Naming Devices in JAMF--AppleTV and IPads

[Bill_Hofius]

Hello!

I am wondering if it is possible to automate the naming of AppleTVs and iPads in Jamf Cloud? For example, is it possible to say that all AppleTVs will be named LOC-VIEW-ATV where the LOC string will be pulled from the device's location setting? For example, if we have 21 locations set up in Jamf Cloud, when we assign an AppleTV to Minneapolis can the device auto-rename itself to MPLS-VIEW-ATV?

For iPads, would it be possible to automate the naming of the device as LOC-DEPT-## where the LOC string is pulled from the device's location setting, the DEPT string is pulled from the device's department setting, and the ## is a number starting with 01 and going to 10 based on the number device at the location in that department? When we assign a device to Minneapolis and Finance or St. Paul and Sales could the IPad's auto-rename itself to MPLS-FIN-03 or STP-SALES-05?

[luispalumbo]

Hi @Bill_Hofius,
You can do it using Inventory Preload. I'm using it for all devices that stay at the same location, e.g. AppleTVs and iMacs, or they are part of a classroom set, e.g. early years iPads that stay at school, or loan iPads and MacBooks.

You can download the CSV template file, then open it in Excel and automate all the changes you want and then upload it again. The best thing about it is that if someone changes the name of the device, it will force back into whatever is in the Inventory Preload file. It will also rename the device right after the enrollment which is pretty good when deploying AppleTVs for example.

I hope it helps you with that issue.

[Bill_Hofius]

@luispalumbo I think I am going to need a little more guidance than this. 🙂

[Bill_Hofius]

@luispalumbo I found where the CSV template file was located and downloaded it. I do not see a Mobile Device Name field. I also do not see how I would "automate" the spreadsheet to use the the device's location as part of the name.

[luispalumbo]

@Bill_Hofius,
Sorry, I got confused with another option. The inventory preload doesn't rename the device, but you can set the asset_tag and other settings but not the name, sorry.

What you can do for the name is to use MUT, https://github.com/mike-levenick/mut/blob/main/README.md. The image below is an example of the filled template file.

Also, when I said automate in Excel is that you can add and/or replace the text for multiple cells at once.

You have to use MUT after the device is enrolled while the Inventory Preload can be setup prior to enrollment.