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Set up iOS/iPadOS device enrollment with Apple Configurator

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Intune supports the enrollment of iOS/iPadOS devices using Apple Configurator running on a Mac computer. Enrolling with Apple Configurator requires that you USB-connect each iOS/iPadOS device to a Mac computer to set up corporate enrollment. You can enroll devices into Intune with Apple Configurator in two ways:

  • Setup Assistant enrollment - Wipes the device and prepares it to enroll during Setup Assistant.
  • Direct enrollment - Doesn't wipe the device, and enrolls the device through iOS/iPadOS settings. This method only supports devices with no user affinity.

Apple Configurator enrollment methods can't be used with the device enrollment manager.

Prerequisites

Create an Apple Configurator profile for devices

A device enrollment profile defines the settings applied during enrollment. These settings are applied only once. Follow these steps to create an enrollment profile to enroll iOS/iPadOS devices with Apple Configurator.

  1. Sign in to the Microsoft Intune admin center.

  2. Go to Devices > Enrollment.

  3. Select the Apple tab.

  4. Under Bulk Enrollment Methods, select Apple Configurator.

  5. Go to Profiles > Create.

  6. Under Create Enrollment Profile, on the Basics tab, type a Name and Description for the profile. Users don't see these details. You can use the name to create a dynamic group in Microsoft Entra ID. Use the profile name to define the enrollmentProfileName parameter to assign devices with this enrollment profile. For more information about how to create a dynamic group with rules, see Create a group membership rule.
    Screenshot of the create enrollment profile pane with the Basics tab selected.

  7. Select Next to go to the Settings page.

  8. For User Affinity, choose whether devices with this profile must enroll with or without an assigned user.

    • Enroll with user affinity - Choose this option for devices that belong to users and that want to use the company portal for services like installing apps. The device must be affiliated with a user with Setup Assistant and can then access company data and email. Only supported for Setup Assistant enrollment. User affinity requires WS-Trust 1.3 Username/Mixed endpoint. Learn more.

    • Enroll without User Affinity - Choose this option for devices unaffiliated with a single user. Use this for devices that perform tasks without accessing local user data. Apps requiring user affiliation (including the Company Portal app used for installing line-of-business apps) won't work. Required for direct enrollment.

    Note

    When Enroll with user affinity is selected, make sure that the device is affiliated with a user with Setup Assistant within the first 24 hours of the device being enrolled. Otherwise enrollment might fail, and a factory reset will be needed to enroll the device.

  9. If you chose Enroll with User Affinity, you have the option to let users authenticate with Company Portal instead of the Apple Setup Assistant.

    Note

    If you want do any of the following, set Authenticate with Company Portal instead of Apple Setup Assistant to Yes.

    • use multifactor authentication
    • prompt users who need to change their password when they first sign in
    • prompt users to reset their expired passwords during enrollment

    These are not supported when authenticating with Apple Setup Assistant.

  10. Choose Create to save the profile.

Known limitations

Enrollment with Apple Configuration has the following limitations:

  • The csv file can have up to 5,000 devices.
  • The total number of devices, which includes the devices listed in the csv file and the Apple Configurator devices already in Intune, can't exceed 75,000.

Setup Assistant enrollment

Add Apple Configurator serial numbers

  1. In a text editor, create a two-column, comma-separated value (.csv) list without a header. Add the serial number in the left column, and device details in the right column, using the following format:

    Serial number,device details

    You can include any kind of detail about the device. For example:

    F7TLWCLBX196,iPad Air (5th generation) - Blue

    The current maximum for the list is 5,000 rows. For information about how to find an iOS/iPadOS device serial number, see Find the serial number or IMEI on your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch (opens Apple Support website).

  2. Sign in to the Microsoft Intune admin center.

  3. Go to Devices > Enrollment.

  4. Select the Apple tab.

  5. Under Bulk Enrollment Methods, select Apple Configurator.

  6. Select Devices > Add.

  7. Select an Enrollment profile to apply to the serial numbers you're importing. If you want the new serial number details to overwrite any existing details, choose Overwrite details for existing identifiers.

  8. Under Import Devices, browse to the csv file of serial numbers, and select Add.

Reassign a profile to device serial numbers

You can assign an enrollment profile when you import iOS/iPadOS serial numbers for Apple Configurator enrollment. You can also assign profiles from two places in the Azure portal:

  • Apple Configurator devices
  • AC profiles

Assign from Apple Configurator devices

  1. In the Microsoft Intune admin center, go to Devices > Enrollment.
  2. Select the Apple tab.
  3. Under Bulk Enrollment Methods, select Apple Configurator.
  4. Select Devices. Then select a serial number.
  5. Choose Assign profile.
  6. Under Assign Profile, select the New profile you want to assign, and then choose Assign.

Assign from profiles

  1. Sign in to the Microsoft Intune admin center.
  2. Go to Devices > Enrollment.
  3. Select the Apple tab.
  4. Under Bulk Enrollment Methods, select Apple Configurator.
  5. Go to Profiles. Choose a profile.
  6. In the profile, select Devices assigned. Then select Assign.
  7. Filter to find device serial numbers you want to assign to the profile. Then select the devices and choose Assign.

Export the profile

After you create the profile and assign serial numbers, you must export the profile from Intune as a URL. You then import it into Apple Configurator on a Mac for deployment to devices.

  1. In the Microsoft Intune admin center, go to Devices > Enrollment.

  2. Select the Apple tab.

  3. Under Bulk Enrollment Methods, select Apple Configurator.

  4. Go to Profiles. Choose a profile to export.

  5. Select Export Profile.

  6. Copy the Profile URL. You can then add it in Apple Configurator to define the Intune profile used by iOS/iPadOS devices.

    Next you import this profile to Apple Configurator in the following procedure to define the Intune profile used by iOS/iPadOS devices.

Enroll devices with Setup Assistant

  1. On a Mac computer, open Apple Configurator 2. In the menu bar, choose Apple Configurator 2, and then choose Preferences.

    Warning

    Devices are reset to factory configurations during the enrollment process. As a best practice, reset the device and turn it on. Devices should be at the Hello screen when you connect the device. If the device was already registered with the Apple ID account, the device must be deleted from the Apple iCloud before starting the enrollment process. The prompt error appears as "Unable to activate [Device name]".

  2. In the preferences pane, select Servers and choose the plus symbol (+) to launch the MDM Server wizard. Choose Next.

  3. Enter the Host name or URL and enrollment URL for the MDM server under Setup Assistant enrollment for iOS/iPadOS devices with Microsoft Intune. For the Enrollment URL, enter the enrollment profile URL exported from Intune. Choose Next.
    You can safely disregard a warning stating "server URL is not verified." To continue, choose Next until the wizard is finished.

  4. Connect the iOS/iPadOS mobile devices to the Mac computer with a USB adapter.

  5. Select the iOS/iPadOS devices you want to manage, and then choose Prepare. On the Prepare iOS/iPadOS Device pane, select Manual, and then choose Next.

  6. On the Enroll in MDM Server pane, select the server name you created, and then choose Next.

  7. On the Supervise Devices pane, select the level of supervision, and then choose Next.

  8. On the Create an Organization pane, choose the Organization or create a new organization, and then choose Next.

  9. On the Configure iOS/iPadOS Setup Assistant pane, choose the steps to be presented to the user, and then choose Prepare. If prompted, authenticate to update trust settings.

  10. When the iOS/iPadOS device finishes preparing, disconnect the USB cable.

Distribute devices

The devices are now ready for corporate enrollment. Turn off the devices and distribute them to users. When users turn on their devices, Setup Assistant starts.

After users receive their devices, they must complete Setup Assistant. Devices configured with user affinity can install and run the Company Portal app to download apps and manage devices.

Direct enrollment

When you directly enroll iOS/iPadOS devices with Apple Configurator, you can enroll a device without acquiring the device's serial number. You can also name the device for identification purposes before Intune captures the device name during enrollment. The Company Portal app is not supported for directly enrolled devices. This method doesn't wipe the device.

Apps requiring user affiliation, including the Company Portal app used for installing line-of-business apps, cannot be installed.

Export the profile as .mobileconfig to iOS/iPadOS devices

  1. In the Microsoft Intune admin center, go to Devices > Enrollment.

  2. Select the Apple tab.

  3. Under Bulk Enrollment Methods, select Apple Configurator.

  4. Go to Profiles. Choose a profile to export.

  5. Select Export Profile.

  6. Copy the Profile URL. You can then add it in Apple Configurator to define the Intune profile used by iOS/iPadOS devices.

  7. Under Direct enrollment, choose Download profile, and save the file. An enrollment profile file is only valid for two weeks at which time you must re-create it.

  8. Transfer the file to a Mac computer running Apple Configurator to push directly as a management profile to iOS/iPadOS devices.

  9. Prepare the device with Apple Configurator by using the following steps:

    1. On a Mac computer, open Apple Configurator 2.0.

    2. Connect the iOS/iPadOS device to the Mac computer with a USB cord. Close Photos, iTunes, and other apps that open for the device when the device is detected.

    3. In Apple Configurator, choose the connected iOS/iPadOS device, and then choose the Add button. Options that can be added to the device appear in the drop-down list. Choose Profiles.

      Screenshot Export Profile for Setup Assistant Enrollment with Profile URL highlighted

    4. Use the file picker to select the .mobileconfig file that you exported from Intune, and then choose Add. The profile is added to the device. If the device is Unsupervised, the installation requires acceptance on the device.

  10. Use the following steps to install the profile on the iOS/iPadOS device. The device must have already completed the Setup Assistant and be ready to use. If enrollment entails app deployments, the device should have an Apple ID set up because the app deployment requires that you have an Apple ID signed in for the App Store.

    1. Unlock the iOS/iPadOS device.
    2. In the Install profile dialog box for Management profile, choose Install.
    3. Provide the Device Passcode or Apple ID, if necessary.
    4. Accept the Warning, and choose Install.
    5. Accept the Remote Warning, and choose Trust.
    6. When the Profile Installed box confirms the profile as Installed, choose Done.

  11. On the iOS/iPadOS device, open Settings and go to General > Device Management > Management Profile. Confirm that the profile installation is listed, and check the iOS/iPadOS policy restrictions and installed apps. Policy restrictions and apps might take up to 10 minutes to appear on the device.

  12. Distribute devices. The iOS/iPadOS device is now enrolled in Intune and managed.

Next steps