Welcome to a quick tutorial on deploying custom profiles with Jamf Now.
In addition to the configurations offered in a blueprint, custom profiles are a way for
you to deploy settings that are not possible with the Jamf Now interface alone.
The process involves creating configuration profiles with Apple Configurator 2, Profile Manager, or ProfileCreator.
Then upload the profiles to a blueprint and Jamf Now will
deploy them to all devices associated with that blueprint.
However, this is only possible if you've upgraded your account from the standard plan to Jamf Now Plus.
I'll use Apple Configurator 2 for this demonstration, which is a free download from the Mac App Store.
After opening Apple Configurator 2, click File and select New Profile.
In the new configuration profile window that opens, the sidebar contains
groups of settings called payloads that can be configured.
It's important to note that configuration profiles can be installed on iPad, iPhone, and Mac.
However, some payloads are cross-platform, while others are OS-specific.
The list of payloads in Apple Configurator 2 is still somewhat limited;
any that are specific to Mac are not available, but may be found in Profile Manager or ProfileCreator.
For more information on which payloads are supported on what operating systems,
check out the "Payload list" Apple support article.
The General payload is where you can enter a name to help distinguish this profile in Jamf Now.
I'm going to come back to this payload in a bit.
Under General in the sidebar is the list of configurable payloads; some with settings that can be deployed
with a blueprint in Jamf Now, but many that are only found in Apple Configurator 2.
For example, selecting the Content Filter payload and clicking Configure
enables the ability to allow or block specific web sites.
However, notice this payload will only be applied successfully to devices that are supervised.
If you used Jamf Now's Auto-Enrollment to manage your iOS devices, they'll be supervised.
For more information on supervision, check out the Jamf Now support article, "What is Supervision?".
To block web sites with the content filter, add as many as you'd like to the Blacklisted URLs.
It's possible to configure multiple payloads within a single configuration profile, but it's recommended
to create separate configuration profiles for each payload you want to configure and deploy.
This makes it easier to later remove or edit settings in one payload without affecting others.
Since I've configured the Content Filter payload, I'll return to the General payload
and name this profile, "Social Media Content Filter."
Only the Name in the General payload will be used in Jamf Now;
the others have no relevance and can be ignored.
Click File and Save this configuration profile to your computer
so we can configure another payload in a separate profile.
Once saved, create a new configuration profile by clicking File > New Profile.
I'm going to use this profile to configure VPN settings, so that's the name I'll give it.
Then select the VPN payload and click configure.
The Connection Name will be displayed on managed devices and may be helpful
in distinguishing different VPN connections if multiple are configured.
The configurable options will vary depending on the connection type selected,
but some may be required while others are optional or even set on the device.
For example, I'll enter a host name for the server but leave the Account and Group fields
blank since these can be entered by the user on their device.
After the payload is configured, click File and Save this configuration profile to your computer.
Apple Configurator will warn you that this profile cannot be installed
on supervised devices because it requires user input.
Since I'll be deploying this profile with Jamf Now instead of Apple Configurator,
I can ignore this message and click Save Anyway.
Log in to Jamf Now, click Blueprints in the sidebar,
and select which Blueprint you want to include the configuration profiles.
Select Custom Profiles, then click to Add a Custom Profile.
You can drag and drop a profile, or click browse to find one on your computer.
Jamf Now will verify the profile, then click Add Custom Profile.
Since more than one profile can be added to a Blueprint, click Add a Custom Profile
in the top right and add any other configuration profiles you'd like.
Each configuration profile will be listed under the Custom Profiles,
and if any changes ever need to be made, a profile for one payload can be removed
without affecting profiles for other payloads because I created separate profiles for each payload.
Lastly, if you haven't already, select Devices to add any devices you want to receive the custom profiles.
If you have any questions about this topic,
start a live chat with the Jamf Now team or send us an email at support@jamfnow.com.
Thanks for watching!