Restore iCloud backup and Apple Configurator

[khurram]

It is funny that you can't restore iCloud backup on iPad once the iPad is all setup. I am in a situation where students have started using Unsupervised iPads and now we need to make the iPads supervised because we want the teachers to use Casper Focus. If I take backup and restore then it cant be done on iCloud because if I restore from iCloud BEFORE supervising iPads then the Apple Configurator will wipe off everything while supervising/ preparing and if I restore them from iCloud AFTER the iPads are supervised then iCloud is wiping the supervised profiles, confirmed. Even iTunes option will not work we cant take backups of all the iPads on our server and restoring each backup to its particular iPad and the students' home computer iTunes wont accept the iPads once they are supervised. Any suggestions.

[Lamberty]

Once you finish restoring your iPad from the iCloud backup after having the device supervised, connect it back to Apple Configurator, under Supervise, choose the iPad and click refresh. Your supervision profile should reappear.

[khurram]

Hi Lamberty,

Case-I:
If your sequence is 1) Supervise Device -> 2) Restore backup from iCloud so that wouldn't work because the only time you can restore iCloud backup is when you are setting up an iPad from the scratch manually.

Case-II
If your sequence is 1) Restore backup from iCloud -> 2) Supervise Device then for the Unsupervised device this might be possible but for the Supervised Device the "Erase before installing" option must be checked.

In our case we are making Unsupervised devices to Supervised.

[St0rMl0rD]

We are working with Apple on this. Will get back when we have a solution ASAP.

[caseybones]

We found a workflow that fixes this issue on iPad 3 and iPad 4 running iOS 7.0.4:

1. turn off Find my iPad on the old device (the device to be replaced)
2. create a backup to iCloud with Find my iPad turned off from that old device
3. connect the new device (replacement) to Configurator and go through the Prepare process
4. After Prepare completes, press Stop and disconnect replacement iPad from Configurator
5. Restore the replacement iPad from the iCloud backup you made in step 2
6. After the settings restore, DO NOT complete the mini-setup or proceed to the Home Screen!
7. Re-connect replacement iPad to Configurator and Refresh

Step 6 seems to be the key; there must be a plist that contains SetupAssistant TRUE that Configurator reacts to or something like that. When SetupAssistant FALSE appears (when it hasn't gone all the way to the home screen after restoring the settings) Configurator doesn't wipe the device during the Refresh.

We have not found a workaround for iPad 2 at this point, we can't get them to restore from iCloud without breaking Supervision. If anyone comes across one please let me know.

[caulfieldgs]

I followed the above steps 1 - 7 exactly as described using the following:
- iPad Air
- iOS 7.1.2
- Apple Configurator 1.5

---------------------------------------
Scenario 1: iPad in Supervisor Mode
---------------------------------------
- connect iPad to Configurator
- supervise iPad (device is wiped)
- complete setup assistant
- sign into App Store and downloaded a free app
- sign into iCloud and create a backup
- un-supervise iPad (device is wiped)
- supervise iPad (device is wiped)
- restore iCloud backup
- refresh device in Configurator (device is not wiped)
- complete mini setup assistant
- iCloud backup and restore has worked correctly.

---------------------------------------
Configurator Refresh Results:
---------------------------------------
- iPad is not restarted
- iOS is not reinstalled
- iCloud data is restored

---------------------------------------
Scenario 2: iPad not in Supervisor Mode
---------------------------------------
- connect iPad to Configurator
- un-supervise iPad (device is wiped)
- complete setup assistant
- sign into App Store and downloaded a free app
- sign into iCloud and create a backup
- supervise iPad (device is wiped)
- restore iCloud backup
- refresh device in Configurator (device is wiped)
- complete full setup assistant
- iCloud backup and restore has not worked.

---------------------------------------
Configurator Refresh Results:
---------------------------------------
- iPad is restarted
- iOS is reinstalled
- iCloud data is not restored

Summary: the procedure only appears to work when the iCloud backup is created using a device that is already supervised. In short, devices need to be wiped in order to use Supervisor Mode. Keen to hear any feedback as this one has me stumped...

[ItsMe_Sean]

First off, I'd just like to mention, this is completely possible if you do it right.

We have recently just had our iPhone rollout, in which I had to swap over all our unsupervised iPhones to new supervised iPhones enrolled in the JSS.

The steps I do to complete this procedure are as follows:

- Perform your iCloud backup on the device needing to be transferred, make sure "Find my iDevice" is disabled also
- Plug in your new device to Configurator, Supervise and update the device to the latest iOS
- Once Supervised, unplug your device and go through the setup assistant to restore from iCloud
- When the restore is complete, do not touch the setup assistant, plug it back into Configurator.
- Before you refresh, change the "Restore" and "Update iOS" options to "Do not Update/Restore"
- Once refreshed, proceed through the setup assistant, your device should now be Supervised and ready for MDM Enrollment.

I have found that this works and all my devices are now supervised while retaining all of the clients data.

This is all done via Configurator 1.5. I don't know how much it differs from previous versions.

[khurram]

Is it possible that you can do it in iPhone configuration utility and not in apple configurator

[ItsMe_Sean]

I do not know, as I have never used iPCU for anything. All my Configurations are done via Apple Configurator.

[james_ridsdale]

OK - I've tried the workflow as suggested by @Shadow_Within with zero success... my thumbs are now sore from Touch ID I've done it some many times...without success. Using Configurator 1.6. I have an unsupervised iCloud backup I need to restore to a supervised device.

[cdenesha]

I think the key is that you have to restore to a different device. Apple treats the restore differently if it is being done on the same device.

If you need the user to retain their original device, you could restore the Unsupervised iCloud backup to another device to get it Supervised, take another iCloud backup, and then restore this to the original device.

chris

[cmpatterson]

I am new to Apple Configurator and a MAC machine.

I want to supervise a brand new iPad and then "Restore from iCloud" the user's settings.

So in other words - I am replacing a user's OLD iPad with a NEW ipad. I want the new ipad to be supervised AND I want to restore from iCloud the user's settings/apps.

When I follow the directions listed I am very confused by these steps:
- Before you refresh, change the "Restore" and "Update iOS" options to "Do not Update/Restore"

I can't see in Configurator where or how to change those options. Can you please be more specific for a novice MAC user? It seems that once the device is refreshed it goes back to the default iPad settings and the restore is completely wiped and being supervised is wiped out as well.

Colleen

[steelopus]

The process recommended by @Shadow_Within works for me.

@cmpatterson - After you have restored from iCloud (step 4, above), don't touch the iPad, plug the iPad back into Configurator, select it in your list, and then on the Settings screen you should set "Update iOS:" to "Never update device" and "Restore:" to "Don't restore backup." Apply those settings. When the apply completes, then you can go back to the iPad and finish walking through the Setup Assistant.

[cmpatterson]

To @Shadow_Within and @steelopus

Can you please confirm that the process works? Have you been successful with iPads on iOS 8.1.2?

I just got this from my contact at JAMF Software:

Hi Colleen,

Good afternoon! Thank you for your ongoing patience as I did some testing on our end. So it looks like Apple may have gotten rid of the loophole that allowed this possibility in the past. From the 10+ attempts I completed in Apple Configurator 1.7.1, I was unable to get an iOS 8.1.2 supervised iPad restored to an unsupervised iCloud backup, **without wiping out the supervision.

**I was, however, able to get this to process to work on an old iOS 5.x supervised iPad. At this point, I would recommend contacting Apple directly to see if they have any further suggestions. I apologize that I couldn't find a solution for you this time around. I appreciate your understanding. Thank you and have a nice evening!

Best regards,

Mercedes Fulgione
Technical Account Manager
(612) 216-1296
support@jamfsoftware.com

[steelopus]

@cmpatterson As Mercedes said, it looks like Apple must have closed the loophole.

I reported success using the same exact process as @Shadow_Within, which explicitly states using Apple Configurator version 1.5.

If you have already upgraded Configurator past that version, I think you might be out of luck. I would definitely not recommend downgrading your version of Configurator to try this, as I have no idea what that would do to the (very sensitive and important) Configurator database.

[ItsMe_Sean]

Hey guys

I recently tested this again when I had to restore a clients iPhone, as they were being ported into our account and issued a school iPhone.

I can report I successfully used the same method as I previously posted to restore their data from iCloud using the latest version of configurator and iOS 8.1.3.

However, as I found out during some other testing, the key is that for this to work, it MUST be restored to a different device from that of which the data was backed up.

- Sean

[Peroni]

Just read through this. Our school has a ton of ipad 2's that are managed but at the time a few years ago they were put into jamf as not supervised. Is there anyway to easily change them to supervised without wiping the device and/or backing up everything? Could this be done remotely? Or would hundreds of students have to come in and go through the 30-45min process to backup wipe and reissue as supervised?

We are trying to use focus and it's only working with our supervised devices. Any advice?

[steelopus]

@Peroni Unfortunately, Apple still has not provided any means to supervise a device without first wiping it.

[Ajnnbvj]

@ khurram ,I only know many of iOS users use recovery tool to recover lost data from iOS devices.In fact,in addition to this, I don't know how to do it .

[JesseNCSD]

For anyone coming across this post, as of today, this method works fine using 10.3.2 and Configurator 2.

My particular issue was what others had wanted to do - move from an unsupervised device to a supervised one. In this specific case, new device was not DEP enrolled. User had set and forgotten the backup encryption password, but wanted to retain app data.

We:
- Enabled iCloud backup, let it back up
- On the new iPad, started with an updated, freshly wiped device and went through the wizard to the Restore from iCloud options
- After entering credentials, device rebooted and displayed a "Continue" message
- Plugged device into configurator machine without continuing through wizard, trusted computer via iPad GUI
- Supervised via blueprint
- Managed via blueprint

Verify all user data is present, device is supervised and managed.

[steelopus]

That's promising.

Do you know if the restore must occur on a different iPad, or can you backup, wipe, and restore (following your steps) on the same iPad?

[JesseNCSD]

@steelopus I have not tested restoring to the same device, but if it's like workflows with only Configurator (and not iCloud in the mix), you can't restore a backup to the same device and then supervise - it complains the device has already been configured when you try to supervise. Assume this is due to some reference to completing setup on the original hardware, which doesn't match when you restore user state onto a new piece of hardware.

If you try it, I'd like to hear how you make out.

[#23]

When I bought a new iPad recently I did an iCloud backup and it restored everything to the new iPad - apps and all the patches etc I had created.

[Ait]

Good morning all,
I followed your comment, I did not find the solution to my case.
I have an ipad supervising in Jamf / DEP by my boss.
I made an icloud backup of this ipad.
My boss is going to leave the company, blows asked me to remove ipad from jamf / dep.
Then do an icloud restore.
When I remove the ipad from jamf delete the MDM profile on the ipad.
The ipad no longer has a remote management certificate.
On the other hand as soon as I restore icloud, I see the mdm profile certificate on ipad.
I don't know how to remove certificate from mdm profile.
Need your help
Thx

[Ait]

Good morning all,
I followed your comment, I did not find the solution to my case.
I have an ipad supervising in Jamf / DEP by my boss.
I made an icloud backup of this ipad.
My boss is going to leave the company, blows asked me to remove ipad from jamf / dep.
Then do an icloud restore.
When I remove the ipad from jamf delete the MDM profile on the ipad.
The ipad no longer has a remote management certificate.
On the other hand as soon as I restore icloud, I see the mdm profile certificate on ipad.
I don't know how to remove certificate from mdm profile.
Need your help
Thx