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It is hard to say one couldn't see this coming. Of the few features left in Server, the only one I remained interested in was Profile Manager, and that hasn't w
by eddieroger 5y ago
It is hard to say one couldn't see this coming. Of the few features left in Server, the only one I remained interested in was Profile Manager, and that hasn't worked right for a bit now. I'm fine with an Apple that wants to do hardware and operating systems more than software, but I wish they'd make Profile Manager-like features more available for regular people, not just Education or Business users. It would be infinitely useful to have such features for iPhones of family members who aren't so good with tech and could use a heavier hand in making sure the device is up to date and findable when lost. But I digress. I'm glad it's just ending, even if it's barely a surprise.
- EvanAnderson 5y agoI worked with a school district who used Profile Manager with ~200 iOS devices. Their in-house tech person got a horrified reaction from an Apple employee at an Apple event when they discussed the district's use of Profile Manager at that scale. The Apple employee seemed surprised that it worked and made it sound like it wasn't really supposed to be used for more than a handful of devices. I thought it was reasonably slick, personally, and would fit the bill for small orgs who otherwise didn't need a subscription MDM service.
- moduspol 5y agoUsing it several years ago, to me it sure seemed like a reference implementation of an MDM. It just lacked the robustness and flexibility that'd be required pretty quickly once you scale beyond a dozen or two devices.
- Sirened 5y agohaha I remember talking to one of the engineers on the enterprise management team at WWDC back in 2015 and he was surprised that anyone used it at all. It really did work well and it did its job.
- robertlagrant 5y agoBit of a mismatch between what their product people thought and reality, perhaps.
- deleted 5y ago[deleted]
- angulardragon03 5y agoCheck out Jamf Now, it has a free tier that you can use for stuff just like this.
- azinman2 5y agoAt least for VPNs, I’ve used tools that autogenerate profiles. In fact, doesn’t Apple have a separate tool to generate profiles IIRC? I guess you’re looking for the remote wipe ability? What would you do for a family member that requires a commercial service?
- brazzledazzle 5y agoYou could also write your own profile file. It’s really just a policy file written in xml(-ish?) with a poorly documented schema. Or at least it was poorly documented several years ago.
- easrng 5y agoThey're PLISTs and there is documentation somewhere but it's been a year or two since I've done iOS things and I don't remember where.
- easrng 5y agoThe tool for making profiles is Apple Configurator.
- stuff4ben 5y agoThis is very interesting! I need to manage my daughters phones as well as my ex-MiL who I still do tech support for. The Verizon Smart Family stuff barely works and I'm continually having to "fix" it. Can Jamf Now also do Android?
- ec109685 5y agoYou are a nice ex-SiL for your ex-MiL. I'd love to be able to manage my family's devices in the same way my corporate devices are managed. The built-in OS solutions aren't great (at least on iOS).
- vibrio 5y agohow hard would wide implementation of the Profile Manager be? Honest question. Im a biologist not at all a software guy but have ‘managed’ low level IT at startups so I think I get the value prop.
- eddieroger 5y agoNot very - there are several reference ones in various languages and frameworks. The difference I'm upset about is that Profile Manager got the closest to acting like a proper enterprise MDM, but still wouldn't let me supervise devices because I'm not a company. I'm not some weirdo who wants full control to devices I don't deserve it on, but I do want to make sure my grandparents' iPhones are up to date, or have the ability to make it beep when they call (from a land line) that they've lost it, or push family calendars or email accounts to their devices so they don't have to enter passwords. Apple has decided those features are only for the enterprise or schools, and I'm sadly neither. If you're interested this[0] is the MDM reference I'm most interested in these days. 0 - https://micromdm.io https://micromdm.io
- vibrio 5y agoThanks. That use is very much want I was thinking. I had very similar experiences with elder relatives and it would have made their (our) lives easier and better.
- OJFord 5y agoExcept in an M1 world.. if there was ever a time? Arm on server is already compelling, and when it comes to Arm chips Apple seems to ve 'killing it'.
- knd775 5y agoYou don't need the Apple Server software to use a Mac as a server, though.
- OJFord 5y agoWell that could be even more interesting! Not likely though?
- oatmealsnap 5y agoI use my old MacBook Air as a server. Really easy to set up out of the box.
- OJFord 5y agoI assumed (perhaps incorrectly) that they meant non-macOS Apple hardware servers. Also this was never intended for people using an old laptop 'as a server' anyway, of course that works, and people doing that don't need the enterprise features from a server-specific version of the OS.
- nine_k 5y agoIs this even compatible with macOS's EULA?
- dwighttk 5y agohttps://www.apple.com/newsroom/2021/11/apple-introduces-apple-business-essentials/ https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2021/11/apple-introduces-appl...
- LtdJorge 5y ago> but I wish they'd make Profile Manager-like features more available for regular people, not just Education or Business users.