Only Jamf Pro needs access to an LDAP server to populate the email address in the computer record. The new activation and setup features don’t require Macs be bound to Active Directory.
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The Mac Admins community has done a great job documenting these and other key/value pairs for managing Outlook and other Office applications. PII_And_Intelligent_Services_Preference -bool TRUE
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Some end users may see additional windows that add clicks to the activation and configuration experience, but these can usually be suppressed.įor example, if end users see the Intelligent Services window, use the defaults command from earlier to generate a file and upload it to the same configuration profile: defaults write ~/Desktop/ We don’t need a separate plist for Outlook.Įnvironments differ between organizations. This one plist shows an example where both the Office activation address and email address are the same. The final plists look like one of these two examples when viewing with QuickLook. In Terminal, enter this one-line command followed with a return: defaults write ~/Desktop/ĭefaultEmailAddressOrDomain -string'$EMAIL' For more information see Computer Extension Attribute Input Types. For example, if we’re using a User Principal Name (UPN) to activate Office but an email address in Outlook, we’ll need to configure an extension attribute with a new LDAP Attribute Mapping to collect this extra information from Active Directory or the LDAP server. We may also have to create a second plist file for the Outlook application itself if the username for activating Office is different from the email address we’ll configure in Outlook. In Terminal, enter this one-line command followed with a return: defaults write ~/Desktop/ OfficeAutoSignIn -bool TRUEĪnd the ‘OfficeAutoSignIn’ key suppresses windows that may get in the way the first time Outlook is launched. (Although “Office” is not really an application, this plist manages some settings across all the Office applications.) The name of the plist file determines which app we’re managing. It’s a placeholder for now, but Jamf Pro will replace it with the email address specified in the computer record just before deploying the configuration profile.
The value ‘$EMAIL’ is a payload variable. In this case, we’re going to use ‘OfficeActivationEmailAddress’ to specify the Office 365 email address that will activate the software. Keys are usually easy to read and understand. The defaults command creates plist files and it populates them with a preference key on one line followed by a value on the next line to manage that setting for an application. You should see something similar to this: Locate and select that file on your Desktop and tap the spacebar to QuickLook its contents. This creates a file on your Desktop named ‘’. OfficeActivationEmailAddress -string '$EMAIL' Open the Terminal application found in /Applications/Utilities, type or copy/paste the following one-line command and press the return key: defaults write ~/Desktop/
If we manage the plist, then we manage the application. Applications store their preferences and settings in plists. Configuration profiles are all about managing plists like those found in an end user’s home folder in ~/Library/Preferences. Create the plist fileĪ plist file is the foundation of most configuration profiles. Then we’ll load the plist file into a Custom Settings payload in a new configuration profile in Jamf Pro. This connected service automatically populates the Email Address field when a username is added to a computer record in Jamf Pro.įirst, we’ll use the Terminal application to make a plist file on the Desktop with the correct settings. The Active Directory or LDAP server is recommended only to make populating email addresses for multiple end users easier. Active Directory or other LDAP service connected to Jamf Pro (recommended).Along the way, we’ll use a few tools that demonstrate end-to-end how plist preference files relate to configuration profiles. The magic that makes all this work is configuration profiles. We saw no “What’s New” messages, no prompts to configure additional accounts and no requests to re-enter the same password. He only had to enter a password.įrom there, activation completed and then returned to Outlook where the Main Window opened, added the Office 365 email account and began downloading messages. However, the activation window was pre-populated with the end user’s email address. Because Office wasn’t yet activated, it first displayed an activation window. After logging in to a brand new macOS user account, Kalvass launched Outlook.