What
In FileWave 14.1+ you are able to make policies for FileWave endpoint devices to specify when then are in or out of a particular geographical area.
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Remember: A policy is a fileset for specifying things in/for a filewave endpoint. This is not the same as a profile, or an Android Policy |
When/Why
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In 14.1.* this feature is ONLY supported on Android EMM devices with others coming soon. |
This can be useful if you want to make the devices unusable by a individual that remove a device from a specific location, or just notify them they have gone too far
| Info |
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The reason that this is a client policy and not something run on the FileWave server is that the client will know sooner that is has left the location. Also think about the type of devices typically managed - this are usually WiFi only devices. If a user was to take a device, and leave an area (and also WiFi range), how would your FileWave server be able to reach that device, tell it it is out-of-bounds, and make action on it? It can't, there is no channel for communication at this point. Let if we build this into the client, the client can take action without needing communication to the FileWave services, or the internet at all. |
How
Requirements
Before we can setup a geofencing policy, we need to be actively receiving location data from end points. We can verify this by looking at a device in the native admin or web admin ( Device Detail View -- Location ).
If you need help getting location tracking to work, check out this KB: Location Tracking for more details.
Here is a Tl;dr summary:
- iOS need the Enterprise App
- Android EMM might need Force Location for EMM Android Devices
- Windows, iOS*, MacOS all need Location services to be on
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*iOS can have location services turned off, but settings FileWave's Set Tracking Mode to missing will trigger location services to be on, but this does notify the user you took their location, and while a supervised device is Missing (AKA Lost Mode) it is unusable by anyone holding it. |
Creating the Geofencing Policy
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The standard for GPS is in meters, please keep that in mind when specifying this policy. |
First, I want to know the longitude and latitude at the center of my location, then how far out of that center point is my geofence.
For me the easiest way to do this is to:
- Go to a maps site like http://maps.google.com/ and enter the address of the location I want.
- Right-click in the center and copy the Latitude and Longitude.
- Then right-click and select "measure distance"
- Move the first dot to the middle of your location (if needed)
- Then place a second dot with a standard click at the farthest location of your geofence
- Take note of the distance in meters
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| Figure 1.1 - Obtain coordinate and radius from a map |
Second, we need to enter that data into the Policy
- Filesets > New Desktop Fileset > Policy
- Under General: give it a name (like: "Site A Geofence")
- Under the Geofencing payload, enter the latitude, longitude, and radius you obtained from a map.
- For Description, enter a location. Ideally the location you would want a device returned to, as this description will be used in the message on the device. A bad example would be something too generic like in Figure 1.3
- Event Action: you can select one of two things
- Send Location Notification: This is the more subtle approach, a user actively on the device might see this, but continue on their way. If they are unlocking the device they would also see this message, but it could be dismissed
- Disable All Applications: This is the more stern approach, a user actively on the device would not be able to use it anymore, tapping the notification would tell them what what happening (Figure 1.3)
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| Figure 1.2 - Geofencing Policy | Figure 1.3 - Full screen message after user tapped notification |
Third, we need to send this policy out
You can associate this to devices as you would anything else in FileWave
- To a smartgroup
- To a group
- To a specific device
Update the model and your done