How to schedule deployment on devices enrolled in Hexnode

The Deployments feature in Hexnode UEM provides a streamlined solution for automating the deployment of files, certificates, custom scripts, device restrictions, and updates to managed devices. This feature stands out with its scheduling flexibility, allowing deployment actions to be initiated at designated times or triggered at device enrollment.

The Deploy tab is designed for automating the scheduling and execution of various operations on devices, while the Policy tab enables administrators to create and manage individual policy settings that can be applied to devices.

This guide walks you through the steps to create, schedule, and manage deployments within Hexnode UEM. Follow these instructions to efficiently automate and customize your device management processes.

Steps to create a deployment

Follow the below steps to create a Deployment to instantly deploy policies to a group of devices.

1. Navigate to Deploy > New Deployment.

   

2. Choose the platform for which you want to create the deployment.

   

   Basics

   Provide the following information after selecting the platform.

   • Name: Enter a name for the deployment.
   • Description: Provide a brief description to clarify the deployment’s intent or scope (optional).

     

3. Click Next.
   

   Actions

   Before proceeding with the deployment process, let’s understand what “Actions” in the Deployment correspond to:
   

   “Actions” in Deploy vs. “Remote actions”

   • Remote actions: Available in the Manage tab, remote actions are commands that perform a pre-defined operation instantaneously on devices. For example, device wipe, scan location, etc. They are one-time actions that you are required to initiate every time you need to get something done with the enrolled device.
   • Actions in the deployment feature: Actions in the deployment feature define the operations to be performed as part of this deployment. For instance, choosing specific policies to be associated with/removed from devices, users, or groups. The configured “Settings and Schedule” will act on these operations defined here.

Under the Actions section, you have two deployment options:

Policy

Currently, there are two options to deploy under the Policy section. You can either Associate Policy (to apply a policy to the devices) or Remove Policy (to remove a policy from the devices). Only one policy can be selected at a time for either option, but additional policies can be added by selecting Add New Action.



Scripts

The Scripts section allows you to deploy custom scripts on macOS and Windows devices. To schedule a script, select the Execute Custom Script option and choose the desired script from the Hexnode content repository. If required, you can use the Arguments field to specify script inputs. This field also supports wildcards. Once you’ve configured the script, click Add to finalize the action.



Notes:

• For macOS, script deployment is supported on devices running macOS 10.11 or later and requires the Hexnode Agent app version 1.2 or above.
• For Windows, it is supported on Windows 10 and 11 (Pro, Enterprise, and Education editions) with Hexnode Agent version 4.2.2 or later installed.
• It is recommended to validate the script execution manually on a system before executing in bulk.

4. Once the actions are selected, click Next.

   Settings and Schedule

   Configure the deployment scheduling and related settings here. You can trigger the action based on two criteria:

   Time:
   You can define the exact time when the action will be executed on the device.

   • Initiate: You can configure the action initiation frequency. Choose between two options: Once or Repeat on a set schedule.
   • Scheduled Date: Set the action initiation date in MM/DD/YYYY format (for the Once option).

     

   • Scheduled Day: Specify the day for action initiation (for Repeat at a set schedule option). Three sub-options available:
     1. Everyday: The action will trigger daily.
     2. Selected days: Select specific days of the week for the action to trigger.
     3. Monthly: Specify the day of the month for action initiation, such as the 10th of every month.

     

   • Scheduled Time: Set the time on which the action should take place on the devices, in HH/MM format and you can select the time zone also.

   Activity:
   If this option is selected, deployment actions will only happen on devices at the time of enrollment.

   Note:

   
   The deployment action will only be applied to newly enrolled devices after their initial device scan.
   



5. Once you have configured the Settings and Schedule, click Next. On the following page, you can define the target filters.
   

   Target Filters

   Configure target filters in this section. You can specify options for Included groups, Excluded groups, and create custom filters by selecting the Filters option.

   • Included groups: Select device or user groups to which the action will apply. Click Add Groups to view and choose from the available device and user groups in your Hexnode UEM portal.
   • Excluded groups: Choose device or user groups to be excluded from the action deployment. Click Add Groups to display the available groups for exclusion.

     

   • Filters: Create custom filters based on the following categories:
     1. Device: This category encompasses various attributes specific to the device being managed.
     2. User: This category includes attributes related to the users who are using the devices.
     3. Network: This category provides attributes associated with the compliance and operational status of the devices.
     4. Device Status: This category provides attributes associated with the compliance and operational status of the devices.

   To configure filters, set the following fields:

   1. Select Column: Choose the category used for filtering. Once selected, the relevant sub-categories will be displayed under this dropdown.
   2. Select Comparator: Define the comparison method.
   3. Select value: Set the specific value for filtering.

   Below is a list of available filter categories and their corresponding sub-categories:

   Main category	Sub- categories
   Device	Apple DEP Asset tag Available internal storage Battery level BitLocker Policy Compliance Department Device ID Device model Device notes Device type Encryption Status Enrolled time Enterprise Management Type Installed RAM Last checked-in time Manufacturer MEID OS name OS version Ownership Platform Processor name Serial number Supervision Total internal storage TPM version UDID Used internal storage
   User	Alternate email Department (AD) Domain name Email Office location (AD) sAMAccountName Title (AD) User type Username
   Network	Bluetooth MAC address Current carrier network SIM 1 Current carrier network SIM 2 Current MCC Current MNC Ethernet IP Address Ethernet MAC address Home carrier Home country ICCID SIM 1 ICCID SIM 2 IMEI SIM 1 IMEI SIM 2 IMSI International data roaming Last connection date Personal Hotspot Phone number SIM 1 Phone number SIM 2 Roaming enabled SIM carrier network Subscriber carrier network (iOS) Subscriber MCC Subscriber MNC Wi-Fi IP Address Wi-Fi MAC address Wi-Fi SSID
   Device Status	Activity status Application compliance status Compliance status Enrollment status Geofence compliance status Jailbroken Kiosk mode Lost mode MDM profile Password compliance status Rooted

   • After selecting the desired sub-category, a comparator must be chosen.
     Note:

     
     The available comparators vary depending on the selected sub-category.
     

     For example, if Apple DEP is chosen as the sub-category, the available comparators are Is and Is not.

     

   • After selecting the comparator, the value for comparison must be chosen or entered.

     In the case of the Apple DEP sub-category, the available options are Disabled and Enabled.

     

   Notes:

   • You can add nested filters using the ‘+’ icon along with the AND operator. To remove a filter, simply click the trash icon next to the ‘+’ icon.

     

   • When dealing with multiple filters, there are two available operator options: “AND” and “OR.”

     

   • Choosing AND means that devices must meet the criteria set by all the filters. On the other hand, selecting OR allows the action to apply to devices that meet at least one of the criteria from the filters.

6. After setting the filters, click Next.
   

   Review

   The next page leads to the Review section, where the configured deployment settings can be viewed. If any adjustments are needed, click the Edit option to access the corresponding section and make changes as necessary.

   

7. Once you have reviewed the deployment, click Save.

Deploy tab overview

After successfully creating a deployment, you can easily monitor and manage it through the Deploy tab.

The created deployments will be displayed in the Active Deployments section on the home screen of the Deploy tab. This section provides details such as the name, version, platform, creation date, status, and last status update for each deployment.

Also, there are options to Archive, Pause, Resume and Delete the deployments. To perform any of these, select the desired deployment and click on Actions.

Archived deployments can be found in the Archives section, which shows the deployment name, version, and archived time. From this section, deployments can be deleted or restored.

Additionally, detailed information about each deployment can be viewed in the Activity Feed, including the deployment name, version, activity type, and the time when the activity occurred.

To view specific deployment details, select the desired deployment and navigate to the Reports section. Here, you can see device-specific details related to the deployment, such as the device name, platform, action, version, initiation time, completion time, and the deployment status. You can also export and download the report in either PDF or CSV format from this section.

By following the outlined steps, you can streamline the deployment process to meet your organization’s needs, allowing you to create a deployment that instantly deploys a file, certificate, custom script, or an update to a group of devices or group of users.