Configure Automated Device Enrollment

Remotely enroll macOS, iOS, and iPadOS devices in Mobile Device Management (MDM). Automated Device Enrollment (ADE) lets you automatically enroll devices into JumpCloud MDM during the device out-of-box experience. After devices are enrolled in JumpCloud MDM, IT Admins have management and configuration control over managed devices. With a customized setting, Zero-Touch Automated Device Enrollment Onboarding can also automatically bind the user to the device after authentication.​​​​​

First, you'll configure ADE for your organization. Next, you'll add your device to the MDM server. Then, you'll sync the device with Apple. Finally, you'll configure your end users' zero-touch experience.

1. Configure ADE for your Organization
2. Add Device to the MDM Server
3. Sync Device to JumpCloud
4. Configure your End Users’ Experience
5. Renew Your Automated Device Enrollment Token Annually

Configure Automated Device Enrollment for your Organization

1. Log in to the JumpCloud Admin Portal.
2. Go to DEVICE MANAGEMENT > MDM.
3. On the MDM home page, click get started under Automated Device Enrollment Configuration.
4. ​​​In Set Up Apple’s Automated Device Enrollment, click download under Generate a Key. JumpCloud downloads a certificate that contains a key. Apple uses this to encrypt the Automated Device Enrollment token.
5. Under Sign in to Apple, click sign into Apple Business Manager and enter your credentials. If you have an education account, click sign into Apple School Manager.
6. Add your MDM server:
7. Select your profile name, then select Preferences.
8. Select MDM Server Assignment, then click Add MDM Server.
9. Enter a name for your company’s MDM server and leave Allow this MDM Server to release devices selected.
10. Click Choose File.
11. Locate the jumpcloud-dep.pem file downloaded in Step 4, select it, and click Open.
12. Click Save.
13. Download the token by selecting the server and clicking Download Token, then clicking Download Server Token.
14. In the Admin Portal, go to Set Up Apple’s Automated Device Enrollment and under Upload Automated Device Enrollment Token, install the new token by clicking Browse or dragging and dropping the server token for your MDM server. 
15. Click complete setup.

See the Getting Started Guide for Apple Business Manager to learn more about Apple’s Automated Device Enrollment. 

Add the Device to the MDM Server

1. Log in to Apple Business Manager (ABM) or Apple School Manager (ASM).
2. Click Devices and select your device. You may want to search for it by serial number.
3. Click Edit MDM Server.
4. Select Assign to the following MDM and choose your MDM server from the list.
5. Click Continue, then click Confirm. 
6. Verify that the device was added to your MDM server.

The sync process between Apple and JumpCloud ensures the device will contact JumpCloud’s MDM server on first boot to enroll in MDM.

Sync the Device to JumpCloud

1. Log in to the JumpCloud Admin Portal.
2. Go to DEVICE MANAGEMENT > MDM.
3. On the MDM home tab, click sync with Apple under Automated Device Enrollment Devices to ensure that your list of JumpCloud Automated Device Enrollment devices matches what is in ABM or ASM.

From here, you can configure your end users' experience on company-owned Apple devices from day one. For macOS users, see Configure your macOS users' zero-touch experience. For iOS users, see Configure your iOS users' zero-touch experience.

Configure your End Users’ Experience

Configure your macOS users' zero-touch experience:

1. Log in to the JumpCloud Admin Portal.
2. Go to DEVICE MANAGEMENT > MDM.
3. On the Apple tab, under Automated Device Enrollment Configuration, click Configure MacOS to configure your zero-touch experience.
4. Configure the Default Group Association.
   • Select the JumpCloud device group to automatically bind this device to. Default device groups can use a policy to ensure that all devices enrolling in Automated Device Enrollment get the security and compliance levels applied immediately during enrollment.
     • None – This device won’t be bound to a device group.
     • An existing group – Select a macOS group that you’ve already created.
     • Create New group – Click Create New Group to add a new device group and then return here to bind the device to it.

5. Configure the Welcome Screen details, such as title, description, button name, and logo that your users see:
   • Screen Title – Update the title of the Welcome screen.
   • Description – Add critical information to the Welcome screen.
   • Button – Type a new name for the button. The default is continue.
   • Logo – Add your logo to the Welcome screen by going to Settings, selecting Organization Profile, and uploading it there.
6. Configure the Setup Assistant Settings. Select the screens that you do not want your users to see during account configuration. Controlling what users see can help you troubleshoot any onboarding issues:
   • Select all – None of these screens show during account configuration.
   • Select a screen – Select a specific screen to exclude it during account configuration:
     • Skip Accessibility setup – macOS 11+
     • Skip Analytics
     • Skip Apple Pay setup
     • Skip Privacy Consent screen
     • Skip restoring from backup
     • Skip Screen Time screen
     • Skip Siri setup
     • Skip iCloud Analytics
     • Skip Unlock Your Mac with Apple Watch – macOS 12+
     • Skip Apple Intelligence setup – macOS 15+
     • Skip Wallpaper setup – macOS 14.1+
     • Skip iCloud Documents and Desktop setup
     • Skip Location Services setup
     • Skip Appearance setup
     • Skip Apple ID sign-in
     • Skip Touch ID setup
     • Skip DisplayTone setup
     • Skip manual FileVault setup
     • Skip Terms and Conditions
     • Skip Lockdown Mode setup – macOS 14+
     • Skip Terms of Address setup – macOS 13+
7. Under User authentication, select Enable to turn on User authentication, which requires users to authenticate during Automated Device Enrollment. A successful macOS authentication automatically binds the user’s JumpCloud account to the device with Sudo Admin permissions. If users aren’t prompted to authenticate when they power up their devices, you didn’t enable user authentication here.

8. Click save.
9. You can require users to change a password when authenticating during Automated Device Enrollment:
   1. Go to USER MANAGEMENT > Users.
   2. Select the checkbox for one user or select all users, then click more actions.
   3. Choose Force Password Change. The user must reset the password when authenticating during Automated Device Enrollment.
   4. Click force change. 
10. After the user authenticates, verify that the user was automatically bound to the macOS device and has Sudo permissions:
    1. Go to DEVICE MANAGEMENT > Devices.
    2. Select the device and select the Users tab.
    3. Verify that the correct user appears as an Admin with Sudo permissions on the device. Each macOS device requires at least one admin account per device as part of MDM enrollment. 

To see a simulation of what your macOS user will see when they open the box to log into their new device, see our simulations linked in Additional Resources below.

If an unsupported macOS device is assigned to the JumpCloud MDM server in ABM, it will attempt to install the agent, which will generate an error and cause the device to hang at the install screen. The device will need to have the JumpCloud MDM server unassigned in ABM. This can be done by removing the JumpCloud MDM server from the Default Device Assignment under Device Management Settings or by changing the Device Management settings for the individual device.

Configure your iOS users’ zero-touch experience

1. Log in to the JumpCloud Admin Portal.
2. Go to DEVICE MANAGEMENT > MDM.
3. Under Automated Device Enrollment Configuration in the MDM home tab, click configure iOS and iPadOS to configure your zero-touch experience.
4. Select a JumpCloud iOS device group to automatically bind to this device. Default device groups can use a policy to ensure that all devices enrolling in Automated Device Enrollment get the security and compliance levels applied immediately during enrollment.
   • None – This device won’t be assigned to a device group.
   • An existing group – Select an iOS device group that you already created.
   • New group – Click Create New Group to add a new group and then return here to bind the group to the device.

5. Customize the Welcome screen title, description, and button name that your users see:
   • Screen Title – Update the title of the Welcome screen.
   • Description – Add critical information to the Welcome screen.
   • Button – Type a new name for the button. The default is continue.
   • Logo – Add your logo to the Welcome screen by going to Settings, selecting Organization Profile, and uploading your logo.
6. Select the screens that you do not want your iOS users to see during device configuration. Controlling what users see can help you troubleshoot any issues:
   • Select all – None of these screens show during device configuration.
   • Select a screen – Select the screens to exclude during configuration.
7. Select Enable to turn on User authentication, which requires users to authenticate during Automated Device Enrollment. A successful iOS authentication automatically assigns the JumpCloud user to the device. If users aren’t prompted to authenticate when they power up their devices, you did not enable user authentication here.
8. Click save.
9. To increase device security, you can require users to change their password when authenticating during Automated Device Enrollment:
   • Go to USER MANAGEMENT > Users.
   • Select the checkbox for one user or select all users, then click more actions.
   • Choose Force Password Change. The user must reset the password when authenticating during Automated Device Enrollment.
   • Click force change. 
10. After the user authenticates, verify that the user is assigned to the device and that the device appears in the Devices list.
    • Go to DEVICE MANAGEMENT > Devices.
    • Select Devices, select the device, then select Users.

Default Password Sync

By default, any new users associated to devices have their JumpCloud password synced to their device password. Toggle this Off to disable password sync and have users enter a local password to log into their device instead. See Device Password Sync to learn more.

Renew Your Automated Device Enrollment Token Annually

You need to renew Apple’s Automated Device Enrollment server token every year to continue enrolling new devices with Automated Device Enrollment. Your token expiration date is visible in the MDM home page under Automated Device Enrollment Configuration.

1. Log in to the JumpCloud Admin Portal.
2. Go to DEVICE MANAGEMENT > MDM.
3. On the MDM home tab, click renew under Automated Device Enrollment Configuration.
4. Under Sign in to Apple, click sign into Apple Business Manager, then enter your credentials. (If you have an education account, click sign into Apple School Manager.)
5. In ABM or ASM, select your profile name and choose Preferences.
6. Under Your MDM Servers, select your MDM server. 
7. Click Download Token, then click Download Server Token.
8. In the JumpCloud Admin Portal, return to the Renew Apple’s Automated Device Enrollment page.
9. Under Upload Automated Device Enrollment Token, click Browse or drag and drop the new Automated Device Enrollment token for your MDM server.
10. Click complete. A message on the MDM home tab indicates that your Automated Device Enrollment configuration was renewed.

Troubleshooting

Resolving Errors after a Major OS Version Release

When a new major OS version is released by Apple, the Software License Agreement for macOS, iOS, iPadOS, and tvOS is typically updated. Apple ensures that you review and accept their Terms and Conditions by restricting access to VPP licenses and ADE processes for new devices (currently enrolled devices are not affected) until the terms are accepted.

If you see the following errors on the MDM page in the JumpCloud Admin Portal after a new major OS release, you will need to log in to your Apple Business Manager or Apple School Manager account and approve the updated Terms and Conditions:

JumpCloud's list of Automated Device Enrollment devices could not be updated to match your Apple Business Manager list. Please try again.

You don't have permission to make this change. If you think this is an error, contact your admin.

Repairing an Out-of-Sync Automated Device Enrollment Token

You can repair an out-of-sync Automated Device Enrollment token when it is invalidated or when a Mobile Device Management (MDM) server in ABM has been deleted.

Prerequisites

• An account with Apple Business Manager (ABM) or Apple School Manager (ASM) is required, with the role of Administrator or Content Manager.

Repairing Automated Device Enrollment and ABM Synchronization

If your MDM server token is out of sync, you can re-upload a JumpCloud-generated Automated Device Enrollment Key into your MDM Device Server to re-sync your Apple devices with JumpCloud.

When an MDM Server token is out of sync, the JumpCloud Admin Portal displays the following message when attempting to refresh your Automated Device Enrollment Device List:

JumpCloud's list of Automated Device Enrollment devices could not be updated to match your Apple Business Manager list. Please try again.

1. Retrieve your MDM ID using the JumpCloud API and the curl command from a supported command line interface like Terminal on macOS. After JumpCloud MDM is configured, a unique MDM ID is generated. This ID is necessary to make changes to your MDM settings. Start by fetching your MDM ID. The output of this GET request will generate your MDM ID (id).

2. Use your MDM ID to generate your JumpCloud Automated Device Enrollment Key:

3. The resulting certificate should resemble the output below:

4. Create a new .pem file using the following command: touch jc_depkey.pem
5. Copy and paste the Automated Device Enrollment key, including Begin Certificate and End
   
6. Save the .pem file.
7. Log in to your ABM or ASM account.
8. Select your profile name, then click Preferences.
9. Select MDM Server Assignment, then select the MDM server you want to sync with JumpCloud.
10. Click Edit.
11. Under MDM Server Settings, click Upload New, then upload the JC_depkey.pem file.
12. Click Save.
13. Click Download Token.
14. Log in to the JumpCloud Admin Portal.
15. Go to DEVICE MANAGEMENT > MDM.
16. In the MDM Home page under Automated Device Enrollment Configuration, click renew.
17. Upload the newly downloaded token from ABM or ASM.
18. Click Complete.
19. After the token is renewed, click sync with Apple to refresh your Automated Device Enrollment Device List. A successful synchronization will display the following message, and your Automated Device Enrollment devices will be listed as expected.
    

Additional Resources

Show Me:

• Simulation: Automated Device Enrollment on macOS with Google
• Simulation: Automated Device Enrollment on macOS with Okta
• Simulation: Automated Device Enrollment on macOS with Microsoft