No more Jamf Remote...now what?

[jonathan_massey]

I wanted to reach out to this forum to see what you all are planning to do when Jamf Remote goes away. As a large K-12 enterprise, our campus tech's rely on Jamf Remote's ability to push commands to devices WAY more than they do the ability to screen share. Our users aren't administrators on our machines, and we don't use localadmin accounts, so SSH-ing into a machine is also not in the cards. We're going to be in quite the pickle.

I'd like to know how others plan to address this, and if there is anything out there than can leverage JAMF remote's abilities that perhaps we don't know about.

[thebrucecarter]

Apple Remote Desktop?

[SmilieK]

Apple Remote Desktop or TeamViewer

[mm2270]

One thing I would start with is rethinking a bit about what you really need to be pushing to your Macs over something like Jamf Remote. I would be willing to bet that some of the items your techs are doing can be handled with regular policies instead of one off commands. I completely understand that at best, this might eliminate a small handful of cases where Jamf Remote is relied upon, leaving a lot still that needs to be addressed.

Regarding where you say you aren't using local admin accounts, can you clarify this for me? Do you not have ANY local admin accounts on the Macs at all? That doesn't seem like a realistic scenario to me. I understand it's technically possible to do this, but it doesn't strike me as a great idea and could put you into some difficult situations.
If using a local admin account is possible, there is always things like Apple Remote Desktop, but this is of course an additional cost. (digression: Why Apple still charges for that product is really beyond my comprehension and seems like an insult given that it hasn't been significantly updated in many years. Microsoft for example, gives RDP away for free, and Microsoft is arguably more reliant on revenue from software than Apple is. Whatever. There's no figuring out Apple sometimes. end digression)

Outside of ARD or VNC {{shudder}}, you may have to consider looking at some other commercial product that can do remote support. But most products out there are geared toward "remote control" and not so much "remote commands", so that might be easier said than done.

In conclusion, ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ I don't have a great answer to this one. I had hoped (and still hope) Jamf was going to integrate Jamf Remote's capabilities into their Jamf Pro UI, but we've yet to see that happen, and something tells me they won't have that in the product by the time Jamf Remote.app is axed.

[debrat]

We find the 'Files & Processes' payload in Policies as a quick way to send commands to scoped computers. The main difference is this can't be sent on-demand like Jamf remote but can be posted in self service for users to run or set on a trigger. 

[jcarr]

To piggy-back on @mm2270 and @debrat, if you find that there is a small subset of commands that you typically push out via Jamf Remote for frequent help desk scenarios, you may want to consider setting up a 'first aid' or 'self help' category and adding a bunch of these items as 'files and processes' policies and adding them to Self Service in that new category.  Users may not run them on their own, but when a user calls the help desk, rather than the tech pushing via Jamf Remote, they can just ask the user to open Self Service and click the appropriate policy.

Just a thought.

[mark_sampers]

I'm hoping Jamf Remote stays around until Jamf comes up with a better replacement.  I wouldn't mind issuing a on demand policy through the web portal but I don't want policies (waiting computer check in) replacing what Jamf Remote did on demand.  As with @jonathan_massey I work in a school district with over 30 buildings.  Each building has a tech that depends on Jamf Remote to manage their computers.  If we were to move to policies or Self Service for simple tasks (printer addition or one-off application addition), it would get messy fast and hard to manage.  

[CSCC-JS]

When is Jamf Remote reaching EOL?

[mhasman]

Timbuktu 🙂 

[L-plateAdmin]

due to the lack of VPN ip recording in the app, just using MS teams for screensharing has become the norm, but yeah pushing commands were useful.  we do have SSH enabled though so that the workaround,.. i was always useful to script policy reinstalls or make up on the spot

[MrRoboto]

During the week most of our users are on-site across different locations. All locations are reachable from HQ so Jamf Remote has been a valuable tool for our Techs. Moving to Team Viewer has a cost, MS Teams is okay however performance and features are lacking.

Has anyone worked on a solution to enabled ARD via MDM command from a Self Service policy? I would like a policy that the end user can run, it would use API to send MDM command. Then Techs could use Screen Sharing app to connect. Finally we need MDM command to disable ARD after the Tech is done work, would be best to automate this at the next reboot so it doesn't get forgotten.

[MacTool]

This is a real disruption.  We hardly used remote control because of the other functions of Jamf Remote.  For instance, I had policies and scripts setup to replicate user data from their old machine to a new machine prior to deployment for lifecycle replacement.  We are talking several hundred gigabytes of local data (I know... don't get me started on that).  Using Jamf Remote allowed us to kick off everything silently in the background until the new machine was ready to deploy without interrupting the user for several hours to replicate data locally (target disk mode or Migration Assistant). This also allowed our techs to almost immediately remedy issues without having to request remote control, log in with ssh, or walk the user through Self Service items that have to context to them.  If Remote Control is an issue, then leave it out of future versions.  Please keep the rest of the functionality.

[DanJ_LRSFC]

Jamf Remote is particularly useful when troubleshooting or when we need to push out a "quick fix" to classroom machines - having to create a policy, force it to run and then delete it afterwards is a massive hassle we would like to avoid. Does anyone know if there is a third party alternative to Jamf Remote now that they are planning to kill it? We still need the replacement to interface with Jamf so it can be used to deploy packages/scripts from there.

[ASoesmanjn]

NO NO NO!!!! Please don't remove one of the most useful JAMF tools!!!  😥

[PDLCIII]

Not cool... not cool. 

I'm not upset, just disappointed. 

[Discher]

I'm upset.

[wolfhead]

JAMF Remote is an ESSENTIAL tool - we use it to help push apps back to laptops if they have been removed or have had problems.  Yes there are policies in place to also do this but using the smart group and pushing the app back via remote is so much quicker than just waiting for the policy to run.  In addition to this, last year we found a lot of our laptops had somehow 'lost' communication with the JAMF server and so policies were not running, inventory was not running etc unless we did it from remote.  The solution to this from JAMF - erase the laptops and set them up again - which is less of a solution and more scorched earth and not possible in the school year.  Remote needs to come back or they need a replacement.

[davidi4]

watch the 2022 JNUC Keynote...

[jbanks]

And its gone....now what?

[wolfhead]

So I had downloaded an older version of JAMF to just use remote and this morning...it now says "This account does not have privileges in the Jamf Pro Server to use Jamf Remote" - if they have actually killed it they have really hampered us.  It worked on Friday so wonder if there was a cloud update?

[mm2270]

Yes, Jamf Cloud was updated over the weekend to 10.42. All cloud customers should get notices about upgrades to their cloud instances.

And Jamf Remote was removed as of version 10.40 from the release notes.

10.40.0

Jamf Remote

Jamf Remote has been removed from Jamf Pro. This includes the screen sharing workflow using Jamf Remote. Jamf recommends to use TeamViewer for remote administration. For instructions on how to integrate TeamViewer with Jamf Pro, see TeamViewer Integration in the Jamf Pro Documentation.

[wolfhead]

Yeah and I know it was removed but Teamviewer and JAMF Remote are not the same product in a million ways so it is a frankly a stupid suggestion from JAMF.

JAMF Remote is not a remote desktop product....it allows us to push apps from the catalog in JAMF, to run commands like inventory and clear cache etc So I have no idea why JAMF thought that suggesting a remote desktop product made a suitable replacement when they are totally different in nature and if we need remote desktop we've had ARD for years.

[mm2270]

I wasn't in any way saying that Jamf removing Remote and suggesting customers use a 3rd party product as its replacement makes sense. I was just pointing out they've been saying for a long while now that Jamf Remote was going away for whatever reason. So there should be no surprise it's actually gone at this point. But frustration over the decision is still completely valid for those who used Remote in their daily workflows.

It would have been nice if they gave us at least some of Remote's functionality within the Jamf console, but they are either not able to do that, or not interested in doing it.

[mhasman]

As I mentioned on other similar topics, for me the best important of Jamf Remote are secure access and jamf resources access control. You can declare permissions and level of access for IT users/admins/support/security/etc in Jamf PRO settings, no need any 3rd part accounts and installations
Check Teamviewer demo. IMO it represents horrible end-user experience as well as many additional steps for IT. "Go to that URL - Download - Open image - Install app - Open App - Grand me the access"... nightmare 

[wolfhead]

For me it is time management and time sensitive work....we have to push an update to a State testing app to 1000 laptops but only 800 have it installed after a week with 1 week left before the testing date.  Sure we could stick it in Self Service but then we are relying on 13 year olds to follow instructions but we know all their computers are online at certain points of the day and with smart groups scoping machines missing the app can easily use remote to select the group, select the apps from the catalog in JAMF and push them out. It has solved so many issues like this over the last few years that to remove it without a replacement of any kind to do the same work is just terrible from my perspective.

[mhasman]

IMO pushing software and version control might be done with smart groups and policies better/easier/cleaner/faster. Set the push policy to Recurring Check-in trigger and check the log time to time. 
Deploying with Jamf Remote is very manual. We only use it for troubleshooting when something should be installed "right now" to particular Mac. 

[wolfhead]

We have that set but what we have found is that a lot of the laptops just do not trigger the event.  For example they will inventory but when you look they have not 'checked in' for months in some cases over a year and there is zero logic.  We brought this up with JAMF and all they said was scorched earth wipe them and set them up again which isn't a practical answer nor explained why that was happening on some devices but not others when they were all set up at the same time (thus certificates and dates all the same etc etc).  Thats why we use remote for the manual pushes when the triggers fail.

[mhasman]

Interesting... so, devices are managed and visible on Jamf PRO side, and Jamf Remote is able to install something - but policies are not happening? Wow. Seems like some serious issue. I would put it as top priority to be resolved, over everything else. Also, I agree with Jamf recommendation, if device is action weird it is better been reimaged and reenrolled asap

[wolfhead]

The resolution is certainly correct - just not massively practical in the middle of a school year with minimal spares/replacements :)

[khurram]

suckers, degraded product, Jamf Pro

[jbanks]

I use this to send out printers to labs, install software, nearly everything.  Plus being able to push was just so convenient!  Teamviewer is not an option...

I just don't understand WHY they removed it and why they didn't have a substitute.  It seems like this was a major focus for JAMF recently, only to fall by the wayside.  

[mhasman]

Maybe Apple doesn't want any similar tools exists because of the level of access? More and more things in macOS come under full end-user control. I wouldn't be surprised if latest version of Jamf Remote does not work with Ventura.

Or maybe the developer who wrote Jamf Remote is not with Jamf anymore? 

[wolfhead]

You may be right and if that was the case they could tell us that.....that it was being discontinued due to Apple security policies preventing it from working.....BUT I can still with Monterey use Apple Remote Desktop to install a PKG file onto multiple machines so the functionality is still there now.

The problem is that even with the new in 2023 remote administration feature, even if that allows us to do things like install packages etc from the webUI it would be a per-device thing as opposed to Remote which lets us do it to 100s at once etc etc.

[jbanks]

Could be.  Just sad to see such a valuable tool deprecated and not replaced.  To say I am disappoint is an understatement.  

[mhasman]

I'm with you 

[skinford]

This is just not a good strategy for JAMF to remove Remote from its catalog.  We use it for everything that needs to be done right now most times can't wait for a system recheck to push software or do something needed NOW!

I hope that JAMF reverses their course on the Remote tool or even reads these posts but they probably don't even do that.  I liked JAMF in the beginning but after some of the changes and especially this one, not so much now. Sad, apparently they haven't asked the end users just their engineers.  We cannot in any way use Teamviewer at the college where I work at.  Also, I don't see a push immediately in any of the policy setups that I have to do daily.  This is not going to be good at all.

[wolfhead]

I was contacted by their customer service people following my questions to support and again, they pushed the idea of teamviewer which I pointed out has effectively 0 of the functionality of Remote.  I honestly believe this move, unless done because of Apple closing the ability to do it (but they have never once mentioned that so assume not), shows a complete lack of understanding of how that application was used by people as it was not a remote desktop tool - so saying here we are replacing it with a remote desktop tool is nonsensical. 

In addition, why not continue to support it UNTIL you have that tool in place at least rather than removing it months before there even is another option coming from JAMF.  They will not reverse their course I am 100% sure of that but I hope I was able to make them aware of the issues.

[dugnl]

Just discovered this myself.  I infrequently use JAMF Remote but it's to run policies in the background that need to be done now.  Usually because I have a machine that while everything appears functioning, for whatever reasons policies aren't coming down and working automatically.  Same permission issue error with an old version.   Folks that think we can just go wipe a device and reload are not very customer friendly.  Yea, let me just go grab Professor X's device and wipe it to fix the fact a JAMF mysteriously stopped working.   And the TeamViewer solution for remote control sounds like a great idea...except it means someone has to pay for it....and that's never going to happen where I work.  I'll get over it but it's a functional tool that shouldn't have been lost.

[jp4050]

Just came across this issue myself with the old JAMF Remote now failing to allow access. This is a serious issue for those of us who use JAMF remote for immediate fixes. Major failure on JAMF for removing this application. 

[skinford]

To whom it may concern @ JAMF,

I don’t know what the thinking logic was to remove one of the best tools that you had in your arsenal to work on macs.  But JAMF Remote was not used to remote into devices as it’s the primary function, of most people.  It was used to push and finish policies “instantaneously” instead of waiting to push something and constantly checking back on the web interface to see if it was completed.  It was used to make the speedy implementation of software and script policies that were uploaded into JAMF where now I must tell clients it will be installed when it can be installed when each client checks in.  With JAMF Remote when I clicked the start button it started and showed me which systems completed and tanked if any did and when I clicked on show logs, why they tanked instantly.

 I don’t think that your management team was thinking this one through, if it’s a case of program financing, maybe throw your code and the necessary hooks on GitHub so someone else can take over that app and its operation for the community as a whole.

You had one of the best Apple MDMs with that one tool alone, but some of the comments in the forums show people who are genuinely considering jumping ship because it is gone.  Sadly, without JAMF Remote you are even with other Apple MDMs.

 Thank you for your time, although living in the corporate/educational environment for most of my life nothing will probably be reversed, very sad.

 My last comment would be next time you do something like this can you at least put out a short survey to the community, “Do you use this tool or this function?”  maybe then you would have received the response you would have needed before this move.

May you all have a very great day today!!