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Our Macs are now coming in NOT added to ABM. So I need to spend a little extra time adding them in to ABM first, before setting them up. No big deal.

However - about half the time I am having a problem getting the "Fuzzy Bubble" to appear so I can point my phone at the Mac and add it to ABM. It just never shows up on the Mac, or, if it does, the phone doesn't recognize it to add it in to ABM.

Todays blog post talks about how it is supposed to work when everything goes smoothly:

https://www.jamf.com/blog/use-configurator-2-with-apple-business-manager/

But here is where it breaks down:

"5. After the Mac restarts, you’ll be presented with the Setup Assistant. Click Continue on the Mac, then stop at the Country or Region pane.

6. The mobile device host must be paired with the Mac to proceed. Bring the host close to the Mac and scan the image that appears in the Setup Assistant or select Pair Manually to pair the two devices."

I have tried:
On the Mac: rebooting, wiping and reinstalling the OS, disabling/enabling bluetooth, wifi, airplane mode, wired and wifi connections to the internet, different WAP (location in the building).

On the iPhone: Running updates, restarting, turning bluetooth, wifi, and airplane mode on and off, removing Apple Configurator 2 and reinstalling it, Signing out and back in to Apple Configurator 2, letting the phone sit directly on the palm rest of the computer.

Then - randomly - it will just start working again and let me join the Mac to ABM and everything is fine like nothing happened.

Is this just me/our network? Or have others seen this as well?

Go to your reseller, if they are not assigning the devices to your ABM instance that needs to be addressed first.

  • If you don't have the reseller/custom numbers exchanged get that out of the way so you don't need to manually add devices.
  • If you reseller is incapable or incompetent reach out to your Apple SE and report them. The reseller has contracts with Apple that they could be breaking.

As far as the "fuzzy bubble" (I love that name for it lol), as with all things Apple it rarely just works. This would not be a JAMF problem so I recommend reaching out to Apple. However the basic troubleshooting would be making sure the devices are on a network that can talk freely to Apple, and that there is no SSL inspection happening. I would start with the network in your troubleshooting,

I've never actually gotten that portion to work, so for the few times I've needed to add a system to ABM I just pair it manually.

I just panic-bought a bunch of non-DEP/ADE devices a few weeks ago and though the workflow is cool and all, it was so not worth it. I should have waited, or paid more.

On devices, it was CRUCIAL that both the Configurator and target device were updated to a current OS, so that means starting the device, updating it and then wiping it again. Yaaay. 

Then after reboot, it was equally crucial that you do NOT proceed past WiFi setup. Do not sign into wifi. Leave it there and wait. 

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