Announcing GroundControl 4.5.2

Created: Knowledge Base

GroundControl 4.5.2 is a server-only release.

Are you testing iOS 12? We are. GroundControl 4.6 will be fully compatible with iOS 12. We expect to release it in early September, before the release of iOS 12. Let us know if you have any questions.

Big News: Automatic Failure Recovery

GroundControl 4.5.2 introduces an extremely simple way to recover from many deployment failures. If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again.

The workflow action Advanced > On Failure allows you to specify what happens if a workflow fails for any reason.

  • GroundControl can automatically retry the workflow, up to 10 times. It’s just like un-plugging and re-plugging the device, without the work.
  • And if that doesn’t succeed, you can specify an alternate workflow to run instead. This is useful to undo an action, e.g. to Check In if a Check Out fails.

This change overhauls, simplifies, and replaces the previous On Failure action, which worked but was often cumbersome.

We recommend adding On Failure, with only the “Retry” box checked, to most every workflow. It’s a little extra automation to help your users be more successful.

More Stuff

Check Out improvements

  • Fixed a bug that limited users to a single check-out. ? Thanks, Eric!
  • Check-In + Erase + Restore didn’t mix well, but now it does. ? Thanks, Dennis!
  • Modified the Check-Out routine to attempt check-out only on devices that are now checked-in, which makes sense right
  • Updated the Check Out admin settings, and there’s a lot more to come.

GroundControl API improvements

  • Added a new GroundControl API to deploy a specific workflow to a specific device. Previously you needed to run the “Evaluate Workflows” which was confusing.
  • Added a new OAUTH routine for custom web apps.
  • The Get Launchpad API now returns the actual osFamily instead of null. ? Thanks, Owen!
  • DEPEnabled status is now reported more accurately on device export and in the GroundControl API. ? Thanks, Kaylyn!

Other bug fixes and improvements

  • IBM added a new API so we can now assign DEP profiles to devices with MaaS360, just like we do with AirWatch. We also updated our matrix of MDM features. ? Thanks, Elliot!
  • Import Devices automatically strips the leading “S” from serial numbers if the serial numbers were scanned from the Apple box. ? Thanks, Keith and others!
  • Cleaning up the place? Deleting dozens of workflows at once is now more likely to succeed.
  • Attribute substitution wasn’t working right for brand-new devices. Now they work. ? Thanks, Elliot!
  • Added a new device status “Checking Device.” This appears when using Self Heal and a few other pre-deployment functions.
  • We no longer fail the Battery Health test with a misleading error message. ? Thanks, Mark!
  • In the admin console, in Launchpad detail, we’ll show an indicator if you have Launchpad options or logging set.
  • The GroundControl Login page puts the cursor in the Login field now. That’s a nice little touch, don’t you think?
  • We improved the Launch App action so you can now edit your settings.
  • You can now change Launchpad attributes without the value going blank. ? Thanks, Mobility Mike!
Got Passcodes? Read This.

In iOS 11.4.1, Apple changed the way passcode-protected devices connect to USB. If you use passcodes on your devices, please read our knowledge base article on USB Restricted Mode to find out how you may be affected.