View - Payloads

Profiles allow you to control settings, features, and capabilities for Apple devices; iOS, macOS, iPadOS, TvOS. Devices may need profiles for initial configuration (like to allow them to join a network), in reaction to a request (like please disable the camera on the devices), or to configure settings at anytime.

About Profiles / Policies

What

Profiles and Policies are conceptually the same. They are used to manipulate the configuration of a device using a standard framework.

When/Why

You can create Apple Profiles, Windows Profiles, Google Policies, and FileWave Policies on the Create Configuration button in the Payloads section.

How

Apple Profiles - To be added

Windows MDM Policies (aka Profiles)

Google Policies - To be added

FileWave Policies - To be added

 

Add Profile

What

Profiles allow you to control settings, features, and capabilities for Apple devices; iOS, macOS, iPadOS, TvOS

When/Why

Devices may need profiles for initial configuration (like to allow them to join a network), in reaction to a request (like please disable the camera on the devices), or to configure settings at anytime.

How

Selecting the plus () in the top right will open a the profile editor for a new profile.

Basic Profile Properties

Every configuration profile has a few required properties, regardless of the profile type. Every time we create a profile we must specify these basic properties before we can save the profile.  At minimum, we must set a profile name and add at least one payload (configuration) to the profile.

How

The three most common elements to set (or change from the default value) are highlighted below:

In order, those elements are:

The highlighted warning above is reminding us that we have to add at least one payload to the profile before we can save it.

Navigating an Apple Profile

Configuration profiles aren't hard.  In fact they are quite simple generally.  Finding the right setting can be bothersome though, so FileWave provides some user interface options to make this easier. We'll use filtering and search options in the profile editor to help us narrow down our search for payload items. 

How

Let's assume that we want to set the wallpaper for an iOS device.  We can narrow down the options first by specifying the platform for our setting in the upper left (iOS in this case):

Once the platform is set, the list of profile categories becomes smaller (but still long).  If we know specifically what version of iOS a setting is for, then we can specify that to further refine the list. (Not used frequently)

But, with our filter in place above, we can also search for "wallpaper" to further refine the payloads.  Notice that when we enter the search term below, the payloads refine to just two sections, and in that section "wallpaper" is highlighted as well:

Setting Profile Payloads

The intended result of the creation of a configuration profile is always to make some change to configuration of endpoints.  What those changes are, and how they are made differs profile by profile.

Profiles tend to fall into two categories:

The first is no trouble, because we know what we are doing.  For instance, after we have already created a wi-fi config profile for 41 of our 42 locations, the 42nd one isn't going to be too much trouble.

But, what if we have something new to do that we haven't done before?  There are two answers to this:

  1.  Experiment and test (no better teacher than experience with a device in hand)
  2.  Read the documentation (yes, seriously): 
    1. https://support.apple.com/guide/mdm/welcome/web#/mdmf0ec4d860
    2. FileWave (nor any other MDM provider) defines what the elements in profiles are or what they mean.  The above reference explains them all
    3. For third-party settings, reference the Vendor's documentation 

How

Defining MDM elements is out of scope for our Knowledge Base, but we can give best-practice guidance on building and testing profiles:

Here is a simple example of setting a Wallpaper and preventing it from being changed (notice two payloads, but related):

Editing Payloads / Payload Properties

What

We can edit profile payloads in the WebAdmin, change payload properties for all other payload types and do some basic reporting in the Payload view.

When/Why

Editing a profile is straightforward, but we can do more than that in the payload view.  We can also change payload properties of any payload, and report on distribution (which is especially useful).

How

Clicking on any payload will bring up a detail payload view:

This view will differ a little depending on the type of payload.  See below that a VPP payload shows licensing info that you won't see on other fileset types:

 

You'll note that in payload properties there is no "Save" button.  All changes made to payload properties (like platform requirements) are immediately saved, and will become effective on next model update.

Payload Tab

Example

The Payload Info Tab shows:

  • Summary information on deployment
  • Verification Settings
  • Kiosk Icon
  • Reboot flag

The Devices Tab shows the devices that have this payload assigned, and their current status.

The Platform Requirements tab is where we specify on which platform the payload is provided.

The Dependencies tab is where we specify relationships between payloads for simpler deployment.

For VPP payloads only you'll see a tab that shows licensing details

FileWave Anywhere Payload Script Editor

What

FileWave Anywhere script editor allows you to interactively edit script content in any payload that allows scripts.

When/Why

We'll use this feature any time we want to make a quick edit to a script within a payload.  If we need to make extensive changes, it is probably still better to work in an outside code editor because changes to published scripts will automatically be sent to all affected devices on next model update.  So, be very careful with this tool, and as always, test before you deploy.

How

To enter the script editor, you simply go to the Scripts tab within any supporting FileWave payload/fileset. Click the edit button to edit the script.  You can also drag and drop scripts between types and remove them from the payload as well in this view.  Example script shown below:

Related Content

Payload Actions (Move/Remove)

What

Apart from editing payloads, you can also move them to another location and remove them entirely.

When/Why

Typically we'll want to move payloads whenever we are reorganizing in general, or we just did something silly like create a payload in the wrong location.

How

Moving or removing a payload is as simple as clicking the ellipsis to the right of the item and choosing the appropriate action:

Payload Groups

What

Payload groups are used to generally organize payloads and to mass assign payloads to groups of devices.

When/Why

We'll use these groups whenever things get a little bit messy.  They can be very helpful to organize and we highly recommend that you don't let your payloads get out of control without some type of storage system.  A lot of FileWave customers also use these groups to create associations (deployments) for many apps/profiles to devices.

How

Creating a group is simple...you just click the new group icon in the upper right ().  Payload groups can also be nested below other groups, so your storage can be quite detailed.   Take a look below at creation of a new group and then the move of a group (and its children) as well:

A few rules about payload groups:

Upload Profile

What

Of course, FileWave provides an editor to create configuration profiles from scratch.  But, you can also import pre-existing configuration profiles (.mobileconfig).

When/Why

If you have already created a profile or another system created a profile for you, then you can import that work into FileWave with the WebAdmin.

How

  1. Create new profile () 
  2. Upload icon (top right), to browse, and open the existing mobileconfig file
  3. Save

Example shown below:

MSI & PKG Payloads

What

The FileWave Anywhere console, from version 14.5+, now supports the creation of computer payloads (filesets) for MSI & PKG distributions. 

When/Why

MSI and PKG installers are the industry standards for Windows and macOS devices respectively.  The FileWave Anywhere console now allows you to create these simple payloads directly from the web application.

How

We'll start by simply clicking the image.png  icon in the Payloads view.  We'll give the new payload a name (in this case we'll create a payload for the native FW admin console for Windows), and then click on one of the Add File options as shown:

 

image.png

Once the file is selected, upload will begin right away:

image.png

There are two distinct advantages to creating payloads like this in the Anywhere console:

  1. The file uploads WILL recover from a temporary network interruption
  2. You need not stay in this upload screen for the payload to continue uploading (meaning you can go to other places in the admin, or even start additional payload uploads concurrently)

Once the payload is uploaded, you can perform simple payload manipulation, like removing or replacing a file and setting installer properties:

image.png

The FileWave Anywhere client payload tools do not have all capabilities currently in the native admin, so if you need script support in conjunction with a payload such as this, or want to use revisions, you'll still need to use the native admin at this time.  More to come on this front though!

Any edits made to payloads in the FileWave Anywhere console are immediately effective...meaning there is no "Save" button for modifications, so use appropriate caution when editing.