Addigy wants to help you figure out the smoothest way to migrate your Apple devices into our platform. If you have an existing management tool in place, such as an RMM, or if you are migrating from a different Mobile Device Management (MDM) solution, there are some tools you can use to make this process easier for you and your end-users. In this guide, you will learn about the enrollment process and how to leverage these tools.
This process will be broken down into 4 milestones:
- Prepare your Addigy environment
- Establish a connection - Deploy the Addigy Agent (macOS)
- Remove the old MDM enrollment profile (only applicable if migrating from a different MDM to Addigy)
- Install Addigy's MDM
Additionally, there is another migration option we briefly cover at the bottom of this article:
Other migration options
Requirements
- Ability to run scripts from the old management tool
- Sufficient access to the old management tool
- Able to remove devices from the old MDM (if migrating from a different MDM)
- Owner role in the Addigy environment
- MDM enrollment configured in Addigy
- Valid Push Certificate in the old MDM (if migrating from a different MDM)
1. Prepare your Addigy Environment
To begin, you will need to configure your Addigy environment in preparation for receiving devices. If needed, this is where you will recreate anything that your previous MDM solution was deploying.
The points below are just a few items we require/recommend are configured before enrolling devices, but there may be additional things you will want to configure such as Automated Device Enrollment, Apple Apps (Apps & Books), ticketing integrations, etc... So long as your mission-critical items are configured, you're ready to start enrolling devices.
Create Policies
Be sure to create any relevant Policies. For example, if you are importing devices for different clients, you will want to ensure that they have their own unique Policy. This is to avoid deploying unneeded/unwanted items to certain clients. More information on Policies can be seen in our Policies Overview article.
Configure APNs Push Certificate(s)
Now that your Policies have been created, you'll want to next set up and configure APNs (aka push certificates) in Addigy and assign them to their relevant Policies, or configure it at the global level.
If you are managing a single organization, you can simply leverage the global enrollment profile.
If you currently or will have multiple clients, you need to assign the push certificates per policy. Be sure to create unique push certificates for each unique client.
Create, import, and transfer any Catalog items
It is highly recommended to transfer any configuration profiles and software deployments your old MDM may have been handling.
If your old MDM provider allows you to export profiles, you can leverage Addigy's profile import tool to painlessly transfer those configurations over (list of supported profiles found here). If the Profiles are not supported by our import tool, you can still upload them as custom MDM profiles.
Note: A common practice to mimic your old MDM in Addigy is to have the two opened side-by-side in separate browser windows and recreate them accordingly as you configure Addigy.
Once you’ve prepped your Addigy environment, you’re ready to establish a connection and deploy the Addigy Agent!
2. Establish a connection - Deploy the Addigy Agent (macOS)
From the Add Devices page in Addigy, select the Policy you’d like your devices to live in. Find the Install via Agent section and copy the command under Install with Terminal. Deploy this command from your old MDM (or RMM) to the devices being migrated.
To verify deployment, navigate to “All Devices” in Addigy and select the Policy from the dropdown Policy menu. You should start seeing computers populate within a few minutes.
Note: Information such as the Device Name may show as n/a until the Agent fully installs and updates device information in Addigy.
With the Addigy Agent installed you can now run scripts and send some commands from Addigy. If you have any Smart Software or Public Library software items assigned to the Policy, these will start being deployed.
Notes:
- If you are migrating from another MDM, you have one more step before completing enrollment by installing the Addigy MDM enrollment profile.
- If you are coming from an RMM, you are now ready to complete enrollment by installing the MDM enrollment profile.
3. Remove the old MDM enrollment profile (only applicable if migrating from a different MDM to Addigy)
Devices can have only one MDM enrollment profile installed. This means you need to unenroll the devices from your MDM before installing the Addigy MDM enrollment profile. Unenrolling can be done in a few different ways depending on how the device was enrolled.
Automated Device Enrollment
If devices are in Apple Business Manager or Apple School Manager and enrolled in your old MDM tool with Automated Device Enrollment (ADE), they most likely have non-removable MDM. To remove the MDM enrollment profile, you must send the unenroll command from the old MDM tool. This must be done before installing the Addigy MDM enrollment profiles. In the section below, we will cover more details on the ADE migration process.
MDM Enrollment
If a device did not enroll via ADE, the enrollment profiles can be removed either locally on the device or by sending the unenroll command from the old MDM. If possible, it is highly recommended to send the unenroll command from the old MDM as this should also remove any agent the old MDM may have installed.
To locally remove MDM on macOS, navigate to System Settings > Privacy & Security > Profiles, select the MDM enrollment profile, and click the minus (-) button at the bottom of the profiles list. You will need to provide admin credentials.
To locally remove MDM on iOS/iPadOS, navigate to Settings > General > VPN & Device Management, select the enrollment profile, and choose Leave Remote Management.
Now that the old MDM enrollment profile is removed, you are ready to download and install the Addigy MDM enrollment profile
4. Install Addigy's MDM
Manual Enrollment (non-ADE)
macOS:
In Addigy, navigate to the Devices page. Click the disclosure arrow next to one of the devices and find the Install MDM button. Clicking this button will download the MDM enrollment profile for whatever Policy the computer is in, so make sure that devices are in the correct Policy.
On the computer being migrated, the user will be prompted to install the MDM enrollment profile. This command will also check if they are an admin user. If they are not an admin, they will be promoted for the installation and then demoted back to a standard user.
Once the user clicks Install from the previous prompt, it will open the Profiles section within System Settings. Here, you want to double-click the installed profile and choose Enroll.
iOS/iPadOS:
For steps on manually enrolling iOS/iPadOS devices, please refer to this guide:
How To: Manually Enroll iOS/iPadOS into Addigy's MDM
Automated Device Enrollment (ADE):
For steps on migrating ADE-enrolled devices, please reference this guide:
Migrating Automated Device Enrollment (ADE) Devices to Addigy
Other migration options
In addition to the workflow described in this document, we have an automated solution for migrating macOS devices into Addigy. If you are interested in learning more about our automated migration workflow please reach out to your Customer Success Manager via the Help Center > Migration Assistance in your Addigy environment.