Relution Signet Customer Hub

SFTP upload to Apple School Manager

Relution can be used to create Managed Apple Accounts (Managed Apple IDs in the portal) in large numbers.
This is possible via the Relution Portal in the settings and makes it easier for schools and school authorities to automatically configure these accounts so that they can be made available to students and teachers.
This process also automatically migrates classes created in Relution to classes in Apple School Manager.

Requirements

  • Port 22 outbound to the Apple servers allowed, especially for the URL: upload.appleschoolcontent.com
  • An Apple School Manager
  • An Education or Free license in Relution
  • Read and update permission for Apple School Manager SFTP upload in the administrator’s role (without update permission, the setup wizard cannot be completed)
  • At least one verified domain in Apple School Manager (reserve addresses from Apple are not possible)
  • A class in Relution with at least one teacher and one student user
  • The teachers must be part of the Teacher system group, and the students must be part of the Student system group

Configuration

  • The Relution portal and Apple School Manager are opened.
  • In Relution, the following item is opened: Settings → Education → Apple School Manager SFTP upload
  • The setup wizard is continued until the server URL, user, and password are entered.
  • In Apple School Manager, the following item is opened: the own User in the bottom left corner → Settings → Managed Apple Accounts → Start the first steps of linking directory synchronization.
  • Create new accounts is clicked.
  • Use CSV file in Apple format is clicked.
  • Step 1: Set up SFTP
  • The values are copied into the fields in Relution, then Next is clicked.
  • The verified domain from Apple School Manager is entered in the Managed Apple ID domain field.
  • Clicking Save Settings saves the settings and automatically starts the first SFTP upload.
  • Next is clicked in Apple School Manager and the import is awaited.

The accounts are now displayed and can be checked for errors here.

In Apple School Manager, the same verified domain and the user name format FirstName.LastName are configured under Create Accounts and Classes for both instructors and students (e.g. John.Doe@school.com). For users that do not yet have a Managed Apple Account, Relution stores the address in exactly this format (FirstName.LastName@<domain>) on the user. If a different format is configured in Apple School Manager, the accounts created there will not match the addresses stored in Relution.

Upload and scope

After the setup, Relution uploads the data to Apple School Manager automatically once a day by default. In addition, an upload can be triggered manually under Settings → Education → Apple School Manager SFTP upload via Start upload. Apple School Manager sends an email once the import is complete.

The following is transferred:

  • all members of the Teacher system group as instructors and all members of the Student system group as students, even if they belong to the group only via a subgroup; a user in both groups is transferred as an instructor only
  • the organization’s classes with the instructors and students assigned directly or via groups

On the same page, Password policy for students defines which password policy the students’ Managed Apple Accounts receive:

  • Use location default: New accounts use the default password policy of the location in Apple School Manager; existing accounts keep their current policy.
  • Set 8-digit policy (Standard), Set 6-digit policy or Set 4-digit policy: New and existing accounts are switched to the respective policy.

Location

The SFTP upload creates a new location in Apple School Manager for each Relution organization that uses SFTP upload. The name of this location is the same as the unique name of the respective Relution organization.

For example:

  • Organization Name: User-Import-Test
  • Unique Name of the Organization: UIT
  • New Location in ASM: UIT

If the location in Apple School Manager used for purchasing apps and already exists has the same name, this can cause problems.
This should be discussed with the server operator or partner beforehand.

Disconnecting

The SFTP upload connection must never be disconnected if the accounts are still actively in use and additional accounts are to be created in the future. Disconnecting changes all accounts created via SFTP upload to the source Manually from SFTP.
Reconnecting afterward may result in duplicate Managed Apple Accounts. Since users can also be imported into Relution from Apple School Manager, this can create a vicious cycle.

In Relution, the settings are reset via Clear SFTP server settings → Delete. This only removes the settings in Relution: the SFTP credentials remain valid until the directory sync is disconnected in the Apple School Manager preferences.