Skip to main content

Return to Service for tvOS

What

EvenReturn thoughto devicesService can be erased remotely, getting them back into service iserase a manualmanaged process,Apple asTV and automatically prepare it requiresfor someonereuse. toUse physicallyit touchwhen theman andApple takeTV themmust be reassigned without sending a technician through Setup Assistant. AppleOn istvOS removing18 or later, FileWave can include the additionalWi-Fi manualand stepenrollment data needed for the Apple TV to reconnect, complete MDM enrollment, and return to the Home Screen with less hands-on setup. For the introductionmobile-device ofworkflow, see Return to Service for tvOS.  This feature was added in FileWave version 15.5.0 for tvOS 18. For iOS/iPadOS this same feature was added in FileWave 15.1.0. 

When/Why

Return To Service is the following process. The MDM server sends an an EraseDevice command with Return to theService device.data. The command includes additional information which allows the device to reset,resets, securely eraseerases allits data, connectconnects to Wi-Fi, enrollenrolls intoin MDM, and get backreturns to the Home Screen,Screen ready tofor be used.use.

How

WithOpen FileWavethe 15.5.0 support of Return To Service was added for tvOS. To use Return To Service open Remote Wipe dialog for the tvOS device.device, Checkboxthen select Return To Service allows to specifyService. whetherFileWave featuremakes shouldthis beoption enabled or disabled. It can be checkedavailable only ifwhen Remove Activation Lock checkbox is checkedalso asselected well. The feature can be used only if there isand at least one configured Wi-Fi profile (filesetis configured. The profile must be a Fileset containing a Network payload withwhose Network Interface “is Wi-Fi“)Fi. AvailableChoose an available profile from the list so a Wi-Fi profiles are displayed on combobox. This allows Wi-Fi Fi-only AppleTVsApple toTV havecan zero-touchreconnect wipeafter andthe re-enroll process.wipe.

image.png

What happens on the device?

IfWhen Returnyou Toselect ServiceWipe isDevice, enabledthe onApple FileWaveTV sideerases and then Wipe Device button is pressed, the device will be wiped and then connectedreconnects to the Wi-Fi network specified withinfrom the selected Wi-Fi profile without password prompt. Also, the MDM profile will remain on the device, there will be no need for it to re-enroll in MDM. You will want to make sure the DEP profileasking for the deviceWi-Fi haspassword. Enable Auto Advance in the device's ADE enrollment profile so Setup Assistant can complete without someone at the device.

An Ethernet-connected Apple TV enrolled through ADE can reconnect after a standard wipe without Return to Service Wi-Fi data. Auto Advance enabledmust so that you don't have tostill be present at the device to get it through the setup wizard. 

If you have an AppleTV that uses Ethernet then you could simply send a wipe to it and not need RTS since it will come back in to the server if it is enrolled via ADE/DEP. Just like for RTS you need to make sure Auto Advance is enabled in the ADE enrollment profile or you would have to goavoid tomanual theSetup deviceAssistant to move it through the re-enrollment. steps.

Related Content

Troubleshooting

We have found that setting Security to 'With Authorization' within the Wi-Fi Profile (even with the correct password) will break Return to Service. In this instance the AppleTV will not be able to join the WiFi automatically when it boots up, though you can manually join the WiFi.  

image.png

Digging Deeper

When Remote Wipe dialog is opened the list of configured Wi-Fi profiles is loaded, formatted as:

[(<file_id>, <fileset_id>, <fileset_name>, <payload_display_name>, <payload_identifier>),(...)]

fileset_id and  and fileset_name  are displayed on the UI,  payload_display_name and  and payload_identifier  are used for tool tip.  file_id  is used as internal data for combobox.

When Wipe Device button is pressed, in the backend, the MDM command EraseDevice is generated with dictionary field field ReturnToService  and fields fields Enabled and  and WiFiProfileData according to values specified in the UI; the command is added to the device's command queue.

On grabbing the command from the queue, during composition for delivery, the ReturnToService dictionary is updated with   MDMProfileData for non DEP enrolled devices.   The data added, matches the final payload that is provided by MDM server when /ios/profile URL is used for OTA enrollment.

API Command

Sending the command to wipe via an API command requires the following data format.

'{
    "ids": [<integer>, <integer>],
    "command": "EraseDevice",
    "options": {
        "DisallowProximitySetup": false,
        "PIN": "",
        "PreserveDataPlan": false,
        "ReturnToService": {
            "Enabled": true,
            "WiFiProfileID": <integer>
        }
    }
}'
  • 'ids' is a comma separated list of the Client IDs to be targeted
  • 'WifiProfileID' is the File ID (this is not the Fileset ID)

To obtain the WifiProfileID, will require an additional query first.   A full list of all Wi-Fi Profiles can be returned with the following API:

curl -X GET "https://${server_dns}/filewave/api/apple/profiles/wifi" -k -H  "Content-Type: application/json" -H "authorization: ${auth}" | awk '{ gsub("\\]\\,\\[","\n"); gsub("\\]\\]",""); gsub("\\[\\[","");  print }'

Where:

  • ${server_dns} is the server name as seen in FileWave Central -> Preferences -> Mobile
  • ${auth} is the application token as shown in FileWave Central -> Manage Administrators (each user has one or more tokens)

The returned list might look something like:

750959,669526,"Profile - HOME WIFI","HOME WIFI","ml1063.lan.4bf6fba8-9cfc-48b5-ad74-a251a65c8759.Configuration.4bf6fba8-9cfc-48b5-ad74-a251a65c8759"
780638,736322,"Profile - WLTC wifi","WLTC wifi","ml1063.local.7a00d6eb-9b4b-4e7e-b68b-7ee7e6414051.Configuration.7a00d6eb-9b4b-4e7e-b68b-7ee7e6414051"
504184,411265,"Profile - Wi-Fi BT 2.4GHz","Wi-Fi BT 2.4GHz","FW1063.local.e285dc3b-9c4b-4a7a-84a9-a3cd5169f92d.Configuration.e285dc3b-9c4b-4a7a-84a9-a3cd5169f92d"
504185,24571,"Profile - Wi-Fi BT 5GHZ","Wi-Fi BT 5GHZ","ML1063.local.02d6d9c3-5a7d-490c-afa8-f160ba9b4e40.Configuration.02d6d9c3-5a7d-490c-afa8-f160ba9b4e40"

The first number is the File ID, whilst the second is the Fileset ID.

Example

Considering the following 3 devices to be wiped using 'Return to Service':

Server FQDN from Preferences demo.filewave.ch
Authorisation Token

e2E1OTU4ZmYyLTg4ZTYtNDEzNC1iZjdhLWE0ZmJmMTViNmI5OH0=
"Profile - WLTC wifi" [File ID of Fileset: 'Profile - WLTC wifi']

780638
iPad001 [FileWave Client ID]

3425
iPad002 [FileWave Client ID]

4342
iPad003 [FileWave Client ID]

3312

The API data block might look like:

'{
    "ids": [3425, 4342, 3312],
    "command": "EraseDevice",
    "options": {
        "DisallowProximitySetup": false,
        "PIN": "",
        "PreserveDataPlan": false,
        "ReturnToService": {
            "Enabled": true,
            "WiFiProfileID": 780638
        }
    }
}'

and the command:

curl -X POST "https://demo.filewave.ch/api/devices/v1/devices/mdm-command" -k -H  "Content-Type: application/json" -H "authorization: e2E1OTU4ZmYyLTg4ZTYtNDEzNC1iZjdhLWE0ZmJmMTViNmI5OH0=" -d  "<data block goes here>

Back to top