Configuring MDM for Blocksi iPad Filtering App Using Meraki

Created by Alexander Czapla, Modified on Tue, 20 Jun 2023 at 09:55 AM by Alexander Czapla

Note Icon We support iOS 13.1 and higher.

Get your Organization ID and Organization Name

Sign in to your Apple School Manager account with your Administrator credentials.
Click your name in the bottom left of the sidebar.
Go to Preferences > Enrollment Information.
The Organization ID is numeric and can be found in the Organization Info section.
Your Organization Name is the name of your admin account; for example, admin@blocksicloud.net. (The name will be listed above the Organization ID.)
Send this information to Blocksi and we will then add your organization to the approved list of customers who can use our filtering app.

Enable Custom Apps

Sign in to your Apple School Manager account with your Administrator credentials.
Click your name in the bottom left of the sidebar.
Click Preferences at the bottom of the sidebar.
Click Enrollment Information.
Scroll down to the Customer Apps section.
Click Enable in the Custom Apps row.

Configure Volume Purchasing

Click License Management in the Main Menu.
Click Synchronize VPP.

Add the Blocksi Mobile Device App to Meraki

Go to Systems Manager.
Click Apps in the Manage section.
Click Add app.
Click iOS in the App platform section.
Select App Store app in the App type section.
Click Next.
Click Blocksi for iPad.
Select Blocksi from the Device tags field in the Targets section.
Click Save.

Create Configuration Profile

Go to Systems Manager.
Click Profiles list.
Click Add profile app.
Click Device profile (default).
Click Continue.
Add the profile name and a description under Profile configuration.
Click Add settings.
Search for Umbrella and select Cisco Umbrella.
Click Managed app settings.
Select iOs from the Platform drop-down list.
Select Blocksi for iPad from the App drop-down list.
Type organizationId in the first Key column field.
Select Text from the first Type drop-down list.
Type the company email address registered on the Blocksi Admin Dashboard in the first Value column field.
Type adminPassword in the next Key column field.
Select Text from the next Type drop-down list.
Type your password in the next Value column field.
Type ttl in the next Key column field.
Select Text from the next Type drop-down list.
Type 60 in the next Value column field.
Type userAuthEnabled in the next Key column field.
Select Text from the next Type drop-down list.
Type false in the next Value column field.
Click Save.
Sync profiles.

Configure a Filtering Policy on the BMEE Admin Dashboard

A time-based policy allows different filters to be active during different time periods. For example, during morning hours one set of filters can be active, and a different set of filters can be active during afternoon hours.

Note Icon You must use the Mobile Devices Time-based Policy for iPad filtering or it will not work.

Sign in to the Blocksi Admin Dashboard using your Google Admin or Microsoft credentials.
Click Content Filtering from the Main Menu and then click Policies from its sub-menu. The Policies screen appears.
Type the name of the policy in the Enter policy name text field.
Select Mobile Devices Time-based from the Choose policy type drop-down list.
Click Create Policy +. The following window opens.
Type the name of the time period in the Time period name text box and click the blue plus sign. The following additional fields are added to the window.
Select the appropriate filters you want to add to the selected time period from the drop-down lists. If you do not want to add a specific custom filter for a specific filter category, select None.
Type the URL in the Access denied page text box if you want to direct students to a specific URL (e.g., your district’s web page) when access to a website is denied. If you activate Access Requests, then the default access denied page is used. If you do not have a specific URL redirect you can leave this text box blank and it will display the standard Blocksi Access Denied page when a blocked page is accessed.
Indicate the color for the time span on the chart.
Indicate whether to turn on SafeSearch for this policy.
Select the times in the grid at which you want this policy to be active. You can click the box for the desired hour and day, or you can press and hold the left mouse button and drag across a range of hours and days. Release the mouse button when you have finished.
Click Save Changes. The new policy appears in the Policy table.