I’d wanted to understand for a while how Apple structures its own support approach and what really lies behind the Apple Certified Support Professional certification. So I decided to take the exam myself. In this post, I’ll share how I prepared, which learning resources helped me most, and what I’d recommend to anyone planning to do the same. The Apple Certified Support Professional (ACSP) certification validates comprehensive knowledge in supporting and administering Apple devices. It’s designed for IT professionals, help desk staff, and administrators who regularly work with macOS, iOS, or iPadOS and provide daily end-user support. “This course introduces you to the knowledge, skills, and tools used to support and troubleshoot Apple devices in a large organization as a level 1 or 2 help desk professional.”  Learning Resources and Preparation   Apple offers free official learning modules on the Apple Training platform. These cover all topics included in the exam, such as user manageme

How can I disable the Help Apple Improve Search Item in the Spotlight Section of the System Settings?I can't find anything in Configuration Profiles and didn't find something related in com.apple.Spotlight.plist in /Library/Preferences/ or ~/Library/Preferences/.

Update 23 February 2026: Standard Cloud upgrades have been rescheduled for the weekend of 6–7 March 2026 (details below). We appreciate your patience with the revised schedule. Today we are releasing Jamf Pro 11.25; highlights include:Branding Self Service+ for macOS via Jamf ProYou can change the Self Service+ application name and icon using Jamf Pro and Self Service+ 2.15.0 or later if Self Service+ is set as the default end user application. Previously, modifying Self Service branding settings in Jamf Pro only altered these attributes in the Self Service classic application.Improvements for OIDC-Based Single Sign-On Through Jamf AccountThe Jamf Pro login page retains the last-used identity provider (IdP), eliminating the need to reenter an email address. This requires users to allow cookies from jamfcloud.com. Ending a session in any Jamf web app integrated with OIDC-based SSO through Jamf Account will end the same session in Jamf Pro. Likewise, ending a session in Jamf Pro will end

Hello everyone,I'm just sharing my fix for a problem I got since I switched to Self Service+ (SSP). I'm not sure if others have encountered this but it affects all our Macs (40+) so it's definitely not isolated.Hope this can help and I'm open to any discussion on the matter. EnvironmentSelf Service+ 2.16 via jamf pro (Use Self Service+ as the default end user application) SymptomsSelf Service+ would quit and relaunch itself every time a standard user executed any policy (or when doing a check-in). Admin users were unaffected. Root causeWhen you rename Self Service+ through custom branding (via the cli as explained in the official docs), the app bundle name changes, but the jamf binary preference key self_service_plus_path in /Library/Preferences/com.jamfsoftware.jamf.plist still points to the old path /Applications/Self Service+.app.When a policy executes, the jamf binary tries to send the completion callback back to SSP via XPC using that stale path. It can't find the process, logs Co

Hello,My organization has asked me to explore whether it’s possible to control macOS login behavior based on Active Directory group membership.The goal is to automatically log out a user if they belong to a specific AD group. Additionally, as long as the user remains in that AD group, they should be prevented from logging in to macOS at all. We would also like to block all local unlock methods (password, Touch ID, etc.) while the user is in that AD group.Is this type of workflow achievable? Does Jamf provide functionality that can enforce these restrictions?

Has anyone determined a way to see how frequently Mac Apps is updating an application on a device? The scenario here is we’ve automated Chrome updates via Mac Apps. This is great and makes us IT admins happy. We have one user who complains his Chrome is being updated “almost daily”. Now I know this isn’t true but I want to capture logs to document how frequently his machine (or others) is updating apps.  Has anyone run into this situation before and seen a solution? Thanks,

Hi, My JAMF ID is working and I can login at JAMF.com fine. I have existing accounts in JAMF Now and School. If I select JAMF now it logs me straight in. JAMF school sends me to the login page and none of my passwords work. requested a password reset and nothing ever comes through! Anyone else seeing the same?

Hi Jamf Champions,We have MC1223829 – Upcoming Conditional Access change: Improved enforcement for policies with resource exclusionsThis update states that if you have Conditional Access (CA) policies that are applied to all resources with excluded resources, and if those excluded resources have OIDC scopes or a limited set of directory scopes(user.read), then such policies will also be enforced for the excluded resources.As per Jamf requirements, we have the Jamf Connect app in our Microsoft Entra ID, which is currently excluded in our CA policies using custom security attributes. With this change, the app may no longer be treated as an excluded resource, since it uses the User.Read scope.What are your thoughts on this?The change is scheduled to roll out from 27 March, and you might be impacted. 

We provide a pretty white glove service to our customers in that we run setup on every new IOS device, manually set some settings that our not manageable through an MDM, and decluttering the home screen of widgets and many native IOS apps.To be clear, I don’t want to remove or lock down the use of many native apps. I would like to remove all widgets, and remove the home screen SHORTCUTS to many native apps but leave the actual app itself available from the app library if needed.The goal is to deliver a device with a clean decluttered INITIAL layout device that has only the core native apps (such as phone, settings, messages, photos etc) and the required business apps on the main home screen page. After that, if a person wants to drag a shortcut to the calculator app (for example) out the home screen, they can do that from the app library.I realize that I can create a conf profile that HIDES apps, but I don’t want to do that because it removes access to that apps, not just the shortcut.

Hey Nation,A lot of what makes this community great isn’t what we build, it’s what you all bring to it.The answers, the advice, the time you give to help someone else out, it doesn’t go unnoticed.I wanted to share a genuine thank you to everyone who contributes, supports, and shares their knowledge here ❤️.And what better way to show that than bringing my fellow Jamfs into it  👀.So, Jamf team, let’s shout out what we appreciate about our customers!I’ll start….Shoutout to ​@scooterkohler , whose enthusiasm and desire to learn have been clear since joining the community last year. You’ve thrown yourself into the Jamf Heroes program (so much so, you’re a featured highlighted Hero 👏🏼) and have already started a user group in your area to bring others together 🙌🏼. Thank you for your energy and willingness to give back back!Jamfs, your turn next! 

Hello!In the last 2 years, I have had some Macs lose all configuration Profiles (including the MDM profile) when they try to renew the MDM Certificate (and fail for some reason)Mostly that could be fixed cancelling the “Renew MDM Certificate”-Pending task in the Management-Tab and then have the User run “profiles renew -type enrollment”. But it surely seems like a bug, when the (non-removable) MDM profile is gone.Has anybody seen something similar and a fix for it?Bye, Frido. 

Jamf Pro Dashboard (Open Source) — Looking for feedback + contributors Hi Jamf Nation — I’ve published an open-source Jamf Pro Dashboard project that connects to Jamf Pro and provides a clean, fast admin dashboard for at-a-glance visibility (the stuff we all end up checking repeatedly). Repo: https://github.com/flynn33/Jamf-Pro-Dashboard I’d love feedback (and PRs if you’re interested) on: What widgets/tiles you’d want most (smart groups, device counts, check-in failures, expiring MDM profiles/certs, etc.) Which Jamf Pro API endpoints you rely on daily Pain points you want a dashboard to solve  If you try it, tell me what you’d change or add — I’m actively iterating.

You might know Sagar Rastogi (@rastogisagar123) from his helpful replies in Jamf Nation, or from some of his Tech Thoughts blogs (here, here and here). He’s a technical architect at TCS, and he was recently named a winner in the TCS Global AI Hackathon, the world’s largest AI hackathon with more than 280,000 participants across 58 countries. It’s a huge honor, so naturally we wanted to celebrate Sagar and share more info on his great achievements.  Standing Out in a Crowd of 280,000 The scale of the hackathon alone is impressive, but what stood out even more was how Sagar approached it. His winning submission was a completely self‑driven project: an end‑to‑end AI product roadmap designed to solve real‑time challenges across healthcare, finance, and energy. His ideas weren’t just creative, but they were grounded in scalability, ethics, compliance, and practical feasibility. However, according to Sagar, innovation isn’t a solo act. It’s the shared momentum of a community pushing boundari

Looking to disable the dot macOS added to let users know that an app may have access to their camera without disabling the camera itself. We user a fleet of Macs for high-end meetings and conferences, and need to disable this distraction during screen share moments. Can someone point me in the right direction for maybe running something in a policy like a script? 

Hello All Happy New year.For those using Paltform SSO with Microsoft Entra, as anyone come across this error which seems to happen when Outlook has been left open for a period of time. It wasnt an issue before testing SSO. I though it had something to do with this setting in SSO config profile, but changing the value has’nt made much difference. ThanksTom​​​​​​​

I've noticed since we upgraded to Jamf Connect 2.4.1 last week that when I restart my computer that I am getting 2 login screens. We are using FileVault, so the expected behavior is the standard Mac login screen. We have Jamf Connect setup so that at logout you get a custom Jamf Connect login screen. Instead, I get the standard Mac login screen, I enter my password, I am taken to another login screen (with my desktop background instead of the generic Big Sur background) and I can enter my password or use touch ID to login. Thoughts? Anyone else having this?

☀️ Hey All! Our Marketing team is putting together a short video for social media to recognize Apple's 50th Anniversary, and we'd love to include a few customers in the video. If you’d like to participate, take a look at this Vouch request link to get a better understanding of what’s needed:https://app.vouchfor.com/c/Of0SDkUYpd?senderId=3ZKGbIfEhK We can’t guarantee that all submissions will make it into the final video, but if yours is fun/unique in some way, you have a good shot. 🙂 Deadline to submit: Friday, Feb. 20 Thanks, as always, for being a part of the Jamf story!!!❤️ Jeni

I just got access to jamf pro with the partner program, how am i supposed to enroll my own mac to be able to test with it?

As the title says, I just got access to blueprints and eager to start learning this, but right away i notice im missing things.  Jamf chat box told me thisYou'll need the Cloud Services Connection (Read) privilege in addition to your existing Blueprint permissions. This privilege is required for app installation functionality within Blueprints. To resolve this, you can: • Contact your Jamf Pro administrator to add the Cloud Services Connection (Read) privilege to your user account • If you have a custom privilege set, ensure it includes both Blueprint permissions and Cloud Services Connection access Once these privileges are added, you should be able to access app installation features alongside the declarative configurations you're currently seeing.Now after checking everything and confirming with Chatgpt,  I am being told App installations in Blueprints are not Enabled at the Tenant Level.  Something about being a Backend feature flag.   i am unsure how to proceed with this. Any help

 From mid-November through the final weeks of the year, many IT teams shift into a different rhythm. Projects wrap up. User demand slows. Emergency tickets still happen, but the pace usually lightens. This quieter stretch creates one of the best opportunities to build new skills, strengthen existing ones, and earn certifications that keep you growing.  Technology does not slow down when the calendar does. Platforms update, security threats evolve, and new tools enter the stack faster than most teams can adopt them. Staying sharp takes intention. If you wait for the “perfect time” to learn something new, it rarely comes. But late Q4 offers a natural runway that is easy to miss if you are not looking for it.  Using this time for learning sends a clear signal to yourself and your team. It shows that continuous upskilling is not a checkbox, but a habit. Whether you manage devices with Jamf, work in security, support end users, or build infrastructure, the problems you solve tomorrow will n

 We’re a year into Apple shipping Apple Intelligence (though technically still in Beta) but Apple hasn’t shipped a clear matrix of which features are on-device vs. require Private Cloud Compute (PCC). If you haven’t read part 1, then click here and go back and read it. And then follow up and read part 2, by clicking here. But what if… all that information was hiding on your very Mac in a system diagnostics, your Mac quietly generates a Model Catalog inside sysdiagnose that lists feature availability, languages, and — critically — which resources are server-side! For those that do not know, you can run a system diagnostics and explore the zip file created to potentially find some interesting tidbits about your Mac.Open Terminal.app and typesudo sysdiagnose -f ~/*** Disclaimer, system diagnostics bundles can potentially contain sensitive information *** Follow the prompt and this will create a system diagnostics zip bundle eventually in your home directory. Double click the zip file crea

🎉 Happy New Year! 🥳 It is traditional to use the beginning of the year to make plans. Conferences and the associated travel require quite a bit of planning. I keep an overview of the larger conferences in the Mac and wider Apple management and security community on my website, but thought a bit of a more detailed overview might be useful.Whether you want to "just" attend or even hand in a proposal for a talk, here is a list of conferences this year with links to their websites. MacAD.UK: Brighton, UK, April 21–22This conference in Brighton on the British coast, south of London, has been bringing together Apple management professionals from the United Kingdom and all over Europe for several years. This year, they are moving to a new venue in Brighton. ACES Conference: Minneapolis, MN, USA, May 12–13ACES focuses more on the business side of providing IT services in the Apple space and as such, is quite interesting for partners and service providers. This year, they have a new track ded

As part of Apple’s unveiling of Declarative Device Management (DDM) at WWDC 2023, Apple announced that DDM management included the ability to deploy MDM configuration profiles using DDM as the delivery mechanism in place of using MDM to deliver the profiles. Jamf Pro’s Blueprints leverages this capability to support device restrictions. Let’s see how this works using a device restriction configuration, using the example of setting the following Apple Intelligence management functions to false in order to block the corresponding Apple Intelligence functions on macOS:For more details, please see below the jump.As of Jamf Pro 11.18.0, there is not a Blueprints template available for creating blueprints which manage device restrictions so the blueprint will need to be configured manually. To do this, use the following procedure:1. Log into Jamf Pro.2. Select Blueprints3. Click the Create blueprint button.4. Give it a name when prompted and click the Create button. For this example, I’m usi

Earlier this week, our Community team brought members of Jamf Nation together for a special event — an hour of inspiration, celebration and gratitude. World-renowned keynote speaker, author and all-around good guy, Chris Schembra, led the conversation: Jamf Nation 2026: The Power of Human Connection.  As the largest online community of Apple admins in the world, Jamf Nation members understand the power of connection. They’ve been using it to move mountains in the Apple space for the better part of two decades. But as the environment around us changes, Chris challenged the group to consider mindset shifts that could lead to even better outcomes. He encouraged them to move both fast and slow, referencing the Emilia-Romagna mindset of “holding the tension of opposites to achieve world-class excellence.” He asked, Where in your life do you need to go slower? Where in your life do you need to go faster? How do you hold the tension between those two?  The chat lit up.  Thoughtful, deeply mea

It must be 8 or 9 years ago that I started supporting customers with ZuluDesk (now Jamf School). This was my first step into the device management world. Before that, I was a repair technician.  As my curiosity grew, I was lucky enough that my employer allowed me to do the Jamf 100 and 200 courses. Managing iOS devices is all good and well, but with Mac you need a little more tools. Things like setting a wallpaper sound easy, but they actually require a bit more work than I expected.   Welcome to the world of Mac Admins! I discovered that for everything I wanted to figure out how to do, there is usually someone with the same question, and maybe they’ve already found a solution for it. Coming in as a completely new Mac Admin, it might be a bit difficult to find your way. But knowing the right people, tools or places to ask for help are really valuable and make all the difference.   So I thought, why not try and create some sort of list with starting points for f