New Casper Deployment

[SDjet1997]

I am about to begin an implementation of the Casper suite for my company. We have about 1500 OSX devices globally. Prior to our Jumpstart I am hoping to complete as much work ahead of time as possible. Aside from the standard JumpStart pre requisites, does any one have any best practices or tips for creating regional/global groups. Overall tips and suggestions for pre-deployment are appreciated.

[bentoms]

@SDjet1997 welcome!

That's a pretty big question you've asked, the answers will greatly depend on what it is your wanting to achieve.

Could you give some examples?

From one global admin to another, the most important thing for me when starting out is: Network Segments.

What I really mean is making sure your macs are all in a network segment scope & that that segment has a Casper Distribution Point /JDS that's local enough not to cause files to be dragged across your WAN.

(Maybe that's just me appeasing the network guys).

Please ask some more (smaller) questions. I'm sure others will then chip in.

[SDjet1997]

What are the JSS minimum OS requirements. The OSX prerequisite says "Server to host the JAMF Software Server (“JSS”) meeting the minimum requirements and JAMF Software approved Operating System." But doesn't say what the minimum requirements are.

[#4]

Seconded on defining network segments early, also make sure you have clear definitions of Buildings (locations) and Departments.

It'll help as you begin to scope policies based on who the user is (dept) versus where they are. Maybe you need to automatically install or set a default printer based on where someone is, or restrict software when on the company LAN but allow it at home.

I'd also say that while you learn to build packages and deploy, ALWAYS test them prior to deployment.

[#5]

And from the JSS Installation v9.2 PDF:

JSS Installer for Mac

The JSS Installer for Mac requires a Mac computer with: ??

A 64-bit capable Intel processor
??2 GB of RAM
??400 MB of disk space available
??OS X Server v10.7 or later
??Server.app (recommended)
??Java 1.6 or later
??Java Cryptography Extension (JCE) Unlimited Strength Jurisdiction Policy Files 1.6 or later
You can download the latest JCE from:
http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/java/javase/downloads/jce-7-download-432124.html
?12
??MySQL Enterprise Edition 5.5 or later (recommended), or MySQL Community Server 5.5 or later, available at:
https://www.mysql.com/downloads/
??Ports 8443 and 9006 available

[yan1212]

Hi @SDjet1997,

This is indeed a pretty broad topic as @bentoms has rightly pointed out.

You will probably find that there is not a dogmatic way of doing things and that each company's setup is effectively different based on their needs. This is in many ways the advantage of the Casper suite in that it allows you to be flexible and it scales up pretty easily.

As you are at a pre-deployment stage my (personal) suggestion would be to try and make some key planning decisions about how you want to manage your clients as early as possible before you get into the technical details.

For example the following may be useful: - are you going to cluster the JSS?
- will you use a load balancer?
- do you want your external clients to communicate with the JSS?
- do you require a JSS instance in a DMZ?
- are you going to use JDS instances?
- how are you going to carve up your estate (Network segments, Sites Departments, Buildings)? This will be important when it comes to scoping policies.
- how would you like software to be installed to your clients (forced via policy or will you focus on Self Service)?
- are you going to use push notifications? Make sure you do NOT use your personal AppleID to create the APNS certificate...once your iOS devices are enrolled this cannot be changed...
- who else will be providing support via the JSS to your Mac users? Do you need to use sites?

There is a lot more to consider and all these decisions will inevitable influence your decisions and workflows once you get into production. The good news is that you will get some very good advise from people in JAMFNation in addition to JAMF Support.

I hope this helps a bit

[SDjet1997]

Thank you @yan1212. These are very useful suggestions which I am slowly but surely discovering and documenting along the way.

[#8]

+1 for using Self Service, especially if you have a large number of laptops in your fleet, although you may wish to wait until you're a bit more familiar with policies.