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iOS Guide VI: Device Supervising

Device Supervising

Supervising is a mode that allows a Silverback and all Enterprise Mobility suites to control additional functions on iOS or iPadOS devices and is intended for organization owned devices. The easiest way to utilize supervision is to enroll devices with Apple's Device Enrollment Program (DEP) as devices enrolled in Silverback via DEP are automatically supervised over the air since iOS and iPadOS 13. For older devices, it requires the enablement of the Supervised checkbox under Admin > Device Enrollment Program > Settings. It is also possible to add your existing company-owned devices to the Device Enrollment Program. If you looking for that, please review the following how-to: Apple Deployment Programs IV: Manually add devices to DEP.  If you have devices that are not eligible for inclusion in the Device Enrollment Program, this guide will demonstrate the supervising process with the Apple Configurator.

Requirements

  • MacBook with minimum macOS version 10.14 (Mojave)
  • Apple Configurator 2.5 or higher
  • Apple Business Manager account

Supervise Devices

Download Apple Configurator

  • Login to your MacBook
  • Open AppStore
  • Search for Apple Configurator
  • Click Load
  • Install Application
  • Wait until installation is finished

Create Organization (optional)

It might be that you already created an organization within your Apple Configurator 2, so please do not create a second one. 

  • Click on Menu Apple Configurator 2
  • Click Preferences
  • Choose Organizations
  • Click in the lower left corner the “+” sign
  • Click Next 
  • Enter your Business Manager account ID
  • Click Next
  • Enter your Password
  • Click Next
  • Sign-In
  • Choose Generate a new supervision identity
  • Click Done
  • Enter your MacBook credentials 
  • Click Update Settings
  • Check the data of your newly created organization

Perform Supervising

  • Close the Organizations window
  • Connect your iOS device via USB 
  • From the "Action" menu at the top of your screen, select "Prepare"
  • Select "Manual" configuration
    • Disable Add to Device Enrollment Program
    • Enable Supervise devices
      • Enable Allow devices to pair with other computers (optional)
  • Click Next
  • Select "Do not enroll in MDM" 
  • Select your Organization 
  • Click Next
  • Choose which steps will be presented to the user in Setup Assistant
    • Show all steps
    • Show only some steps
    • Don't show any of these steps 
  • Click Prepare tp erase the device and reboot as a supervised device

Next Steps:

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