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Re-establish MDM communication with a non-communicating auto-enrolled Mac in Jamf Now

Updated over 2 months ago

Description

Certain actions can break MDM communication for Jamf Now managed Macs. The most common are:

  • Using Auto-Enrollment and Migration Assistant to setup a Mac with "System Settings" selected.

  • Uploading a different APNs certificate when renewing the certificate and being unable to switch back to the original.

In these scenarios, the device will need to be re-enrolled in Jamf Now to regain communication. This article provides the steps to re-enroll a non-communicating auto-enrolled Mac in Jamf Now, which requires reinstalling macOS since the MDM profile is non-removable.

Re-Enroll using a Time Machine Backup

The steps below outline how to re-enroll the device using a Time Machine backup to retain user information.

  1. Take a Time Machine backup of the Mac in its current state: https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201250

  2. Go through the Setup Assistant.

    1. On the "Transfer information" step, select the option to Transfer your data to your new Macbook.

    2. Ensure that System Settings is unchecked to ensure Migration Assistant doesn't overwrite system information that is necessary for enrollment.

  3. If the Mac appears in Jamf Now under Auto-Enrollment > View Devices, it should now be auto-enrolled and actively Checking In/Inventorying with Jamf Now.



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