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Monthly profile scheduled actions?

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T
Theun
Mobicoach BV (MSP Account)

Hello,

One of our customers is looking for a way to schedule the use of a specific file per month. For example, they'd like to use this file on location A only in May and September but not in the other months. For location B, they'd like to use this file only in June and October. And so forth for five locations.

With Profile Scheduled Actions, we're able to assign a profile (with the file in a package) on the 1st of May and have it disabled again at the 1st of June. Is there a way to make it recurring? We're using MobiControl version 15.4.1.4828.

I suppose we can get this working with a setup like:

Profile 01, assign date May 1st, install file on devices location A, disable date June 1st
Profiel 02, assign date June 1st, remove file on devices location A, disable date September 1st
Profile 03, assign date September 1st, install file on devices location A, disable October 1st
Profile 04, assign date October 1st, remove file on devices location A, disable date May 1st

And so on for the other locations. Which will result in 20 profiles which we'll have to renew every year?

I'm hoping there's an easier way to do this. Any ideas? Thank you in advance.

2 years ago
SOTI MobiControl
ANSWERS
RS
Rafael Schäfer Diamond Contributor
2 years ago

Hi Theun,

i looked into several possibilitys (assignement, task, package, macros) but i don't see any other possiblity than:

  • The one you found, to refresh the timestamps every year 
  • To deploy a different package version (each per file) everytime you have to change

This would mean 20 changes / year. Maybe you should look into API, then you can minimize manual work using:

  1. GET ​/profiles (to get the referenceID from each profile)
  2. PUT /profiles/{referenceId}/assignment (to change the dates for assignment etc.)

Then you may need only run a (scheduled) program to do these changes to the relevant profiles. This will mean less work and maybe you only need 5 (20 /4) profiles to be reassigned 4 times a year.

But maybe someone else has a better idea.

RS
Rafael Schäfer Diamond Contributor
2 years ago

In general, maybe another solution can be provided, if we know what you want to achieve with those files. Maybe then someone has another idea to solve the "real" problem.

T
Theun
2 years ago

Good point, we're open to suggestions.

We're placing a configuration file on their Android 8.1.0 devices in favor of a navigation app, which in turn tells that app how it can and should be downloading specific new map data using its mobile network. After a month, devices of (for instance) location A should all have had the chance of downloading map data using their mobile network and the option is reverted back by removing the configuration file.

The customer does not have access to decent WLAN and does not want all devices able to download new map data automatically all the time, because of possible high data (and roaming) costs. Spreading them out by location and by month, should keep them within the boundaries of their existing mobile network contracts.

RS
Rafael Schäfer Diamond Contributor
2 years ago

Even i don't think any vendor of an app has an option for such things, have you taken a look if the navigations app has managed app config where you maybe can limit data usage for downloading map data or so?

Also i got something other in mind (i think is similar to the above one but maybe you like it that way more):
Does your customer have every location in one seperate "main" folder/group or do they mix up?
If they are seperated you could also do following:

  1. Add a custom attribute to those groups (name it for example: "update maps" and choose boolean as type) and make it to inherit to subgroups (if needed)
  2. Change it to true (in the group details) for the "main" group which should allowed to download and "false" to those which don't
  3. Assign your profile with a filter to this attribute, so it's assigned only when this attribute is "true"
  4. Switch the attribute from false to true for the "main" folder to enable updates for a location and other way around.
    • Could also be done via API call.
Solution
T
Theun
2 years ago

Yes, the devices of every location are in one separate "main" folder. Although it's a workaround, your proposal seems more safe and less prone to human error. The only action needed is to switch the custom attribute of the folders/locations that are affected. We'll try and implement it this way. Thank you.

M
MNMOD@SOTI Gold Contributor
2 years ago

Hi Theun,

Thank you for posting on SOTI Pulse!

I see that couple of solutions are provided. Do any of these work for you? Did you get the information that you were looking for?

If you require any more assistance, please feel free to let us know. If not, feel free to mark the post that solved this issue as solution.

Kind regards,

Technical Support Specialist | SOTI | +1 905.624.9828 | SOTI.net l Discussion Forum | Log a Case Online l Facebook l LinkedIn l Twitter

T
Theun
2 years ago

It's not a full solution and stil needs manual looking after (every month), but works for now. As a feature request, recurring profile scheduled actions might be something for SOTI to look into. We'll continue from here.

M
MNMOD@SOTI Gold Contributor
2 years ago

Hi Thenu,

Thank you for marking the post as Solution. To file a feature request, please give us a call or create a support case with us and we can help you file that.

Have a great day!

Kind regards,

Technical Support Specialist | SOTI | +1 905.624.9828 | SOTI.net l Discussion Forum | Log a Case Online l Facebook l LinkedIn l Twitter 

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