Classroom – Image Service

The Classroom app can display student pictures. If no picture is available, Classroom uses the student's initials. FileWave needs a configured image service so it knows where to request those pictures.

Classroom uses SSL for communication and uses the device certificate to authenticate to the image service. FileWave receives the request from the device, checks whether the certificate is valid, then requests the image from the configured picture-hosting service and returns it to the device.

People in the Classroom environment, including teachers and students, have an identifier (sis_id). Images are stored on the referenced server in two sizes: small and large. Recommended image sizes are 675x1024 pixels for the small image and 2700x4100 pixels for the large image. Test a few images before deploying hundreds so you can confirm they display correctly on your student devices.

In FileWave Central, go to Preferences > Education > Apple Classroom to specify where FileWave requests Classroom images from. FileWave supports HTTP and HTTPS image URLs, plus basic and digest authentication. Configure your own protected HTTPS image service rather than copying the example server or its unauthenticated HTTP settings from the screenshot. The service URL must contain %user_identifier% and %size%; the latter is replaced by small or large. For a directory-based service, match the roster identifier, filename, extension, and URL punctuation exactly, following the student-photo setup guide.

Classroom and Shared iPad login screens cache images for a long time based on the image URL. The reset button shown above does not clear the cache directly. It generates a new URL for each image so devices download the images again.

For missing photos, first verify that the configured service can return both image sizes for one known roster identifier using the configured authentication. A valid URL template does not prove that the matching image exists or can be retrieved. If the service has the correct new image but Classroom or the Shared iPad login screen still shows the old one, use the reset option described above, then check that student’s photo on a test device. Resetting image URLs does not repair a missing file, a mismatched identifier, or failed image-service authentication.

For more information about setting up your Classroom image service, see Getting student images into Classroom.