JAMF IOS

[agyekum28]

how spot on is the mass action update command for IOS devices (iPad) in jamf? ive been told its a known hit or miss issue - all else being equal, device is on wifi etc 

[TrentO]

In a perfect environment, it's as reliable as APNS, so pretty reliable. It also depends of what command you are sending. The issue is that you're rarely in a perfect environment. IT work has thoroughly beat the "trust, but verify" mantra into my soul.

[GregBobbett]

Same thoughts as TrentO. It does work very well if everything is perfect. The issues I see happening for us are when it is a student device, one of the options is to 'Clear Passcode' to allow the install to happen while the iPad is locked. The issue is that when you send that command with the option selected the student device clears ALL of their biometric data as well as the passcode. From my experience, they will have to go through the process of setting up a passcode and finger/face ID.

If you don't select Clear Passcode, the device has to be unlocked to start the update process. Which means that the students can tell it to stop or to delay the update. Or if a student rarely opens the iPad, it may never install.

Best bet is to push it out to a set at a time (bandwidth issues if you hit everyone at once) and monitor the ones that don't finish or fail. Push it again and monitor/manage. For us, it can take 3-5 pushes to hit 90-95% then our school tech find the non-compliance devices and manually updates them. Funniest part is that it's usually the teachers that are the worst at staying updated.

Good luck.