How to force and update for a specific application.

[Bill_Hofius]

Hello!

I am new to JAMF and was thrown into the thick of things managing several hundred iPads and a couple of dozen Macs.

Regarding mobile devices, the organization I work for uses Lightspeed as their mobile POS. Several sites have reported issues processing credit card transactions. After reaching out the Lightspeed developer (not done by me), the folks at Lightspeed said to make sure that iOS and the Lightspeed app are up-to-date on the iPads.

I was under the impression that if there was an update to the application, JAMF would be aware of it, download it, and push it to all of the devices that have a Lightspeed profile. But it seems like it hasn't for all devices. On some of the devices, when the user opens Lightspeed, it reports an update is available.

What is the best way to push these updates out to these devices? Is it possible to force a single app to update?

Thanks!

[dandjelk]

Yes, you can force updates and is an option you can enable within the app setting in JAMF. One thing to note, and I'm not sure if they fixed it, is sometimes JAMF doesn't get the proper short version and will think that it's on the newest version when it's actually on an old version and it won't update properly. One way to be sure would be to double check the app version in the App Store and make sure it matches the short version in JAMF.

[harsha]

Hi dandjelk,

Can I know where is the option to force update in jamf pro for security or software updates?

[atomczynski]

You can use individual app settings or global settings. Global settings will control for all apps.

App Settings:
Mobile Devices: Mobile Device Apps: (App name)

Schedule Jamf Pro to automatically check the App Store for app updates
(select the region and time)
Automatically Force App Updates

Global settings (for all apps):
Settings: Device Management: App Maintenance

Automatically Force App Updates
Schedule Jamf Pro to automatically check the App Store for app updates
(select the region and time)

[harsha]

Hi atomczynski,

May I know how do we do Force update if the users don’t install from self service? using jamf pro

[tendollars]

can you force app updates for apps that were not installed through the app store?

[Bill_Hofius]

Dan,

Thanks for the tip. I cross-checked versions and it all looks good. The same version number is in the App Store and in the Short Version field of the app info in JAMF.

[Bill_Hofius]

Adam,

Thanks for the instructions. I noticed a Force Update button when I went into edit mode for the individual app settings and the global settings. I clicked this button to force an immediate update of the app.

Question: Where can I check to see the status of the forced update? It does not seems to show up under the individual device's pending commands section. If I go to the individual devices Inventory Tab and then click on Apps, I can see Lightspeed's version number. It also reports a status. Is this the only place where I can find this?

For some it does say Prompting For Update. For some that are not up-to-date it simply reports managed. It is possible to issue a forced update for an individual device?

Thanks!

[harsha]

Hi Bill_Hofius,

May I know how did you do force update in jamf pro? Can you explain me?Plz

[atomczynski]

It's my understanding the deploy policy "update method" is contained within the App install instance, thus if you want to target a specific device you would need to create a different App install instance and scope to the specific device you want and tweak the update settings as you like.

The Prompting For Update means the app is open and needs to quit, install the updated version, and relaunch. The users will see a notification on their device.

If I need to keep stats on devices with specific version I will create a smart group of app name is, short app version is or usually a saved search for that. As a saved search runs the check at the specific time you run it, while smart group check each check in.

[Bill_Hofius]

Awesome! Thanks!

[atomczynski]

If the app was originally installed via the App Store and not in a managed way (auto install or Self Service) via the MDM you may use the following:

Make app manage when possible

Make app managed if currently installed as unmanaged