Appendix H: Provisioning on legacy platforms

Over the years, several client platforms have been phased out:

• Symbian
• Windows Mobile
• Java
• BlackBerry

Even though those platforms are not officially supported, the DME server still includes features that support legacy devices - including provisioning features. In order to simplify the description of the Provisioning tab, all features that do not relate to the currently supported platforms (Android, Apple iOS, and Windows Phone) have been moved to this Appendix. This happened with the documentation for DME server 4.2 SP2.

From the Provisioning tab, you can manage the deployment, or roll-out, of software, access points, configurations, and profiles to your devices - both devices that are already managed in the DME system and devices that you want to start to manage.

Please note: If you are integrating with an external MDM system, then the entire Provisioning tab will be hidden in the DME Admin interface, and nothing in this chapter will be relevant to you. All provisioning is done from the external MDM system. For more information, see Appendix B: External MDM integration.

DME supports different types of provisioning:

• Provisioning by SMS or WAP push.
• Provisioning using the OMA DM protocol.
• Provisioning using Mark for Installation.
• Self-service provisioning.

The type of provisioning that you choose will depend on the capabilities of the device model and device platform that you want to deploy to, and your company policies. In the following sections, a list of supported device platforms will be listed for each type of resource that you want to deploy and for each provisioning method.

The overall process of provisioning – or deploying – software to a device is as follows:

1. Upload the software package to the DME server. See Upload software.
2. Select one or more software packages, and select the Install software icon. See Installing software.
3. Monitor the installation status. See Status and Provisioning status.

The page menu in the Provisioning tab contains functions to provision the different types of items. From the page menu, you can also access functions to push information to devices. Those functions (under the Send to device heading in the page menu) are described under the Devices tab - see Send to device.

DME supports a wide array of device platforms and device models. Different device platforms, and even different device models using the same platform, may require different deployment methods. As a consequence of this, DME supports a number of different ways of deploying DME and other software, access points, and profiles to devices. This section provides an overview of these methods, and lists the appropriate methods for each supported device platform.

For all methods, the following infrastructure must be in place prior to deployment:

1. The DME Server must be installed, configured, and working.
2. Licenses for the appropriate number of managed devices must be installed on the DME Server.
3. An Internet connection must be properly configured on the devices. This step can also be automated as part of the installation. Please see Access points and bookmarks.
4. DME includes support for client signing. If this is enabled, a client must be signed, and the signature must be verified by the server for the client to establish a connection with the server. For more information about the effect of these security features on deployment, see Add client signing key.

For a detailed description of how to deploy DME on different device platforms, see Software deployment overview by platform.