ios 7 MDM Server

Question

We built our own MDM server using OSX Server and an apple mini to manage about 100 iPads. Everything worked great then ios 7 was released.

We have various pads that have different things happening to them.. some are getting the app push but the app never installs, some never recive the push at all, and some pad's have our apps disappearing...

Has anyone found what needs to be done to update the server so that it will function again? I've found 150+ page document on the apple developer site that walks you though setting up the entire process but most of it we have already, that document does not call out the changes so it's certianly not ideal at all to try to pick out what needs to be updated (I did also update the OSX Server software to the newest version)

The only real errors I have to run on right now are from the device logs.. here is what is happening.

Oct  2 11:51:14 iPad mdmd[477] <Notice>: (Note ) MDM: Transaction completed. Status: 200
Oct  2 11:51:14 iPad mdmd[477] <Notice>: (Note ) MDM: Attempting to perform MDM request: InstallApplication
Oct  2 11:51:14 iPad mdmd[477] <Notice>: (Note ) MDM: Handling request type: InstallApplication
Oct  2 11:51:15 iPad mdmd[477] <Notice>: (Error) MDM: Enterprise app installation failed. 
    Error: NSError:
    Desc   : The app “com.app.Damages” is already scheduled for management.
    US Desc: The app “com.app.Damages” is already scheduled for management.
    Domain : MCMDMErrorDomain
    Code   : 12026
    Type   : MCFatalError
    Params : (
        "com.app.Damages"
    )
Oct  2 11:51:15 iPad mdmd[477] <Notice>: (Error) MDM: Command Status: Error
    Error: NSError:
    Desc   : The app “com.app.Damages” is already scheduled for management.
    US Desc: The app “com.app.Damages” is already scheduled for management.
    Domain : MCMDMErrorDomain
    Code   : 12026
    Type   : MCFatalError
    Params : (
        "com.app.Damages"
    )

Anyone know what needs to be changed? There can't be that much.. we are still pushing the apps just the device is not communicating with the server now

Spivey

It seams this problem of 'already scheduled for management' is showing up on a number of the devices we are managing. When you connect to the device you get this same error. Somehow the app is stuck in the install process however is not appearing on the screen so we can't delete it or cancel it... but the mdm thinks that the app is allready on the device.. We've tried deleating the app from the device using the mdm and we've tried turning it off then on but does not clear the app.. how can we delete this app so that it will install? – Spivey

Answer 1

Let me break it down to couple of subquestions:

1) Has anyone found what needs to be done to update the server so that it will function again?

Generally speaking, nothing needs to be changed on the server. iOS 7 introduced couple of new features to MDM. However, the whole protocol is still backward compatible. So, if you have older server, it should (in the ideal world) work fine with your new iOS 7 device.

2) We have various pads that have different things happening to them.. some are getting the app push but the app never installs, some never recive the push at all, and some pad's have our apps disappearing...

Welcome to the post Steve Jobs era :) Golden iPhones, eyes popping color schemes and unbaked sofware.

I noticed serious degradation of MDM stability from iOS 6 to IOS 7, especially around app distribution. I posted about 3-4 bugs to Apple and I would recommend to do the same (hopefully, the sheer number of bug reports will force them to concentrate on it).

As you I saw apps not being installed, leaving placeholder icons behind and a lot of other crappy behavior.

3) "The app “com.app.Damages” is already scheduled for management."

This messages mean that you already tried to install it and it sits somewhere in iOS installation queue, but waits for something. I am not sure what is exactly the list of possible reasons why it waits.

One of the reason which I observer is that if a user is required to enter AppStore password for a first time, it can stuck on this for quite long time (not sure why).

Mcleroy

Thanks Victor Yes I figured that nothing should change on the server side either.. but something must have.. What I also noticed today is the way that we used to provision the ipads to enable the management no longer works either. If your familiar with how profile manager works in OSX server there is a page that you install 2 certificates and then the third step is to enroll the device. The page displays exactly the same as it did before how ever when you press on any of the buttons none of them work now? – Spivey

@Monergy: I only briefly looked at OSX MDM server implementation and it was quite long time ago. So, I am not sure what is exactly the problem with ProfileManager (two non working buttons). So, my answer is more of generic answer (applicable to any working implementation of MDM server). – Mcleroy

Thanks... Yes it's been 6+ months since we made this so it's hard pin point exactly what is wrong. I'm going to get my hands on a pad that has not been updated to ios 7 tomarrow and see if the buttons work on it. We just used the server to push out new app versions about a week before ios 7 came out so I would be very surprised to find out it is not related to something that was changed – Spivey

Answer 2

We have been having this problems since iOS 7 was released. We have also been working directly with Apple and our MDM vendor since then and Apple has just recently confirmed to us that this is fixed in iOS 7.1, though Apple has not announced a release date for 7.1.

We have recently found one workaround. Using our MDM, we send a command to remove the app from the device (even though it's not even installed). Once the device processes the remove command, we are then able to push the app down to the device.

Elbowroom

Removing the app and reinstalling works for me! Thank you! – Garbe

Can't believe I still have this problem with iOS 9.1. "Uninstalling" from MDM works. – Heterocercal

And here I am in 2016 on iOS 10 with the same issue again. Unfreakingbelievable. – Heterocercal

Answer 3

I just encountered the exact same problem as well and completely agree with instability in iOS7 MDM.

The ipad I was testing is on iOS7 and here is the result what I observed in iPCU.

Oct 25 11:41:44 Devs-iPad mdmd[312] <Notice>: (Error) MDM: Command Status: Error
Error: NSError:
Desc   : The app com.custom.myapp is already scheduled for management.
US Desc: The app com.custom.myapp is already scheduled for management.
Domain : MCMDMErrorDomain
Code   : 12026
Type   : MCFatalError
Params : (
"com.custom.myapp"
)

Removing the MDM profile and re-installing to re-provision device didn't help as well.

In the end I wiped (factory reset) the device and the next time device pull application install command for that app name it works.

Hopefully Apple fixes this issue in next software update.

Walrath

Yes we found in cases where the app is 'stuck' in the device the only option is to reset it to factory settings. We are managing about 120 ipads currently and only one for some reason we can not get the provisiong certificates installed on it. We've reset it and tried to provision the device again.. the device will register limited information on our server but will not install the certificates so we are not able to push the apps... the device is in another state so I can't connect to it directly still haven't found a solution for that one... – Spivey

Answer 4

we have the same situation on 20/700 Devices managed by BES10. The only workaround for us is to install the app update outside the mdm world

Menon

Answer 5

I just encountered this issue on iOS 9.3.4.

ErrorChain: [ {
    'ErrorCode'=>12026,
    'ErrorDomain'=>'MCMDMErrorDomain',

My solution was:

1. Remove the app from the device in the MDM
2. Restart the device
3. After the iPad started, the app icon appeared on the home screen, but it was disabled, then i uninstalled the app on the device
4. Assigned the app in the MDM and pushed it onto the device

Don't know what caused the app to hang out in the install queue like that, but I worked it out after a while of troubleshooting.

Mayworm