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Working with Devices

Working with Devices

Oct 26, 2022

Introduction

CapaInstaller supports all official marketplaces and mainstream devices/platforms.

 Windows Mobile   Android including  KNOX  Apple iOS and macOS

 Supported platforms

Apple iOS

  • iOS version 10 and above


Apple macOS

  • 10.7 and above

  •  macOS Enterprise App Requirements

     Click here to expand...

    Please verify the following requirements with the app vendor before attempting to deploy Enterprise Apps on your devices!

    • Devices must be running macOS 10.7 (El Capitan) or newer
    • The package must be signed with a certificate.
      • A package needs to be signed by the app developer, only the package needs to be signed, not the app.
    • The package must include the following files

      • PackageInfo, Bom, Payload and [TOC].xml

      • The package can also contain Scripts and RunAtStartup but these are not required


Android

  • Android version 4.4 and above
  • Samsung KNOX 2.1 and above


Windows Mobile

  • Windows Mobile 10 and above


Device management concepts

CapaInstaller Device Management revolves around four concepts.

  • Profiles

    • A profile is an entity that contains payloads, each with a group of settings, which are applied on a device when the profile is installed on it. Multiple payloads can be included in the same profile, and multiple profiles can be installed on a device. This enables an administrator to configure general profiles and add them to the entire organization's devices and on top of that assign profiles that are more specifically designed for a single department or a single device or user.

  • Payloads

    • Payloads in the Profile Editor are a group of device settings, which are added to and configured in a profile. The WiFi payload, for example, enables you to configure all the devices to automatically join the available wireless network when they get in range. A payload can also be a Device Application for a supported device.

  • Applications

    • In general, a Device Application is a program designed to run on a mobile device, the same as any other program running on a PC. A Device Application is conceptually the same as a CapaInstaller package. It contains a program/app and a "recipe" for installing and uninstalling this program/app. Unlike on PCs, apps for mobile devices are generally distributed by a dedicated application store, and support for non-application store apps is either not permitted or they require special handling.

  • Devices

    • Devices consist of smartphones and tablets in the organization, and they can be created as entities in Configuration Management in two ways. They can be Prestaged by an administrator by creating the device manually, which involves naming the device and specifying its IMEI number or serial number. They can also be enrolled from the device and be automatically created as an entity. When a device is enrolled it will attempt to merge into any pre-staged device by matching its IMEI number/serial number. If an enrolled device is merged into a pre-staged device it will start installing any profiles and applications assigned to it, making it possible to set up configurations for devices before the system has been in contact with the physical device.

      When a device has been enrolled in Capainstaller, administrators can manage its configuration with the use of profiles, and send commands such as wipe or collect software and hardware inventory without the need for user interaction. Administrators can also deploy apps to the device, either store apps or in-house enterprise apps, and follow the status of those.

Communication with devices

The configurations of a profile, in the form of payloads and their settings, are stored in the CapaInstaller database and are distributed to assigned devices by the Front-end Service through the Mobile Device Management Service. The latter handles contact with platform push services like (Apple Push Notification service (APNS), Windows Notification Service (WNS), Google Cloud Messaging (GCM)).

The communication between devices and services is secured with signed certificates.

Information in Configuration Management

Selecting a device in the navigation pane, the content view will show profiles and applications assigned to it and commands issued to it. The status of its profiles and applications will be shown, indicating if they are waiting to be installed, already installed, or if they are pending removal. If it has been installed on the device, a timestamp shows when it was last applied to it.

Selecting a Profile or application in the navigation pane will cause the content view to show all devices linked to it, and similar to above will show the status of the profile/device relationships.


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