Ipad updates

You can use the Software Updates tab under devices. You can scope it to a smart group such as “iPad (ALL)” to push OS updates.

This is in an educational setting with individual devices used by individual users (1:1) and Jamf Pro.

I’ve completed the majority of the iPad hardware refresh and here is how I’m tackling this:

Create a smart group and target with a Blueprint

Specifics:

Smart group:
Model Identifier is iPad15,7
and OS version is less than 18.7.1 and last inventory update less than x days ago 2 and Battery level more than 30%.

BluePrint:
Software Updates
Date and time of the update (enter date)
Target OS version (enter OS)
Save, Deploy


Before the BluePrint, I would run the “new” software update workflow, selecting the download and schedule install and select OS version on a daily basis.

After you create the BluePrint, don’t forget to deploy it.

 

I currently have Jamf School, while you can still, for now, use the traditional Updates under Device → Inventory I’ve found DDM Blueprints to be much faster and more reliable so I’ve been using those. 

Basically just scheduling a time, setting a version (including ones you can’t even see, like 18.7) and scoping it to the a Device Group (smart group).  In my case, I have a device group specifically for this which excludes some iPads on purpose.

We also have 5 mac minis set up as content caching servers - which do not need to be configured in the MDM in any way, just set to look at the right network subnets.

I usually do the Download and Install option for my class sets after checking their apps are still usable on a test machine.

They (Jamf → Jamf School) have an undocumented and arbitrary limit at exactly 5000 devices.  I have complained loudly about it and provided evidence; they do not care (same as accessibility for their web UI, but I digress).  Prior to this limit, if you exceeded it, it would throw an error but still push to the first set and then you could wait and do it again to wittle the pool down. 

I have over 10K iPads in the primary group, once it gets past the 5K you cannot just send an iOS update to a pool that big, and I have to go location by location to send them in much smaller groups - it sucks and is time consuming.

DDM Blueprints put this onus on the iPad itself and that stops being a problem entirely, at least for iOS updates, I greatly prefer it now.

Addendum:  I have had both Jamf and Apple support people tell me that they do not have test groups of our size and have no idea how things play out at that scale - for Jamf School, okay, it’s definitely not most people’s first choice, for Apple?  Inexcusable.