ZMM support for iOS devices after March 31, 2021

  • 7025056
  • 23-Mar-2021
  • 25-Mar-2021

Environment

Mobile Management (ZENworks Mobile Management)

Situation

Beginning on March 31, 2021, Apple is making changes to the APN (Apple Push Notification) process that iOS devices use for communication with MDM servers.  To prevent issues with the standalone ZENworks Mobile Management (ZMM) 3.2.x environment, there is a patch that must be applied for APN communication to continue working.

If the patch is not applied, iOS devices will no longer be able to sync with the MDM server and will not receive policy updates or security commands after this time.  With the patch, this functionality will work until December 31, 2021, at which time ZMM will no longer support iOS management.  Therefore all users should be moved from ZMM to ZCM prior to that date.

Resolution

For customers still using ZMM between March 31st, 2021 and December 31st, 2021, you will need to apply a patch to your ZMM server to allow continued communication.


The patch contains dll files that need placed in two directories. The process would be as follows:
  1. Stop the World Wide Web Publishing Service.
  2. Either rename, or move the existing dll files to another folder.
  3. The files in the dll folder are placed in C:\Program Files (x86)\Novell\ZENworks\mobile
  4. The files in the 'extension dll' folder are placed in C:\Program Files (x86)\Novell\ZENworks\mobile\php\ext
  5. Start the World Wide Web Publishing Service.

Once this is complete, confirm that APN commands are still communicating with your iOS devices.  The easiest test would be to ensure an iOS device is unlocked and then send a lock command from within the ZMM Dashboard.