Mac Student Computer Lab - Proper Zerotouch

[eaititig]

Hi,

I'm trying to setup Catalina in our Mac Student lab of 30 computers. The problem is when I do an Erase and Reinstall of macOS, there are a number of screens that must be manually clicked in order for JAMF to then continue with the rest of the setup.

First, there is the Welcome Country Screen, which requires picking the right country and clicking Continue.

Then the Written and Spoken Languages dialog, requires clicking Continue.

Then Remote Management - requires clicking Continue and then it talks to JAMF Server via the Internet.

Then a Select Your Time Zone which requires setting (though later JAMF will change it to the correct timezone via a script) and clicking Continue.

I do NOT want to have to go around to 30 machines clicking and selecting these dialogs.

I want it to be proper zerotouch. I guess my question is, is that actually possible?

[eaititig]

I attended a webinar by Apple today about Big Sur and they said Auto Advance should do what I need. Need to investigate.

[Tribruin]

Yes, Big Sur auto advance will do exactly that. With AutoAdvance enabled, you will skip the Welcome, Language, and Remote Management screens. You will need to set your PreStage to skip the Location Services setup screen.

In your Prestage Enrollment, you can enable "Auto Advance through Setup Screen" and set the default Language and Region.

On the computer, when auto advance is enable, you must wait 30 secs with the computer connected to the internet, before setup starts. If you touch the computer (keyboard or mouse) during that 30 seconds Auto Advance will cancel itself and you must walk through setup manually. (There is no indication or count down on the screen that the computer is ready to use Auto Advance).

[lynnaj]

I am looking for confirmation that Auto Advance actually works. Has anyone seen this working? In my tests, I have a DEP enrolled mac with Auto Advance turned on in the JAMF prestage. However, when I setup the mac it still wants the Region and Language and Accessibility screens run through BEFORE connecting to my wireless network. Once I put in my wireless network password I get the JAMF enrollment screen. Perhaps people with a wired connection are seeing different behavior? I hope to test a wired connected mac tomorrow.

If you do have Auto Advance working in your environment, do you have Auto Advance checked and then have you also checked to skip all the setup screens? Or do you just have Auto Advance checked? Thank you!

[mainelysteve]

@lynnaj Wired connections are required for auto advance. 802.1x isn't supported either.

[Tribruin]

As @mainelysteve said, you must have a wired connection. In addition, Auto Advance will only work if you do not touch the computer at the setup screen until the process is complete. It will take about 30 seconds to start.

I have used tested it with MacBook Air and a Thunderbolt Ethernet adaptor and it works exactly as advertised. In fact, it is kind of fun to watch the Mac step through the setup screens automatically. Almost like a ghost is using the computer.  👻

[lynnaj]

Thanks for the confirmation. I was finally able to test this on a wired connected mac this afternoon and it worked like a champ!

I should now be able to script my lab computer resets which include a disk erase then a reinstall of the OS, followed by a push of settings and 150 GBs of applications. It would be so nice to be able to do these resets on a carefully scheduled basis in the middle of the night while I'm sleeping! Years ago I could do that easily with products like DeployStudio so this sort-of feels like back to the future ... but I'll take it!

Thanks again for the confirmation that a wired connection is required.

[taugust_ric]

I'm a little stumped. Has anyone gotten this working on a new Apple Silicon MacBook Air? I'm using a Belkin USB-C ethernet adapter. Stuck at the "Select Your Country or Region" screen for over 15 minutes and no advancement... Confirmed the pre-stage is setup, and, that the system is assigned to the pre-stage.

Pretty excited at the prospects of using this. It's been about 5 OS versions since we've been able to do zero-touch for systems like labs that aren't assigned to people!

[ktrojano]

I'm also interested if anyone has gotten this to work with a M1 MacBook Air. I have 100 new ones to set up. I'm also using a Belkin USB-C ethernet adapter. I plugged it into the Mac and waited 30 seconds before opening the screen. I then waited another minute after I opened up the Mac. It just sat at the Language screen.

I did get it to work on an intel Mac I wiped and reinstalled the OS on so I know the pre-stage is set up correctly. Any input would be greatly appreciated.

[ajufer]

Hey, were you ever able to get this working with the M1 MacBook Airs? I'm having the same issue.

[ktrojano]

No, it still isn't working on an M1 out of the box. It does work if I wipe the M1 we already had in service. From what I heard this is a known Apple issue. All of the M1s I tried this with shipped with Big Sur. I try it again when we get our next order with Monterey. 

[user-uVIrofrYAp]

We just got a bunch of new iMac's for a computer lab designed for students to 3D But for immediate purposes, I would like to find some good resources to reach Apple's Zero-touch enrollment to just ship user's computers directly to them.

prepaidcardstatus

[user-uVIrofrYAp]

We just got a bunch of new iMac's for a computer lab designed for students to 3D But for immediate purposes, I would like to find some good resources to reach Apple's Zero-touch enrollment to just ship user's computers directly to them

[user-gqIRhGsWzx]

I have a DEP enrolled mac with Auto Advance turned on in the JAMF prestage. However, when I setup the mac it still wants the Region and Language and Accessibility screens run through BEFORE connecting to my wireless network. Once I put in my wireless network password I get the JAMF enrollment screen. Perhaps people with a wired connection are seeing different behavior? I hope to test a wired connected mac tomorrow.

[user-VBXpoGimFo]

Account owners and admins can enable a setting that requires all meetings paygonline to be secured with one of the following security options: a passcode, Waiting Room, or Only authenticated users can join meetings.

[Tribruin]

@user-gqIRhGsWzx Auto Advance requires a wired network connection to work. With Auto-Advance set, you will still see the Region and Language screens, but they will auto-advance if that option is selected in your Jamf Prestage Enrollment. It will take about 30 seconds for Auto Advance to start, so be patient.

Also, just a reminder that Auto Advance is a feature of Big Sur and will not work on Catalina or lower.