What’s new in Jamf Pro 11.1

Jamf Pro 11.1 unleashed

Jamf Pro, the gold standard in Apple management, continues the sleek, modern look seen in its debut release (11.0) while bringing novel functionality to help Jamf Pro admins work smarter — not harder.

Let’s take a closer look at the highlights of Jamf Pro 11.1, shall we?

Jamf Remote Assist

Adds the capability for admins to remotely assist end users on managed macOS devices, allowing them to kick off screen-sharing sessions with devices enrolled in Jamf Pro. This highly anticipated feature benefits organizations, admins and end users alike by incorporating remote assistance features directly into the management console for a native experience and unmatched connection security.

For organizations, IT can offer a simple, interactive support experience from anywhere — despite being in different physical locations — providing the highest level of support while reducing the number of tech support tickets. For admins, the native design allows for greater efficiency by easily establishing remote sessions to effectively troubleshoot and resolve issues to get the end user back to being productive quickly. Plus, remote assist has the ability to download files, like system logs, to better assess the state of the machine. Finally, for end users, a more interactive, connected support experience helps resolve their concerns quickly, while maintaining privacy and security at the forefront.

To start a Jamf Remote Assist session, admins navigate to Management Commands and select the Start Session button. From here, end users will see a prompt on their device to Allow or Decline the session.

For a more in-depth look at Jamf Remote Assist, take a look at our blog here.

Improved macOS onboarding

As you may already know, Jamf Pro makes macOS onboarding a breeze, allowing MacAdmins to easily configure and deploy content to end-user computers. With Jamf Pro 11.1 however, improvements to onboarding workflows have been implemented that allow admins to choose the specific policies, configuration profiles and applications to be deployed as they normally would, but now these selections will be automatically installed on the end user computers when Self Service opens for the first time. Apple Admins gain greater flexibility and enhanced performance when customizing their onboarding workflows in Jamf Pro without the need to rely upon open-source or third-party software apps to extend functionality that is now native to Jamf Pro 11.1.

This improvement to the onboarding workflow helps admins configure and deploy content more easily while empowering end users to use organizationally provided content immediately. Additionally, it also provides more visibility to what is being installed on end-user devices.

By transitioning to a native component, Jamf Pro eliminates the need to use third-party software — streamlining workflows — and simultaneously creating a more stable, reliable and intuitive onboarding experience. One that allows IT to reduce onboarding times as it provides confidence that the onboarding process is up-to-date with the latest macOS features and security standards.

App Installers summary view

Part of the Jamf App Catalog, App Installers is a curated collection of Jamf-managed and Jamf-provided installer packages that automate and streamline updating and deploying third-party apps. Jamf Pro automatically sources these packages from vendors, repackages them if necessary, and updates and deploys these titles to designated Mac machines in a Smart Group.

In Jamf Pro 11.1, App Installers get an update that improves a view into Jamf App Catalog deployed apps – helping Apple admins better understand if a deployment was successful or if it failed. Now, apps from the Jamf App Catalog and apps from the App Store are viewed separately, facilitating easier management of App Installer titles.

The new, one-page view includes a list of all deployments, sorted by the newest to the oldest (default state). The added visibility right on the summary view provides a better understanding of what app deployments are successful while helping MacAdmins hasten action on deployments that are unsuccessful without having to review each deployment’s stateto initiate a retry.

New Remote Command for Healthcare Listener: Clear Extension Attribute

A new remote command, called Clear Extension Attribute is available for Healthcare Listener setup. This remote command clears a defined Mobile Device Extension Attribute, helping hospitals that provide patients with shared iPads to utilize Healthcare Listener to sanitize the iPad for the next user. It is also useful for hospitals that want to leverage Jamf Setup alongside the Healthcare Listener but cannot use the Room field for their bedside attribute or have other processes in place that prevent the wholesale clearing of Extension Attributes upon device re-provisioning.

Note: There is no need to update the Healthcare Listener to take advantage of this new feature.