Meraki MDM - Fixing Invalid Profile when adding device to MDM

 With apple's iOS 15 update, I found I had some issues to fix with some of our organizations iPads, specifically because they are only 16 gb versions; they were out of space.  Also with the pandemic the Push cert was not kept up due to the systems being off.  Resetting and reformatting the ipads ended up being required.  Now these ipads were store bought ipads and not directly purchased from apple; which complicates things.  That caused the ipads to no longer connect to the Meraki MDM due to the bad push certificate and when I tried to re-add them using Apple Configurator 2, I got the invalid profile error.

After a lot of pain and troubleshooting, I had managed to make some progress on getting these ipads re-set up on the Meraki MDM.  After updating them to iOS 15.0.2 I ran the apple configurator which put them in the Apple Business Management center, but would not configure the ipads for use with the MDM.  

An issue that I also found which was causing me some of the grief is these ipads were somehow added to an icloud account, which I need to be removed before I could continue.  After removing the ipads from the iCloud account, I setup the ipads for automated enrollment thought Apple Configurator 2.  Doing this put the ipads into Apple Business Manager but still would not configure the ipads to use the MDM with the push certificate.  

I thought I would try and add them to the Meraki DEP, which I was able to do but this did not help me with getting the ipads setup to be used and updated with the push certificate.  What ended up being the solution was resetting all the certs (again), and setting up the ipads for just supervision with no MDM.  After the iPads were Supervised I was apple to add them to the MDM using Safari and the MDM web link.  I also had to remove the education configuration part of a profile configuration

 I thought this was odd but it was causing the following two errors in the Meraki log which you can see below.

Error: The top-level user “xxxxxxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxxxxxxxx” is neither a leader nor a member.

Error: The payload “Your Meraki iPad Profile” is invalid.

Ultimately I re-did all the certs between apple business manager and Meraki

• The Apple configurator certificate
• the VPP certificate
• the push certificate
• DEP certificate.  

Then I removed the education part of the profile and setup the ipads as just supervised devices with no MDM having to add them manually after.   This worked and got the ipads back up in working order.

Connect the ipads to your mac and open Apple Configurator 2 and select the ipad or ipads and select the Prepare

Select Supervise devices and allow devices to pair with other computers.

Select do not enroll in MDM

Select the Organization 

Configure iOS Setup

After the ipad has been supervised, the ipad could be connected to the internet.

Un-Supervised Device

Once the ipad was supervised, the wifi screen shows up and when connected can then be joined to the MDM by the enrollment URL/Link.  You must use safari to connect to the MDM.

iOS Screen

I was able to use safari get to the enrollment URL/Link to join the MDM and the profiles were applied right away.  However before you do if you have apps that you will want to use that were purchased on a specific profile you will have to sign into the ipad with that account before loading the MDM.  Otherwise you will lose access to those apps.

Meraki Network Registration

 

Sign in with Google

Sign in with a Meraki email.

Enter the password

Finds The MDM Network

Allow the profile to download to the iPad

Close the alert and open the settings

Click on Profile Downloaded

Install the profile

Trust the certificate from the MDM

Once the profile is installed, the ipad will start reconfiguring to what you have setup for the profile on the MDM.

to get the devices setup.  Once that was done.  I used apple configurator to just supervise the devices.  Then I used safari to add them to the MDM.  Once there I was able to set them up as before in Meraki, adding and removing profiles as required for apps.

The Apple iPad

Apple has released their tablet computer and it is called the iPad. OK the name isn't that great but the machine is. This is the perfect device for people who want a netbook or laptop that actually wouldn't use one. For example, this would be the perfect device for my wife, It is an oversize iPod that she can hook a keyboard up to via the keyboard accessory. My biggest 2 issues are with issue with it is the lack of a usb port or card reader, (which I imagine will come out later as an accessory) and the lack of the Full Mac OS. To use this computer, fully, you still need a computer to sync it to itunes. Now if you could hook up an external hard drive, and have a card reader with the full OS functionality then I think people would be going gaga over it. Regardless this is still a huge leap forward.

I was expecting 3 things from this announcement.

1. It would start the pricing at $799.00 USD


2. It would be a little slow or "under powered"


3. There would be little to no software for it

Apple really surprised everyone with what they came out with. The iPad is the next logical extension of the hardware and at $499, it's a deal. Let's face it the regular Mac OS would be difficult to use without a full keyboard and mouse, the iPhone OS is much simpler to use and by adapting the software to work better with the iPhone OS then the target market will have an easier time using the iPad. Speaking of which who is the target market for this? Well you can say e-book readers, but I think where the iPad will shine is in Sales, Education, and most importantly general computing. Who will use this? Students, Moms, Non-Tech Savy People. Why? Because it is the easiest OS you can use. It does one thing at a time and won't allow you to do more then one thing at any given time.

What about the big techies that want one? Well it will make a great video device, handy for following online tutorials, reading websites, blogs, and ebooks. I must say it is a really good size as well; I can't wait to see one in person. My wife doesn't know if she would use it but for everything she does on her laptop, the iPad fits the bill better then her laptop. My sister goes to college this coming up school year, this would fit the bill perfectly for a mobile device for school. She can record notes, use google docs or iwork, and there are lots of apps that will open and save word files, and more. Having used XP tablets (Which cost a lot more) and end up feeling quite slow, I have I hopes for performance on the iPad.

For those people that thought Steve Jobs can change the laws of physics, he is only human and for their first tablet computer, Apple's is once again a cut above the rest. I'm not saying by any means that it's perfect, I'm just saying that what's out there right now it is the best there is. They made it cheaper then what most had thought (Starting at $499). It has a fast 1Ghz processor (still needs to be proven to me) and loads of apps thanks to the Apps Store.

Improvements I would make to the iPad.

Add 1 or 2 standard USB Ports
80GB SSD
SD Card Reader
FULL OS SUPPORT!

I would expect apple to have a $499 or $599 product line or the possible replacement of the MacBook line. These mobile devices are becoming cheaper, faster, easier to use and are much more popular then regular personal computers. Very soon you will have a home server to store all your data (songs, movies, documents) and everyone will have a "iPad" or tablet for accessing, and syncing it all.

Trevor