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Set Up Apple’s VPP

Apple’s Volume Purchase Program (VPP) lets you easily purchase and manage bulk licenses for apps. JumpCloud lets you assign those licenses to your macOS and iOS managed devices and device groups, and reclaim licenses when you unbind devices and device groups. Managing software remotely for your MDM-enrolled devices saves you time and helps control App Store purchases. 

Note:

This article uses the term iOS devices to include iPhones and iPads.

Prerequisites:

  • An account with Apple Business Manager (ABM) or Apple School Manager (ASM) is required, with the role of Administrator or Content Manager. 
  • Mobile Device Management (MDM) is configured for your organization. See Set up Apple MDM. 
  • VPP is not supported on user-enrolled devices, meaning that apps from the App Store cannot be installed.

Configuring VPP requires two steps:

  • Set up VPP by connecting your organization to Apple’s VPP by uploading a location’s VPP token to JumpCloud. This requires you to download a token from ABM or ASM and upload the token to JumpCloud.
  • Purchase licenses from the App Store and Apple Books for the apps you will distribute. 

Note:

Using the App Store Restrictions policy may prevent VPP and Custom app deployments from installing.

Setting up VPP

To set up VPP:

  1. Log in to the JumpCloud Admin Portal: https://console.jumpcloud.com/login. 
  2. Go to DEVICE MANAGEMENT > MDM.
  3. Select the VPP tab. The Configure VPP page is displayed.
  4. Click add token to connect your organization’s MDM server to Apple’s VPP. If you are adding a second location for your organization, click add new.
  5. In the Configure Apple’s VPP page, click sign in to Apple Business Manager underSign in to Apple to download a token for your MDM server. If you have an education account, click sign in to Apple School Manager.
  6. In ABM or ASM, select your profile name.
    1. Select Preferences, then select Payments and Billing.
    2. Under Server Tokens, hover over the token for your site, then click Download token.
    3. Locate the token, which was saved locally. 

Note:

If you do not see a screen similar to above, but instead see a page under Apps and Books with a Get Started button, click that button and follow the prompts. You will then have access to your token. 

  1. In the JumpCloud Admin Portal, under Upload the token to JumpCloud, click Browse or drag and drop the server token for your MDM server. You can only upload a token once.
  2. Click complete. Your organization’s token appears in the VPP tab. The token is valid for one year.

Purchase licenses for your apps

You can buy licenses for apps that are available in the App Store.

To purchase licenses for an app:

  1. Sign in to ABM or ASM.
  2. Select Apps and Books, then locate and select the app you want to purchase. 
  1. UnderBuy Licenses, choose the location where the license will be assigned.
  2. Enter the number of licenses you want to purchase and click Get. The app is added to your MDM App Repository during the daily sync.

Tip:

The list of VPP apps might contain multiple copies of the same software if it is associated with multiple locations.

Manage your VPP tokens

To manage your VPP tokens:

  1. Log in to the JumpCloud Admin Portal: https://console.jumpcloud.com/login. 
  2. Go to DEVICE MANAGEMENT > MDM.
  3. Select the VPP tab.
  4. Select the VPP token for your location and click actions.
  5. To renew your token for one year, choose Renew Configuration.
    1. In the Renew Apple’s VPP page, click sign in to Apple Business Manager under Sign in to Apple to download a token for your MDM server. If you have an education account, click sign in to Apple School Manager.
    2. In ABM or ASM, select your account at the bottom-left, then select Preferences from the pop-up menu, then select Payments and Billing from the main panel.
    3. Under My Server Tokens, find the token for your location, then click on it to download the VPP token.
    4. Click Save to save the token locally.
    5. Click Replace if your token already exists in the same folder.
    6. In the JumpCloud Admin Portal, under Upload the token to JumpCloud, click Browse or drag and drop the server token for your MDM server. You can only upload a token once.
    7. Click complete. Your organization’s token appears in the VPP tab. The token is valid for one year.
  6. To remove JumpCloud’s connection to this token, select the location, click actions and choose Delete configuration, then click delete again. Deleting a location’s token removes all the location’s apps from JumpCloud and will no longer be managed by JumpCloud. Deleting the token removes the token in JumpCloud, but does not remove the token in ABM or ASM.

What’s Next?
After you set up VPP and purchase licenses for apps, you can choose the devices and device groups to bind to those applications. You can also reclaim licenses if you delete an app. See Software Management: macOS and iOS.

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