OT: Stickers on iPad Boxes, Asset Management

[mcrispin]

I have heard from peoples that if you order a boatload of iPads, you can get a list of serials and MAC addys for asset control when they arrive. I keep asking my local person, but to no avail. My wireless network is registration based on MAC addy and no credentials (yes... the suck). Can we all scream at Apple to put those damn scannable stickers on iPad boxes, or am I simply not thinking about this the right way? Peace and Namaste - Mike from Duke

[cdenesha]

We are Educational, and bought through an Apple rep. Thus we received 10-packs of iPads, with serial numbers on the outside. Not sure if there were MAC addresses or not, as I'm collecting them from JSS.

We asked for and received up front the list of serial numbers.

If you get to the point where you need an easy way to get the MAC address from the iPad, and can get an app installed on it (i.e. Configurator or iTunes) then I recommend ScanMyCodes. With a small in app purchase on your phone, and the free app on all your iPads, you can collect unlimited serial numbers and MAC addresses right from the screen of the iPad.

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/scanmycodes/id644918002?mt=8

[lhscasper]

Hi Mike,

perhaps you're thinking about this the wrong way. In our first year of iPads our WiFi was registration based on MAC address but this was incredibly painful to manage and maintain. We have done away with all of that with Casper.

Our WiFi is now certificate based and certificate & profile is pushed via Casper so there's no "hands on" required. Yes, you need WiFi to received the pushed certificates but we are pushing our students to enrol at home and around 60% of them did last year. We also have a limited guest wifi (password protected) which we use to join students.

I would suggest that if you still want to "authorise" each individual iPad, then get your people to enrol in Casper at home. Then you can go into each device and add to a static group which is configured to receive the WiFi profile.

I'm not sure if your setup will allow it, but we now do our WiFi as default-allow. Every device gets the WiFi profile/certificate until I disallow it. Our Casper is setup to our AD so only authorised users can install Casper and get the WiFi setup anyway, so there's not a lot of risk for us.

Cheers,
Chris.

[jimlee]

You could also Supervise them all with Apple Configurator then export the info into a csv.

[bthomason]

Mike you can always get this list, no matter how many you order. you just need to talk to right person at Apple. It's in a spreadsheet somewhere coupled with your order.

[mcrispin]

Thanks for all the responses, I have heard of this spreadsheet, and am actively trying to find out who these "right people" are -- a task that is becoming complicated. I have a call into Austin on this issue, maybe their EDU regional rep will be more forthcoming.

I *wish* I could get our networking people to allow for certificate based authentication, I am kinda getting the run around, but it's an area that I've been pushing on. This is exacerbated by our general lack of centrally controlled purchasing facility, so far I've had 3 departments order about 100 devices on their fricking credit card where the iPads magically end up in my storage closet with little to no warning. Of course, these are not "IT" issue per se, I am thinking more strongly of just shooting one of them as a warning (I kid.... sorta) ;-) Getting "policy" synchronized here is going to be a challenge.

The iPads are not in a 1:1 situation, they are part of a lending system - so having users OTA register is not practical (plus, would take longer and more effort than just doing this myself), plus there is an issue of quality control, because of our machine naming system.

I did get the serials on the boxes though, but no MAC addy list.

I got a little crafty for this latest batch, where I basically took them home, created a no-security network with the SSID as the school network, then got them into Casper with the WiFi profile and Configurator. Worked -- wasn't very fun, I need a bigger car.

I think I need to find this spreadsheet thing. Half the damn senior executive staff at Apple (including Tim Cook and Bob Mansfield) went to Duke - you'd think I'd be able to shake more trees than this (!).

Thanks all - Mike