Configure Apps and Books

By Salur Onural

Learn about Apps and Books and how to configure it

Apple Push Notification service must be configured in your Kandji tenant before Automated Device Enrollment can be configured.

What is Apps and Books?

Apps and Books (formerly Apple's Volume Purchasing Program or VPP) is a feature that makes it easy for organizations to deploy App Store Apps to their Apple devices using MDM. Integrating Apps and Books allows IT admins to distribute App Store Apps directly to managed devices without their end users needing an Apple ID. It helps track and control licensing and provides a method to revoke and reassign them as needed.

How Apps and Books Works
Configuring Apps and Books
Manually Syncing Apps and Books with Apple Business Manager
Removing Apps and Books Licenses
Token Expiry Considerations

How Apps and Books Works

Apps and Books operates through Apple Business Manager (ABM) or Apple School Manager (ASM). When you purchase paid or free licenses for apps in ABM or ASM and assign them to your Kandji MDM server, they become available as Library Items in your Kandji library. From there, they can be assigned to Assignment Maps or Classic Blueprints as desired. For more information on syncing apps from Apps and Books to your Kandji library, please see our Adding Apps from Apps and Books to Kandji support article.

Configuring Apps and Books

Apps and Books (formerly VPP) allows you to distribute App Store Apps to your organization’s devices.

You cannot share the same Apps and Books token across multiple MDM servers in Apple Business Manager (ABM). It is highly recommended that you create a new location in ABM specifically for your Kandji tenant and use a dedicated Apps and Books token.

Create a new location in Apple Business Manager.
Navigate to Settings in the left-hand navigation bar.
Select the Apple Integrations tab.
Click the Configure button inside Apps and Books.

In the new window, you will be asked to sign in to Apple Business Manager to complete the final steps for integration.

In Apple Business Manager, navigate to your profile on the bottom-left and select Preferences.
Click on your name at the bottom of the sidebar, click Preferences, then click Payments and Billing.
Download your Apps and Books Location Token.
Note: Each Server Token in this list is based on a Location in Apple Business Manager.
Navigate back to the Kandji Web App and upload your token.
Click Complete Apps and Books Setup.

Once the Apps and Books integration is completed, you will be able to update apps automatically when Kandji detects a new version.

Manually Syncing Apps and Books with Apple Business Manager

Kandji periodically checks for new apps or license changes. If you need to trigger a sync between Kandji and Apple Business Manager immediately, you can use the Sync Now button under the ellipses next to the App Store Apps heading.

Removing Apps and Books Licenses

Navigate to Library then App Store apps and select the app you need to remove the license for.
Next, click the blue Edit button on the bottom right.
Select the drop-down arrow next to Blueprint, then deselect the Blueprint that is associated with the license that needs to be removed and click the blue Save on the bottom right.

Within 5-10 mins of a successful MDM check-in, the application will remove itself from the device’s Applications folder and free up a license to be assigned to a different Blueprint or device.

Token Expiry Considerations

Apps and Books tokens expire annually. Kandji will display a banner starting 30 days before the token expires, ensuring you have ample time to renew it and avoid any service interruptions.
If the password for the Apple Business Manager or Apple School Manager account that downloaded the token is changed, the token will be invalidated and must be renewed.

For more information about managing content tokens in Apple Business Manager or Apple School Manager, please see the Apple Business Manager User Guide.