specific configurations.
If you’re interested in how MDM can be used to simplify app deployment, we strongly recommend this read: Install Apps Remotely to iPads and iPhones which provides a comprehensive view of the many ways to deploy apps, each having its own strengths.
MDM provides additional features that an administrator can enable remotely. They can lock a device, wipe its contents, and monitor app installation. MDM also allows an administrator to access advanced functionalities, like forcing a device to only display a single app. A great example is the Square point of sale system.
Organizations learn to establish a balance when using both technologies. Apple Configurator is able to make sure all devices run the latest iOS version, are supervised and have an initial WiFi network connection. MDM is then used for all further configurations and management.
Apple Configurator 2 Download
How To Enroll With MDM Using Apple Configurator
Enrolling a device with MDM generally occurs via a link either sent to the device by SMS or email or manually typed into a browser. This is reasonable for only a few devices or if employees will be enrolling their own devices. It absolutely does not scale for companies with a large number of company-owned devices that need to be set up. Instead, an organization will generally use the Apple Device Enrollment Program (read Explained: The Apple Device Enrollment Program) to have devices automatically configured with their MDM out-of-the-box, or they’ll use Apple Configurator.
We’ll now explain how to configure a device with MDM using Apple Configurator. To start, if you haven’t already, download Apple Configurator from the Mac App Store. Install the app and run it.
Once the application is running, plug your device into the computer. Download gdb mac os x.
Next, click the ‘Prepare’ button from the top bar of the app.
Configurator will ask you which mode you’d like to use. Select ‘Manual’ unless you have an Apple Business Manager account and want to add devices to it.
Backyard skateboarding pc download. Apple Configurator will ask you if you’d like to assign the device to an MDM. The snakebite letters pdf. Select ‘New server…’ if you haven’t completed this process before. The following screen will allow you to specify a name for your MDM as well as the enrollment URL.
The process for getting an enrollment URL varies between MDM vendors. For SimpleMDM, you must create an Enrollment (either group or one-time) in order to generate the URL as shown below. Paste the enrollment URL into Apple Configurator. Convert iso to avi freeware download.
The remaining steps are not MDM-specific. The prompt asks if you’d like to:
Apple Configurator 2.5
- Supervise the device and block other computers from managing it
- Provide information about your organization to display on the device
- Skip certain set-up screens during the initial iOS startup
- Create or use an existing configurator identity. This is essentially a certificate that allows you to re-access these devices down the road with Apple Configurator on the same or on a different computer.
Once you’ve completed these steps, Configurator will begin setting up the devices you selected initially or plugin subsequently. The devices appear automatically in your MDM as they configure.
We run Windows. Can I Use Apple Configurator?
The strict answer is ‘no’. Apple Configurator software is only for macOS; Apple does not distribute a Windows version.
The nitty-gritty answer is ‘sort of’. None of these methods are recommended and may provide more pain than gain, so we generally recommend that organizations in this scenario purchase a Mac Mini to have as a resource for around the office. If interested in going down the rabbit hole, here are some methods that we’ve heard employed:
Apple Configurator 2 Mac App Store
- Apple used to distribute a Windows version of the iPhone Configuration Utility. It’s still available on c|net here. The last software release was January of 2013. At best it’s missing many features and at worse it won’t work at all.
- Run macOS as a virtual machine on Windows. We’re pretty sure this breaks Apple macOS software licensing rules, so we cannot recommend this methodology. We’ve heard some reports that most virtual machine software handles USB emulation in a manner that causes issues when connecting and disconnection iOS devices, but we cannot confirm this.
- Use Apple DEP instead. When using MDM, Apple DEP substitutes for Apple Configurator. Apple DEP devices are ready out-of-the-box, eliminating the need for USB/lightning connections and extra touches. Referenced earlier, you can learn more about Apple DEP via this article. If you’d like to use DEP, apply for an account at deploy.apple.com.
If you aren’t already using MDM, manage your devices with a SimpleMDM account. Feel free to ask questions in the comments section. We’re here to help!