Apple School Manager

Apple School Manager knows every Apple device your district bought from Apple or an authorized reseller: its serial number, model, order number and order date, and its AppleCare coverage. Connecting it to schoolOS does two things:

• Import devices. Apple School Manager becomes a source on the Assets tab of Admin › Account › Import Data, beside the CSV import. New devices are added; devices you already have gain what they're missing.
• Keep AppleCare current. Every day, schoolOS reads AppleCare coverage for the devices already in schoolOS and fills in each one's Agreement number and Coverage end date.

schoolOS only reads from Apple School Manager. It never assigns, releases or changes a device there.

Apple School Manager is listed under Device management on Admin › Account › Integrations, but it isn't one: it doesn't know who has a device or what it's running. Keep your MDM (Jamf Pro, Mosyle, Intune) connected for that. The two work well together: Apple School Manager brings in what you bought, your MDM fills in who has it.

Create the API account#

An Administrator in Apple School Manager creates the API account schoolOS signs in with.

1. Sign in to Apple School Manager as an Administrator.
2. Open your account's preferences, then API, and create an API account for schoolOS.
3. Download the private key (a .pem file). Apple lets you download it only once, so keep it somewhere safe until you've connected.
4. Copy the account's Client ID and Key ID.

The API account can read every device in your organization. It can't sign in to Apple School Manager, and you can remove it there at any time, which disconnects schoolOS.

Connect#

1. Open Admin › Account › Integrations and select Set up beside Apple School Manager.
2. Enter the Client ID and Key ID.
3. Select Upload .pem file and choose the private key.
4. Select Connect.

schoolOS signs in with the key, reads your organization's device management services and counts your devices before it saves anything. If Apple doesn't accept the details, nothing is saved and the page says what to check. The private key is stored encrypted and never shown again. To change the Client ID or Key ID later, open API account, edit them and select Save and test connection; the saved key is kept unless you upload a new one.

Once connected, Connection details shows:

• Status. Connected, or Error with what went wrong (a removed API account, a revoked key).
• Client ID and Key ID.
• Last checked. When schoolOS last signed in. Apple's API doesn't share your organization's name or when the key expires, so neither is shown.
• Devices in Apple School Manager, with Import devices.
• AppleCare. What the last sync found and changed.
• Device management services. Each MDM server set up in Apple School Manager, with its device count and when it last connected.

Test connection signs in again and refreshes these.

For example, a district whose Apple School Manager lists 6,200 iPads and 900 Macs connects it on a Monday. Connection details shows 7,100 devices and its two device management services, "Jamf Pro" and "Spares".

Import devices#

1. Open the Assets tab of Admin › Account › Import Data. With Apple School Manager connected, a choice appears under Start a new import: CSV file or Apple School Manager. Select Apple School Manager.
2. schoolOS reads your devices and shows what the import will do:
   • New to schoolOS: devices whose serial number isn't on any of your assets.
   • Already in schoolOS: devices matched by serial number, with how many will be updated and which fields change. Devices already up to date are left out.
   • Devices you've released from Apple School Manager (sold, traded in or transferred) aren't imported: they're no longer the district's. The preview says how many it skipped.
3. If you can import into two or more departments, choose the Department above, the same choice a CSV import uses (see The department). New devices are filed there; a device already in schoolOS that's filed in another department waits in review, as it would from a CSV. The preview says how many.
4. When a value is missing shows Update, and can't be changed: an Apple School Manager import only fills in or corrects what Apple knows, and never clears a field (see Update or Overwrite).
5. Select Review and import. The import runs in the background like a CSV import: rows are checked, any that need you wait in Needs Review, and you import the rest. See Fix rows that need review.

What each device brings:

| schoolOS field | From Apple School Manager | New devices | Devices you already have | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Serial Number | Serial number | Yes | Used to match | | Name | Model, like "iPad (10th generation)" | Yes | Never changed | | Asset Type | Product family: iPad, Mac (Laptop for a MacBook, Desktop otherwise), iPhone, Apple TV, Apple Watch, Apple Vision Pro | Yes | Never changed | | Manufacturer | Apple | Yes | When missing or different | | Model | Model | Yes | When missing or different | | PO Number | Order number | Yes | When missing or different | | Purchase Date | Order date | Yes | When missing or different | | Vendor | Apple, or "Reseller" and the reseller's number | Yes | When missing or different |

An asset type, manufacturer or model you don't have yet is created by the import, and its review says which. Nothing is ever erased: a field Apple School Manager has no value for keeps yours.

More device details#

Apple School Manager also has Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and Ethernet MAC addresses, IMEI, MEID, EID, color, capacity, part number and product type. schoolOS has no built-in field for these. To import any of them, open More device details on the Apple School Manager page and choose one of your text custom asset fields for each; leave the rest on Don't import. Each custom field takes one detail.

Which should I choose: Apple School Manager, your MDM, or a CSV?#

| Source | What it knows | Choose it when | | --- | --- | --- | | Apple School Manager | Every Apple device you bought, with order number and date, even ones never turned on | Your first Apple rollout, or catching devices that were bought but never enrolled | | Your MDM | Enrolled devices, who has them, OS version, last check-in | Keeping details current day to day. It syncs on its own | | CSV file | Whatever your spreadsheet has: tags, locations, owners, prices | Purchasing records, non-Apple equipment, or fields neither system has |

For example, a district receives 600 iPads for its sixth graders. IT imports from Apple School Manager the day the order shows up: 600 new iPads with their PO number and order date. When the iPads enroll in Jamf Pro the next week, Jamf fills in who has each one.

AppleCare sync#

Once a day, schoolOS asks Apple School Manager for the AppleCare coverage of each device that's both in schoolOS and in Apple School Manager, matched by serial number. Select Sync AppleCare on the Apple School Manager page to run it now; it runs in the background and you can leave the page.

• AppleCare+ and other paid coverage fills in the device's Agreement number and Coverage end date (see Track AppleCare coverage). Active coverage wins over expired; then the latest end date.
• Limited Warranty only isn't AppleCare, so nothing is written.
• No coverage, or a device Apple School Manager doesn't know: nothing changes. A sync never clears an agreement number or end date you entered or imported.
• AppleCare+ for Business has no agreement number or end date in Apple School Manager, so nothing is written for it.

The sync covers every department in your account. It never adds a device or moves one between departments: it only fills in AppleCare on devices it matches by serial number, wherever they're filed.

Apple answers one device at a time, so a large district is covered over a few days: each sync checks the devices it checked longest ago first. Each run is recorded in Integration activity on Admin › Account › Logs.

For example, a district with 7,100 Apple devices in schoolOS turns on the connection. The first daily sync checks 5,000 of them, the next day's the remaining 2,100. Its activity entry reads "Checked 5,000 devices, 3,412 with AppleCare, 3,398 assets updated."

Disconnect#

Turn off Apple School Manager on Admin › Account › Integrations, or select Disconnect on its page. AppleCare stops syncing and the saved key is cleared. Your assets keep everything imported onto them, and nothing changes in Apple School Manager. To stop it for good, also remove the API account in Apple School Manager.