Unsupervised or Supervised iOS.

[paulnz]

Ideally I want to be able to use Activation Lock Bypass as we often get iPhones returned from staff after they have left the building and are Activation Locked. However, to achieve this I would need to Supervise devices in Configurator.

This poses a problem as often staff are upgraded to a newer iPhone and want their data backed up and restored to the new device. As we are only transitioning to managed iOS devices, the phones that are currently deployed are not Supervised and hence we can't backup and restore to a Supervised device.

What is everyone else doing to get around this issue?

[St0rMl0rD · Accepted solution]

You can restore an iOS device from a previous (supervised or nonsupervised device) to a new supervised device, keeping all of their iCloud backup data, but the new device being supervised. Here's how to do that:

• Disable "Find my iPad” on the old iOS device, perform iCloud backup on the same device
• Plug in the new device to Apple Configurator, Supervise and update the device to the latest iOS
• Once Supervised, unplug the new device and go through the Setup Assistant to restore from iCloud
• When the iCloud restore of the new device 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

Let me know if that helped.

[paulnz]

Thanks – I will give this a try.

[paulnz]

This does indeed appear to work and bonus, you can use the iTunes backup to restore data instead of iCloud providing you follow the steps.

Thanks for the info :)

[St0rMl0rD]

No problem. We struggled with this for a loooong time, trying to find a way on how to backup students' data to iCloud but still keep the devices supervised. That seemed to have solved the issue, but the key point here is to have the Find my iPad disabled.

[KyleEricson]

This doesn't work with the new Apple Config 2

[jasonf]

With Apple Configurator 2.1 I was able to successfully perform the instructions above. Some key points that need to be hit hard include removing Find my iPhone/iPad has to be done. Then when you perform the move into Supervised mode you need to migrate from one device to another. By doing that you accomplish being able to get the iOS device into Supervised mode AND save all client data. Also make sure the iTunes you are using is 'authorized' to push the apps otherwise you will end up with missing apps also. Wheeeewww... Why is it so complicated.

[dcbarry]

@St0rMl0rD , @jasonf

So I am trying this under COnfigurator 2.2.1. Has apple pulled this ability away again?

Here are the steps I follow:

Using OLD (unsupervised) ipad

-> remove find my ipad
-> force an icloud backup

then, with NEW ipad:

plug ipad into mac running configurator

Choose "Prepare" in options. In the configure options dialog, I make sure to choose "Set Up" and "apple id"

-> The device is OS updated, and is supervised (I can see it under the Hello" greeting).

-> I disconnect the cable

-> During setup, I choose restore from icloud. Restore completes, and I see the message to that effect.

At this point @St0rMl0rD instruction says:

•Before you refresh, change the "Restore" and "Update iOS" options to "Do not Update/Restore"

However, here is where I am lost:

1) when you say "refesh" I'm no sure that is a current option. Refresh under view is only that, to update the screen. Further, I do not see Restore" and "Update iOS" options anywhere.

Not withstanding that, if I plug back in, and try to rerun prepare, I get told the device has already been prepared. If I try to add a profile, I get told the action requires user intervention. Manual intervention ultimately failes, because the profile can only be installed on a supervised device.

Hope you can help! ;-)

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[jasonf]

The biggest thing to remember is when you get done backing up the old iPad and then restoring to the new iPad you have to restore to the iPad first, then supervise it. Otherwise if you restore you will wipe out the supervised mode. Then you have to start over and restore it (migrate) again and resupervise it. Once it is supervised then use your MDM solution to push the profiles to the iPad. Cisco offers Meraki for up to 100 devices free with the full set of features.

[mike_miller815]

Has anyone news on that matter?
I can't get it done on the current version of the Apple Configurator 2!
Thanks!