iOS - Pending - Application is not available to install

[ItsMe_Sean]

Hey Nation!

Looking for some help on this issue.

The following problem I am hitting is that I have a new iPad fleet that is all DEP and all our apps are now managed VPP licenses. Initially I had set it up and all was working fine, apps were installing and I was able to recall and then push them out again. No apple ID has been set up on the device, which is iOS9 with a compatible JSS.

The apps that were previosly installed can still be recalled and then pushed out again with no issues, however any new apps that I have added will not install and will report "Pending - Application is not available to install".

I have been told that this can be sorted by restarting the TomCat service, but having to do that every time the issue pops up seems a bit inconvenient, does anyone know if this has been solved in an updated version of the JSS?

[dan86]

which version of iOS you using? Try update 9.2.1.

Refer to apple update log on 9.2.1.
https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT205654

[mradams]

We receive this on all new apps. Normally within 15-20 minutes it clears and installed. Has to do with getting the license link through Apple from what I understand.

[jaymckay]

Try this:
1. going into Global Management - VPP
2. Select VPP account
3. Click "Content" Tab
4. Scroll to the bottom and click "Update Purchased Content"
5. Search for the app in question, and allow VPP licenses to be updated.

In short, the JSS does not yet realize that you have the correct amount of licenses. You are forcing the JSS to check with Apple.

Make sure you clear this pending command on the device, after you do the steps above. To speed things up do an update inventory, and blank push.

Hope this helps,
Jay

[IT-CKrape]

I am having the exact same issue with my licenses, but my VPP account shows that we are registered for the correct number of licenses. We purchased 600 and only use 535.....

I have done the license refresh just to make sure, but with no success.

Anyone able to add this to their issue as well?

Thanks in advance,

Chad

[m_donovan]

I am having the same problem. Monday I was able to push apps to a single test iPad. Tuesday I expanded the test group to 7 total and nothing works. Every app that I push says Pending - Application not available for install to include the ones that worked Monday. I have tried all the suggestions thus far with no change in status. Does anyone have any idea how to resolve this issue?

[jaymckay]

Make sure you clear out all of those pending commands within the management tab for each device. Also, are you using device based deployment on its own with no Apple ID on each device, or are you still using the User/VPP assignments option as well.

[m_donovan]

We are using device assignment with no apple ID. I have cleared all pending commands for each device. After sending an update inventory command the pending returns.

[msnowdon]

After resolving the issue with 9.2 and apps (by updating to IOS 9.2.1), I only see this when we do not have enough licenses. Even if they are free, still need enough licenses to distribute the apps.

[m_donovan]

The apps finally pushed to the devices. It only took 18+ hours but they finally made it onto the devices. Now to figure out why it took so long.

[kelly_eilderts]

Still running into the same issue here. they pushed just fine to the first ipad cart I pushed it to but now nothing when i push to the second ipad cart

[mradams]

@ kelly.eilderts Do you have any pending commands on the iPads in the second cart?

[kelly_eilderts]

the only things pending is the apps trying to install. I have tried clearing it all and repushing the app with the same result.

[mradams]

So I ran into the same issue today with the VPP app not installing regardless how long I waited. I ended up going back and manually adding the app again. Even though the app is showing as populated with the correct number of licenses, I went to my VPP account selected Update Purchased Content and went through the process of selecting the app. after 10 minutes it installed on my devices.

[martinp]

I have the same problem - "Pending - Application is not available to instal". The iPads are currently running 9.3.3 and the JSS is in the 9.92 version. I have followed the steps that are in this discussion and other discussions, but I can't seem to make it work. I was working on the iPads one day and the next day none of the apps were installing on the iPads.

Any help would be much appreciated.

Thanks,

Martin

[St0rMl0rD]

We're having the same issues, plenty of VPP licenses available. What's happening here?

[martinp]

I don't know whats happening, but my TAM made a ticket to the online services team and they restarted the JSS. As of right now everything is back to normal.

[ROAllen]

Anyone get an update on this? We have self-service taking 30+ minutes. No app store and no apple ID, the students need the self-service.

Thank you.

[mike_graham]

Just curious if anyone else is running into this? We've experienced it sporadically over the last two weeks. Sometimes the problem fixes itself in a matter of minutes, sometimes it's an hour or more. My conversation with an AppleCare engineer ended with them saying VPP was experiencing higher than expected volumes of traffic with school starting and things might not work as fast as we're used to. Not particularly comforting, but things do seem to clear up after awhile.

[mradams]

I have been running into the same issue. Monday it took up to 24 hours to install. Seems faster today though.

[jacinferreira]

I have a few students that are seeing the same issue here. Unable to install even a few free apps like Google Chrome and Classroom with plenty of licenses available.

[murph]

@jacinferreira We had this issue on a couple of iPads recently where a handful of apps wouldn't install. Today, I ended up going to Global Management > VPP Accounts > Content and doing a refresh on the apps that were being affected and I was able to install those apps that I was having issues with.

I was getting licensing errors in the jamf software log for one of these iPads.

[bernie]

Something to consider everyone: Scope and Site assignment of VPP account.
If this is not configured correctly per app, possible error outcomes: Pending - Application not avail error under device management history, License assignment to random users or devices causing the former error to appear, unable to assign VPP content under VPP tab under mobile device app you need to make sure vpp account is assigned to correct site.

Follow this guide for device assignments:
Make sure you are scoping your apps correctly. Make sure the app is made available to the correct site that your vpp account is assigned to. If you go to mobile device apps and you select the app then go to VPP and you are not able to check a box that says "Assign VPP Content" then the site assignment is incorrect for the app.

If this is not showing up the app site config or the vpp account is set to a different site. For us the site is none since we have an all encompassing setup.

Then verify the scope is correct for the app. For device assignment, scope should be specific smart group for instance with an explicit assignment (unless you have a ginormous amount of licenses, then you say all devices). Users should be switched to specific users but no explicit user group (unless the former is true, then you say all users). Again, this is only for Device assigned apps. These settings will assign VPP content to the users under the scope of "Specific users under Specific Device Group Scope".
Notice i did not assign a user scope other than specific users.

Otherwise say you have 35 licenses for an app and you scope it to a specific device smart group (i.e. MyClass1) and you scope to all users as well what will happen is the all users scope takes precedence and it will randomly start assigning apps and vpp content ignoring the specific device scope. Then you will see Pending - Application Not available...yadayadayada and your app will show no available licenses. If you look at the app history, you will see all licenses are taken and assigned to random "all users" instead of specific users under the specific device scope.

Again, if you assign to devices you don't need to specify an actual user group. Just set the scope under users to specific users and do assign a device scope explicitly in the form of a mobile device group, etc. In this example i used MyClass1 as a smart device group.

Hope this helps.

[theelysium]

We ran the update JSS 9.98.1492810864 and ever since then all of our apps say "Pending - Application is not available to install".

This is clearly another one of JSS' bugs. I have thousands of apps so manually re-adding each app is an unrealistic resolution to this issue. We need JSS to build in a button in Global, VPP, Content that allows us to tell the VPP account to refresh all of it's apps at once with Apple. Instead of manually doing each one.

[lbell]

Same issue here. None of the fixes worked. I have started a help ticket.

[St0rMl0rD]

I can't believe this still hasn't been resolved, it's been like years now with this issue, and JAMF definitely know about it. No idea what's preventing them to solve it.

[michael_devins]

@St0rMl0rD I would encourage you to contact support for assistance if you are experiencing this issue. We can investigate what is causing this issue in your environment and help you work through it.

[yadin]

Two years and this issue has never been fixed through many updates and major version releases?? JAMF is not functional software, at all. Why has anyone bought this, and why has the company not been sued into the ground for have a product that doesn't work? Name handling is non existent so you can't manage systems because they're seen with the wrong names all the time, AD binding no longer works in v10, VPP doesn't work at all at user or device level, it's a non-product! Our institution set this up centrally because it was supposed to be this great thing. Apparently it's all marketing and doesn't work. We're going back to Profile Manager I guess, tons of fluff features are useless when base functions are entirely missing making management impossible.

[howie_isaacks]

@ebonweaver Did you ask for help for any of these problems? Jamf provides the best support out of all of the tech vendors that we work with. They're awesome. I have had none of these problems that you described.

[miregan]

I have no issues at all either.

[yadin]

Apparently you aren't using the functions involved, because they are issues and limitations of the product. These have been discussed with support, and there is no solution or explanation in most cases. Glad you're not having problems, but unfortunately these issues are real.

1. There is no pre-stage management of any kind, that's a fact. This causes a lot of limitation down the line where device name is concerned, and any management based on name. This is a fact. Their own settings step on themselves and prevent managing names from the console when you don't allow users to modify name. AD binding and smart groups are not reliable when a system can have the wrong or out of sync name for 20 minutes. If they had pre-stage management like Profile Manager many of these problems and limitations would not exist. Stepping on themselves is a design fault.

2. AD binding was broken in v10, it worked in v9. As of v10 JAMF is deleting the computer record and remaking it before binding. This is not an option, and it's not functional in a domain that has tight delegations that limits creation. We have worked around this by making even tighter delegations that do not allow the delete command to work, which by sheer luck does not fail out the entire bind action. Support was unaware this change had been made, it took us a week to nail down the issue, and another few days to come up with a solution when they couldn't help. A change of this nature with no notice or option was not a good choice.

3. VPP is overly complicated and has no reporting of configuration inconsistencies. Once it was figured out, and we got past issues in their invitation process (bugs have been reported), we at least have user and iOS VPP working (except it has a failure rate and never failed with Profile Manager, reasons still unknown). Mac OS deployment is not possible in educational multiuser type settings, because they don't do device based VPP, and the user based VPP at the Computer level is not very functional.

A list of about 4 dozen other bugs, deficiencies, and issues has been submitted, but these were the biggest walls we hit. It's just very disappointing for a product of this size and age. We had expected a quick easy transition with lots of new features and enterprise robustness. Instead the transition has taken countless hours over 2 months and we are unable to have fully automated deployments and are still working around other problems. It has been anything but smooth and time saving.