Getting Started Guide

Apple Business
Manager

Overview

Overview
Contents Apple Business Manager is a new place for IT teams to automate device
Overview
deployment, purchase and distribute content, and manage roles in their
Getting Started
organizations. Working seamlessly with your mobile device management 

Configuration
Resources (MDM) solution, Apple Business Manager makes it easy to enroll devices, 

deploy content, and delegate administrative privileges.

The Device Enrollment Program (DEP) and the Volume Purchase Program 

(VPP) are seamlessly integrated into Apple Business Manager, so now you 

can bring together everything needed to deploy iOS devices, Mac computers,
and Apple TV in your organization.

Devices
Device enrollment is now part of Apple Business Manager, giving you a fast,
streamlined way to deploy corporate-owned Apple devices.

• Automatically enroll devices in MDM without having to physically touch or prep

each device before users get them. This ensures that all users receive your
organization’s configurations immediately when they activate their device.

• Simplify the setup process for users by removing specific steps in Setup
Assistant, so users are up and running quickly. And by using supervision, 

a higher level of device management options become available for iOS and
tvOS devices, including non-removable MDM.

• More easily manage default MDM servers by setting a default server that’s
based on device type. And you can now manually enroll iOS devices and 

Apple TV using Apple Configurator 2, regardless of how you acquired them.

Content
The Apps and Books section of Apple Business Manager enables organizations
to more easily buy content in volume. Whether your workforce uses iPhone,
iPad, or Mac, you can provide great content that’s ready for work with flexible
and secure distribution options. Note: Book purchases in Apple Business
Manager are not available in certain countries. To learn which features and
purchasing methods are available where, visit support.apple.com/HT207305.

• Purchase apps, books, and custom apps in bulk. Easily transfer app licenses
between locations and share licenses between purchasers within the same
location. And see a unified listing of purchase history, including the current
number of licenses in use via MDM.

• Distribute apps and books directly to managed devices or authorized users,

and easily keep track of what content has been assigned to which user or
device. With managed distribution, you control the entire distribution process,
while retaining full ownership of apps. And apps that aren’t needed by a device
or user can be revoked and reassigned within your organization.

• Pay using multiple payment options, including credit cards and purchase
orders. Organizations can buy Volume Credit (where available) directly from

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Overview

Apple or from an Apple Authorized Reseller in specific dollar amounts, which is

delivered electronically to the account holder as store credit.

• Distribute an app to devices or users in any country where the app is available,
enabling multinational distribution. Developers can make their apps available
in multiple countries through the standard App Store publishing process.

Roles
Apple Business Manager allows you to create accounts that your organization
owns and manages for additional administrators. It also introduces some
changes to the roles you assign to your users.

• Add additional accounts for managing devices or content, delegate privileges,

and easily transfer responsibility if someone leaves the organization.

• Designate roles within Apple Business Manager on a granular level, so you can
assign privileges for managing devices or content to specific people or locations.

• Deactivate and delete user accounts so that the selected users can’t sign in.

In Apple Deployment Programs, the highest level of administrative access was

an Agent. The Agent was able to accept terms and conditions on behalf of your
organization. This role is now called Administrator. Your organization can have
up to five Administrators in Apple Business Manager.

Apple Deployment Programs included Admins for DEP and VPP. Admins are now
called Managers in Apple Business Manager. Upon upgrading, DEP Admins are
converted to Device Managers and VPP Admins are converted to Content
Managers. Any Apple Deployment Programs Admin who was able to create
other Admins becomes a People Manager.

A user can have multiple roles in Apple Business Manager. Any of your users
who were Admins for more than one program will be assigned all roles that apply
in Apple Business Manager. The Administrator can add, remove, or change
Manager roles after you upgrade. People Managers can also make changes to
other Manager roles, but not to Administrators.

When your previous Agent and Admins sign in to Apple Business Manager for
the first time, their Apple IDs are converted to Managed Apple IDs. If their
accounts weren’t previously set up with two-factor authentication, they will now
be required to set up two-factor authentication.

Managed Apple IDs are for use primarily by IT administrators to manage

functionality within Apple Business Manager. They shouldn’t be used for
services like iCloud or by standard employees who don’t manage functions 

in Apple Business Manager.


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Getting Started

Getting Started
Upgrading to Apple Business Manager
If your organization is already enrolled in Apple Deployment Programs, you 

can upgrade by logging in to deploy.apple.com using your Apple Deployment
Programs Agent account and following the onscreen instructions. The upgrade
process takes only a few minutes. After you upgrade, Apple Business Manager
will have your accounts, MDM servers, devices, server tokens, device orders,
and other items associated with your account.

Your organization might have one or more separate VPP accounts. If you have

VPP Purchasers that were not included when you upgraded to Apple Business
Manager, learn how to invite them into Apple Business Manager here.

After you upgrade to Apple Business Manager, you’ll no longer have access to
the Apple Deployment Programs website. To upgrade with a Mac, use Safari
version 11 or later. For PC users, make sure that you have Microsoft Edge version
25.10 or later.

Signing Up for Apple Business Manager

Enrollment is simple and takes only a few minutes, so you can get started with
Apple Business Manager quickly. Any business is eligible to participate, subject
to the service terms and conditions. Apple reserves the right to determine
program eligibility for each organization.

To get started, complete the online enrollment process and provide information
about your organization, including name, phone number, and a valid D-U-N-S
number for your company. D-U-N-S numbers are assigned to qualified
businesses by Dun & Bradstreet (D&B), and are maintained in the D&B database.

Click here to look up an existing D-U-N-S number or to obtain a new one. Apple
will cross-check program enrollees with the D&B database. If any information
you provide doesn’t match the information on file with D&B, you’ll be notified so
you can check and correct it. If you feel the information you provided is
accurate, please contact D&B to ensure its database records are up to date.

You’ll need to provide an email address that’s associated with your business.
Consumer email addresses from services such as Gmail or Yahoo Mail won’t be
accepted. The account associated with this email address will become the initial
Administrator for Apple Business Manager and can’t be associated with 

an existing Apple ID or any other Apple services.

Provide a verification contact who can confirm the initial site administrator and
verify that they have the authority to bind your organization to the Apple
Business Manager terms and conditions. This administrator will also be
responsible for accepting the terms and conditions and for setting up additional
administrators to manage the service on behalf of your company.

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Getting Started

Apple will review the information you submit on your program enrollment form.
During the review process, you and your verification contact may be asked for
additional information by phone or email before your enrollment is approved.
Make sure that filters allow mail from all apple.com domains. Return missed
phone calls or emails quickly so the enrollment process can proceed smoothly.

When your business is approved, the verification contact will receive an email
requesting that they confirm the initial administrator or delegate administration.
After confirmation, the administrator will be asked to create the initial administrator
Managed Apple ID and agree to the Apple Business Manager agreement and
any additional terms and conditions.


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Configuration

Configuration
Now that your organization has enrolled in Apple Business Manager, you can
add additional accounts, enter purchase information, and assign roles to begin
managing devices and content.

Create additional administrators and assign roles

At first login, the initial administrator will be alerted that only one administrator
account exists. To create additional administrators:

1. Click Accounts in the sidebar.

2. Click the Add a new account button at the top of the window.

3. Enter the required information, which includes first and last name, Managed
Apple ID, administrator role and location, and email address.

4. If necessary, enter the middle name, which is optional.

5. Click Save at the bottom right of the window.

Every Apple Business Manager account has one or more roles assigned to it,
which define what the user of the account can do. For example, an account
might have the roles of both Device Manager and Content Manager.

In addition, certain roles can manage other roles. For example, an account with
the role of People Manager can act on an account that has the role of Content
Manager. In this way, the People Manager role can also buy apps and books. 

It’s a good idea to plan role assignments and review role types before creating
accounts and assigning privileges.

Enter purchase information

To use device enrollment, you’ll need to review and update the information
regarding how you purchase devices. Select Device Purchase under Settings,
then add your Apple Customer Number or DEP Reseller ID. If your organization
purchases directly from Apple and from a participating Apple Authorized Reseller
or carrier, you should enter both your Apple Customer Number and the reseller’s
DEP Reseller ID.

• Apple Customer Number. If you purchase hardware or software directly 


from Apple, your organization is assigned an account number. This number is
required to connect eligible orders and devices to Apple Business Manager. 

If you don’t know the number, contact your purchasing agent or finance
department. Your organization might have multiple Apple Customer Numbers,
which you can add into Apple Business Manager once you’re approved.

• DEP Customer ID. Once enrolled in the program, you’ll be assigned a DEP
Customer ID, found in Apple Business Manager in the Settings section. If you
purchase Apple devices from a participating Apple Authorized Reseller or
carrier, you'll need to provide this number to the reseller or carrier to enroll
your device purchases into Apple Business Manager.


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Configuration

• DEP Reseller ID. If you purchase hardware or software directly from a

participating Apple Authorized Reseller or carrier, you’ll need to provide your
reseller’s DEP Reseller ID. If you don’t know this number, contact your reseller.
If you purchase from multiple resellers, enter the DEP Reseller ID of each. You
must also provide your DEP Customer ID to your reseller so that they can submit
your device purchases. Providing the DEP Reseller ID alone is insufficient to
enroll your devices in Apple Business Manager.

• Apps and Books. To enable app and book purchases, go to Apps and Books
under Settings. Follow the steps to agree to the Apps and Books terms and to
update billing information. You can also review purchase history and transfer
purchases from one location to another in Apps and Books settings.

Manage devices
Apple Business Manager integrates all the existing features from the Device
Enrollment Program (DEP). Additionally, MDM servers can now be set as default
based on device type, enabling you to set one server as default for Mac and
another as default for iPhone and iPad.

Link your MDM solution. From Apple Business Manager, you’ll establish a
connection to your MDM server or servers. Servers listed in Apple Business
Manager are linked to your physical MDM servers. You can add servers at any time.

Add a new MDM server connection by providing a name and authorization

information. Each server must be known to Apple and authorized to manage
your devices. A two-step verification process is used to securely authorize an
MDM server. Your MDM vendor can provide documentation on the specifics 

for its particular implementation.

Assign devices. You can assign devices to your servers by order number or by
serial number. Only eligible devices will be available for assignment to your MDM
server on the program website.

You can search for orders you placed directly with Apple after March 1, 2011,
either by order or by serial number. If you’ve placed orders from a participating
Apple Authorized Reseller or carrier, your look-back period will be at the
discretion of the reseller. Your order will be available in Apple Business Manager
within 24 hours after the reseller successfully posts it.

You can also download a comma-separated value (CSV) file that contains the
full list of all devices in a specific order or orders. Devices are listed by serial
number in the CSV file. By typing ‘All Available’ in the order field, a complete
listing of all of the devices will be available. By designating a MDM server as the
default, you can automatically assign newly purchased devices to it.

If you’ve acquired devices from sources other than Apple or participating Apple
Authorized Resellers or carriers, they can also be added to Apple Business
Manager using Apple Configurator 2. Manually enrolled devices you set up
behave like any other enrolled device, with mandatory supervision and MDM
enrollment. However, the user has a 30-day provisional period to remove the
device from enrollment, supervision, and MDM.

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Configuration

Learn more about how to manually enroll devices: help.apple.com/deployment/

ios/#/ior5761b421e

Note: Per the terms of the agreement, devices that are sold, lost, returned to the
reseller, or otherwise retired from service should be permanently removed from
your organization’s list of managed devices using Apple Business Manager.
However, once a device is removed, it can’t be added back again, unless it is
enrolled manually through Apple Configurator 2 for iOS and tvOS devices.

Review assignments. Once you’ve set up your MDM servers and assigned
devices, you can review several aspects of your device assignment, including:

• Assignment date

• Order numbers

• Name of the MDM server to which the devices are assigned

• Total number of devices, listed by device type

Purchase content
Apple Business Manager provides a streamlined purchasing process. You can
search for content, specify the quantity you want to purchase, and quickly
complete the transaction using VPP Credit or a corporate credit card.

Search for an app or a book. To narrow your search options, select media type
iOS apps, Mac apps, or Books. Click the Category pull-down menu to find apps
and books by category. Universal apps that work on both iPhone and iPad are
identified with the universal badge.

Enter the quantity. Once you’ve found the content you’re interested in, select
the name in the search list, review the content details, and enter the quantity
you want to purchase.

Distribute and download content

With managed distribution, use your MDM solution or Apple Configurator 2 to
manage apps and books distribution.

Link your MDM solution. To use MDM for distribution, you must first link your
MDM solution to a location in Apple Business Manager using a secure token. To
download your token, go Settings > Apps and Books and select the appropriate
location token. Upload this token to your MDM server to establish the link. 

Note: Token expire after one year.

If you're using Apple Configurator 2 to manage devices and content, simply 


sign in with the applicable Content Manager account using the Account menu.
With iOS 10 and macOS Sierra and later, you can save time and network
bandwidth by preloading apps for all your deployments through this method.

Once connected to your MDM server, you can assign apps and books—
including newly assigned apps and app updates—in a variety of ways to devices
and users, even if the App Store is disabled.

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Configuration

Assign apps to devices. If your organization needs to retain full control over
managed devices and content, or if it’s not practical for every user to obtain an
Apple ID, you can assign apps directly to devices using your MDM solution or
Apple Configurator 2. After an app is assigned to a device, it‘s pushed to that
device by MDM or added by Apple Configurator 2; no invitation is required.
Anyone using that device has access to the app. To assign apps to devices,
you’ll need one managed distribution license per device.

Assign apps and books to users. Use your MDM solution to invite users
through email or a push notification message. To accept the invitation, users
sign in on their devices with a personal Apple ID. Although your business can
assign apps and books to a user’s Apple ID, the Apple ID remains completely
private and not visible to the administrator. Once users agree to the invitation
and accept the iTunes Store terms and conditions, they’re connected to your
MDM server and they can download assigned apps and books. Or you can install
the app silently on supervised iOS devices. Assigned apps are automatically
available for download on all of a user’s devices, with no additional effort or cost
to you. To assign apps and books to users, you’ll need one managed distribution
license per user.

Note: If you previously assigned apps to users, MDM solutions can perform a
silent migration from per-user assignments to per-device assignments. The
device must be enrolled in an MDM solution. Refer to your MDM solution’s
documentation for support.

Revoke and reassign apps. When apps you’ve assigned are no longer needed
by a device or a user, you can revoke and reassign them to different devices or
users. If the app is assigned to a user, the user will have the opportunity to buy 

a personal copy. If the app was deployed as a managed app with MDM for iOS,
the administrator has the additional option of removing the app and all data
immediately. In this case, it’s a best practice to give users some notice or a
grace period before removing apps from their devices. Once distributed, books
remain the property of the recipient and can’t be revoked or reassigned.

Important Information about app assignment

Admins can assign apps to devices in any country or region where an app is sold
through the App Store. For example, an app purchased from an account in the
United States can be assigned to devices or users in France as long as the app
is available through the App Store in France.

You can use an MDM solution to assign apps only to users whose devices are
running iOS 7 or later and macOS 10.9 or later. Assigning apps directly to
devices without an Apple ID requires iOS 9 or later and macOS 10.10 or later.

Purchase and distribute custom apps

By collaborating with a third-party developer, you can have unique iOS apps
tailored to your business needs, then distribute them at scale to your
organization along with off-the-shelf App Store apps—further extending the use
of iPhone and iPad. Whether you outsource development to an independent
contractor or a commercial developer, distributing custom apps through Apple
Business Manager is the simplest method for both you and your developer.

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Configuration

Custom apps built for your business are made available to only you; no other
organization can see or get them, making the transaction both secure and
private. Apple reviews custom before they're available to your account, so you
can be assured that they’ve been verified technically and checked for quality.
Pricing for custom apps is set by the developer or designated as free.

Common ways to customize apps include incorporating company branding into

the user interface or adding unique capabilities that are pertinent to a business
process or workflow. Developers can also add a specific configuration for your
environment or add features tailored to a business partner, dealer, or franchise.

Work with your developer. To get started, get in touch with a developer.
Developers who are registered in the Apple Developer Program and who have
agreed to the latest Program License Agreement can submit apps for custom
app distribution through App Connect. If your preferred developer or business
partner isn’t registered in the Apple Developer Program, refer them to
developer.apple.com/programs to enroll. Once the developer has created an app
and identified you as the authorized purchaser, they can offer the app for free or
set a price just for you. Provide your developer with either the DEP Customer ID
from Apple Business Manager or the Managed Apple ID of your administrator.

Obtain the custom app. Your developer will need to associate the custom 

app to your organization and will notify you when it’s available for download.
When you sign in to Apple Business Manager, you’ll see a new Custom Apps
section in the sidebar below Content. Custom apps are available only to the
businesses specified by the developer and are not visible to other organizations.

Important Information about custom apps

• App review. Each app, as well as each version (update) of the app, submitted
for custom app distribution goes through an app review process with Apple.
The same app review guidelines for App Store apps apply to custom apps.

• App security. If your app contains sensitive business data, you might want 

to include an authentication mechanism within the app. Custom apps by
themselves are not secured by Apple, and the security of data within the app
is the responsibility of the developer. Apple highly recommends using iOS best
practices for in-app authentication and encryption. For more information on
secure coding best practices for iOS, visit the iOS Developer Library.

• App verification. To verify that custom apps meet the review guidelines,
Apple needs to be able to sign in and operate the app. Work with your
developer or business partner to determine how to meet this requirement with
appropriate handling of proprietary or sensitive business data. You might want
to provide generic test accounts or sanitized sample data to protect
confidentiality for the app review. 


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Resources

Resources
For more detailed information about Apple Business Manager, visit help at
help.apple.com/businessmanager.

Explore the following for additional information on Apple Business Manager:

• Apple Business Manager: business.apple.com

• Apple Business Manager release notes: support.apple.com/HT208802

• iOS Deployment Reference: help.apple.com/deployment/ios

• macOS Deployment Reference: help.apple.com/deployment/macos

• IT Resources: www.apple.com/business/

• Business Support: www.apple.com/support/business

© 2018 Apple Inc. All rights reserved. Apple, the Apple logo, Apple TV, iPad, iPhone, iTunes, Mac, macOS, and Safari 

are trademarks of Apple Inc., registered in the U.S. and other countries. tvOS is a trademark of Apple Inc. App Store,
iCloud, and iTunes Store are service marks of Apple Inc., registered in the U.S. and other countries. IOS is a trademark 

or registered trademark of Cisco in the U.S. and other countries and is used under license. Other product and company
names mentioned herein may be trademarks of their respective companies. Product specifications are subject to change
without notice. June 2018

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