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Typically, Apple’s autumn updates for IT are about better ways to manage devices, etc. This year there was an underrated update that I think will be a real win in certain situations: remote AppleCare log collection.
About Apple @ Work: Bradley Chambers has been an Apple IT admin since 2009. Through his experience with firewalls, switches, a mobile device management system, enterprise grade WiFi, 1000s of Macs, and 1000s of iPads, Bradley will highlight how Apple IT managers deploy Apple devices, build networks to support them, train users and share their products to improve IT products and Apple’s products from IT. departments.
If you’ve ever opened an AppleCare support case for a hard-to-reproduce issue in your Apple fleet, you know how difficult this process can be. AppleCare required a sysdiagnosis and getting one meant either physically having the device or making a user go through a series of steps they had never done before. This process eventually worked, but it was slow, required the user to be available and willing to help, and, for remote employees or traveling executives, it seemed that IT did not have enough visibility into the logs of what was happening on the devices. The problem is that they didn’t quite do it.
The more difficult the issue was to reproduce, the more frustrating this was for IT. By the time you received the logs, the device had rebooted, the macOS status had changed, and you had started your troubleshooting.
TriggerEnhancedLogCollection is your friend
Apple introduced two new device management commands in iOS, iPadOS, macOS and tvOS 27: TriggerEnhancedLogCollection in an abort command. The process is simple. You open an AppleCare case, AppleCare provides you with a token, and you enter that token through your device manager when you trigger the command. The device collects the logs and uploads them directly to Apple, where they are automatically linked to the ticket with Apple.
The device also reports its status through declarative management at any time, so you can see if the log collection has started, if it is finished, if it is waiting for the user’s consent and if the upload is in progress.
Interactive vs. non-interactive
There are two modes for this command, and the difference is important depending on what you are managing. On iOS, non-interactive mode is available when the device has no password and no accounts, so it collects and uploads logs in the background without user involvement. I think this would be applicable in kiosk/POS type settings. On tvOS and Shared iPads, non-interactive is always available.
On macOS, interactive mode is required. The user will see a notification and be asked to consent to both log collection and uploading. They can go down, but this is still dramatically better than the old process, but it’s not completely hands-off. The user is in the loop., but at least it’s a simple UI box..
Graduation
Remote and hybrid work make manual log collection more difficult and a remote user in another city experiencing intermittent MacOS issues is one of the more challenging support scenarios an IT team can face. With this feature, the moment the Apple team asks for logs, you can send the command from your device management console, the device does the work, and Apple has the information it needs to work on the case.
Apple @ Work is brought to you exclusively by Mosyle, the only Apple unified platform. Mosyle is the only solution that integrates in a single professional-grade platform all the necessary solutions to seamlessly and automatically deploy, manage and protect Apple devices at work. Over 45,000 organizations trust Mosyle to get millions of Apple devices ready effortlessly and affordably. Ask for your EXTENDED TRIAL today and understand why Mosyle is everything you need to work with Apple.
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