Electric IT Hub | Utilizing Zero Touch Provisioning of Devices

Introduction

Zero Touch Provisioning (ZTP) streamlines new devices by automating the setup process, reducing manual intervention and errors. For your employees, this means a seamless user experience and improved IT security. ZTP ensures devices are configured consistently and securely right out of the box with the goals of minimizing downtime and enhancing scalability. By adopting ZTP, businesses can focus resources on strategic initiatives instead of manual device setup tasks.

Overview of IT Hub ZTP Offering

Today, ZTP will pre-load your new devices with the MDM and the Electric Desktop App. Read on for more information.

• The new device will come with MDM policies and the Electric Desktop App already installed for the employee

  • For more information about the policies, please see this article.

  • For more information about the app, please see this article.

• The new device will come with any third party software applications you have requested be deployed by the MDM in IT Hub at a prior date.

  • Please note: third party software desktop application deployment must be requested on demand from the Electric team at this time.

    • To enable third party software application deployment and to view a list of currently supported desktop applications, or to request a new application, please contact product support via an email to product-support@electric.ai.

    • Streamlined, self-service support for this process will be added to the IT Hub at a later date.

• If the new device was purchased in the IT Hub storefront, it will appear first as an asset until the Electric Desktop App is activated.

• If the new device is not purchased via the IT Hub storefront, there will be no asset created in the platform and the new device record won’t appear until it is assigned to an employee or the employee activates the Electric Desktop App that was pre-provisioned by signing in to it.

Prerequisites to ZTP

Before being able to configure zero touch provisioning, you must have an active Apple Business Manager account for your business.

If you don’t have one, please see below steps.

Note: ZTP support for non-Apple Business Manager Apple customers and for Windows customers will be added in February 2025.

1. Follow these instructions: How to Enroll in Apple Business Manager (can take 3-5 business days)

2. You will need a D-U-N-S Number to create an Apple Business Manager account:

   1. Check to see if you already have a D-U-N-S Number

   2. Get a free D-U-N-S Number (3-4 weeks)

   3. Get an expedited D-U-N-S Number for $229 (4-5 days)

3. Device Management configured in the IT Hub. If you haven’t yet, follow these instructions: Enable MDM (Mobile Device Management (3-5 minutes)

4. Connected your Apple Business Manager account to the IT Hub in the Settings section. (3-5 minutes)

Configure Zero Touch Provisioning with Electric IT Hub

1. Within your Apple Business Manager portal, follow the steps in this tutorial to Link an MDM Server, using the information below where applicable (2-3 minutes):

   1. In step #3: Name the server “Electric Jumpcloud”

   2. In step #4: Upload the public key certificate file provided by Electric.

   3. Instead of doing step #7: Email product-support@electric.ai the token you downloaded in step #6 to complete the upload to Jumpcloud.

2. Follow these instructions to designate your future purchases to be assigned to the Electric Jumpcloud server (1-2 Minutes)

3. Follow step #1 in these instructions to filter and assign all your existing devices to the Electric Jumpcloud server (1-2 Minutes)

If you need any dedicated support for this process, please reach out to the support team via email and schedule a time to walk through the above processes on a screen share call.

FAQs

1. Is software application provisioning and deprovision available and configured with ZTP?

   1. Application provisioning to the desktop is only offered if the above mentioned on demand process is followed in advance. And, the application is connected for onboarding account creation in the IT Hub applications page.

   2. Application deprovisioning is only offered via account disabling/suspension/deactivation in the process of offboarding in the IT Hub applications page.

   3. For more information, please review this article on our SaaS automation configurations.

2. Is ZTP available for non-Apple devices?

   1. This will be available in February 2025.

3. Can ZTP be deployed for iPhone, iPads, Androids, tablets, or other non-laptop devices?

   1. No. Electric’s MDM and ZTP only works within the scope of Windows and MacOS supported laptops at this time.

4. How do I manage a device that is not registered in ABM, and reset that device so ZTP can work?

   1. After ABM is set up for your business, any existing devices will need to be wiped (or perform a factory reset) so that the device can enroll into ABM.

      1. Once the existing device has been moved into ABM, and assigned to the Electric MDM server, the device will then need to be wiped in order for it to go through the proper ZTP enrollment flow.

      2. If the Apple configurator does not apply at this point, then an admin would need to manually assign the device to the MDM server with the help of Electric product support, and then proceed wipe it after that.

      3. Please reference further help documentation from Apple as needed: https://support.apple.com/guide/apple-business-manager/add-devices-using-apple-configurator-axm200a54d59/web

   2. ZTP should be configured before the steps of receiving a device back to its storage location – whether it be a warehouse, an admin’s home, or otherwise – and before assigning it to a new employee in order to function as designed.