Distributing Books to the native Books app on iPad via Jamf Pro 10.26

[BPS_TSO]

Hi all,

I'm attempting to distribute free books via Jamf Pro to a set of 50 iPads at the school.

I read that books are actually linked to users - not devices (very annoying) - so as a test I created a user (with the Role of Student) in Apple School Manager and synced & imported this into Jamf Pro so the user account now shows up in Jamf Pro as well.

In Jamf Pro - I assigned this user account to one of the iPads being managed by Jamf Pro.

For the eBook I then put the the user account in the "Scope" of the book.
In the "General" tab I have made sure the book is Enabled, is set to Install Automatically/Prompt Users to Install (iOS only), and have selected Free (so no need for an VPP invitation).

However - the book still does not appear in the Books app on the iPad. When I open the Books app under "Reading Now" it just says "Sorry ... Something went wrong. Please try again." with a Retry button that doesn't do anything when tapped. Under "Library" it says there are "No Books. To add books to this collection, go to your library and tap Edit" however the Edit button is greyed out and can't be tapped.

So, I though I would push out Jamf Self Service to the iPad and try to see if that would let me access the eBook.

However - when I go to install Jamf Self Service - the following message comes up on the iPad:

App Installation
Sign into iTunes to allow "*.jamfcloud.com" to manage and install apps.
Cancel or Sign In

Selecting "Sign In" does nothing.

We have configuration profiles set up that put in place Restrictions on the iPads. On the one I'm using for testing - I changed the Restrictions to enable iTunes Store and App Store.

However - this didn't rectify the issue. And I couldn't see anywhere to Sign In.

I have also gone into Users > Volume Assignments and created a new Volume Assignment with the user in Scope and the eBook ticked (it shows the total number of volumes I have of the Book - 80 - but 0 being In Use).

I'm stumped.

Also - I don't want to have to go around signing in each user I create in ASM (50 users - one per iPad) and import into Jamf Pro into an iPad 50 times.

Can anyone help me out?

[BPS_TSO · Accepted solution]

14/01/2022: Post updated for clarity

Well I have tested out one method and its working.

This is for Jamf Pro. Jamf School/Zuludesk is probably different but the steps below might help you anyway.

It is rather long to set up initially but once you have it set up deploying eBooks is straightforward. You may have done some of these steps already.

It will also help to have your iPads in Device Groups. That way you aren't impacting 100s of iPads all at the same time.

Please let me know if I have made any mistakes with this.

NOTE: This incorporates steps sent to me from Ben at Jamf Technical Support. Many thanks as without them this wouldn't have been possible. Awesome support! You can read these steps here: https://www.evernote.com/shard/s636/client/snv?noteGuid=c6306971-d804-464f-926b-b25ecd1f3677&noteKey...

Method (for this you will need to have the iPads you will be working on in your possession):

1. Set up Managed Apple IDs in Apple School Manager (ASM):

2. Log in to Apple School Manager and create your user accounts there. For my scenario, these accounts are simply for the iPads (students are not being given accounts) to distribute books, so my account names are generic for the device (e.g. kipad1 for kindy iPad 1). Assign these accounts with role of Student. Make the Password Policy 4-digit. Also, create a Class, and add the newly created accounts to the Class. This will make it much easier to import into Jamf Pro.

3. Select all the Accounts you created and Create sign-ins for them. I made the temporary password 1234. You will be prompted to change this when signing on to the iPad.

4. With this set up - you can now go about purchasing books (even the free Jolly Phonics ones) here. Might as well do it now if you haven't already.

5. Import Apple IDs into Jamf Pro:

6. Log in to Jamf Pro

7. Selecting the Settings gear icon on the top right > Apple Education Support (Check "Enable Apple Education Support" is enabled) > Apple School Manager Instances (Check "Enable Apple School Manager Integration" is enabled) > Select "Force Sync". This will now let you import your newly created users from ASM into Jamf Pro.

8. Select Users > Do a blank Search > Select Import

9. Select "Subset of users" > Click + Add > Under Criteria select Class > Under Value select the class name you created in ASM > Select Next.

10. You should now see the list of Students you created in ASM that assigned to the class you made in ASM. Select Next to import these into Jamf Pro.

11. Go to Jamf Pro > Users > Select Invitations > New > Give it a Display Name (check Location is showing your ASM VPP, Distribution Method set to Prompt users ../make available ..., and Enable "Automatically registers with volume purchasing ..."). Select Scope and Add the Users you imported to the Scope. Save.

12. Go to Users > Volume Assignments > New. Give it a Display Name. Select "eBooks" > Edit > and tick the books you wish to push out. Select Scope > Add the Users you imported to the Scope. Save.

13. Set up Apple IDs on Managed iPads:

14. You now want to remove any restrictions profiles applied to the iPads (hence the need to have them in your possession). Go to Devices > Configuration Profiles > Select "Restrictions" > Go to "Scope" > Edit > Remove the relevant targets > Save.
    Check to see the iPads in your possession no longer have any restrictions applied. This should be obvious with default apps reappearing.

15. Go to your iPad(s). Open Settings > Sign in on the iPad(s) with the Apple ID(s) you created in ASM. You should be prompted to change the password from 1234. Do so now. NOTE: I could not find a way to do this remotely. Slightly frustrating.

16. At the same time as 12 for each iPad: Go to Jamf Pro > Devices > Search for the device (iPad) > User and Location > Edit > enter the username for the Apple ID you are using > click Search and the fields should auto populate > Save.

17. As a sanity check you should now be signed in to the iPad with same Apple ID that, in Jamf Pro, you have allocated to the device.

18. Deploy eBooks to iPads:

19. Go to Devices > Configuration Profiles > edit your Restrictions profile by going to Apps and allowing Apple Books. Scroll down and remove the entry under App usage that says "com.apple.iBooks". Go to Scope > put back all the relevant iPads that you took out previously. Save.

20. You should now be ready to deploy eBooks. Check the iPad has the Books app showing. Open Settings and check that the Apple ID is showing but you can no longer select it to edit it (should be greyed out).

21. Go to Jamf Pro > Users > eBooks. Select the eBook you want to deploy. Choose Install Automatically/ Prompt ... for Distribution method. Select Scope > Add the Users you imported to the Scope. Save.

22. The eBook(s) should now show up in the Books app on the iPads under Library. Note: Due to the Restrictions profile the Book may not show up in the "Reading Now" section.

[Anonymous]

Great hint! The document, you had posted in your guide, is useful as your guide for deploying eBooks to users in Jamf Pro, too. With that document, I was able to deploy our eBooks to our users. Thank a lot for that!

[nickmock]

I am having the same issue now, "GET" button greyed out.. "Sorry something went wrong" message on the Books home screen.. literally everything in your original post.. That being said, the steps you took are so involved it's insane.. just to get a free book to display?! I am replying here because 1 year ago none of this was necessary.. they can say it is all they want, but it was NOT then.. in the past, all we had to do was acquire books from Apple School Manager > Apps & Books. Send them over to Jamf.. Then create a Volume Assignment, add the books to it you want, then scope it to "All Users". The invitations were not necessary, as they are managed Apple IDs and the invitation/acceptance is automatic.

What I don't understand is why it worked a while back, and now it just doesn't and all these extra steps are involved.. something changed on Jamf's side, and not one of them is willing to admit it.. I have spent HOURS on the phone with them, and nothing works.

I have a migraine now.

[mpittcasd]

Just wanted to let you know you're not alone in this and bump this just in case anyone has any new developments another year later. I went through so much trouble to get eBooks working a few years ago and now it's broken again and teachers are losing their minds over one or two students not getting a specific book. I created a new VPP Invitation since we moved to Managed Apple IDs and it shows my acceptance rate at 1%; I'm hoping because I have it set to automatically accept from MAIDs that this number only goes up for manually accepting the invitation. After going over the Jamf admin guide for ebooks line by line I think you can assign books to the device now instead of user but either way if I find something that works I'll try to come back here with an update.