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Asset Tag Assignment for macOS

  • January 19, 2026
  • 4 replies
  • 81 views
aSherm01

My organization is new to Jamf, and in recent years we’ve started to provision macOS devices. My question is how have other Jamf admins been managing asset tags? Ideally, I would like to have some automated method for generating an asset tag or computer number and assigning it to the mac during the prestage enrollment process. I’ve seen documentation for scripts assigning tags during the initial setup of the mac, but I find it concerning how this is relying on the end user to manually type it in rather than just automatically changing the mac’s hostname to its assigned name from a CSV: GitHub - jamf/Mac-Asset-Tag: A script that generates a GUI to accept a user input asset tag for the Mac.
 

Any ideas would be greatly appreciated! 
 

4 replies

A_Collins
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  • A_Collins
  • Contributor
  • January 19, 2026

That really depends how the asset tag allocation happens. If the asset tag created already or being created prior to enrollment, best method to use is the inventory preload. If they need to be created after enrollment, then depending on what is your asset management software 

PaulHazelden
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  • PaulHazelden
  • Jamf Heroes
  • January 20, 2026

If it is just the Hostname you are wanting to set?
I use a script, in Jamf, that runs during set up. It has 2 methods of assigning the Hostname. one is an array of Serial number : HostName. I use this method mostly for Laptops, but I also use it for brand new iMacs that have the network port in the power block, until they are set up for the other method.The other method is the script will pull device name from our DHCP server system, all of our wired Macs get added to DHCP and they have their names set in there. Both of these methods are in the one script, it will try the array first and then move on to the DHCP server.
Most other things can be set in an inventory preload.
We use the Serial number in our Asset management software. I add that in the Inventory preload. Generally round here Mac names can change, as they are based on the room the Mac is located in.

angryant
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  • angryant
  • Contributor
  • January 20, 2026

See this post from a few years ago this is how we do it.

 

    AJPinto
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    • AJPinto
    • Legendary Contributor
    • January 20, 2026

    I have never found a reason to use asset tags. The Serial Numbers on the devices are already unique (within reason), and laser etched in to the device body from Apple so there is no need to touch the device to attach a label to it. I also match the device hostname to the Serial Number to avoid putting PII in a publicly visible attribute, and I have never found a need in my 10+ years of doing this where using only the Serial Number has not been sufficient for tracking.

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