How To's
Home » How To's

How to enroll Android devices with/without Camera and/or Google Play Services support?

Generally, mobile devices used for work have built-in cameras and support Google Play Services. However, in a few organizations, such as those related to Defence and high-security red zones, devices with cameras are prohibited for security reasons. Google Play Services may not be supported in specific devices or regions. In some cases, a device may not support both. For management of these devices using MDM, different enrollment methods are available to suit each case. The cases and methods have been discussed below.

  • Devices with no Camera nor Google Play Services support
    In this case, the Communication Type needs to set to Periodic, followed by enrollment via NFC or ADB methods. Follow the steps given below for ADB enrollment.
    Steps to enroll via ADB:
    1. Factory reset the device to be managed, if it is already in use or boot up if it is a new device.
    2. Follow the on-screen instructions to configure basic settings and ensure you do not add any Google account or sync any data.
    3. Enable USB debugging, by navigating to Settings and selecting About Phone. Now navigate to Build Number and click on it 7 times, on which a message You are now a developer is shown.
    4. Now, navigate back to Settings and go to Developer Options and select Enable USB debugging. Then connect the device with a USB cable.
    5. Download the Device Owner provisioning tool from this link and unzip its contents.
    6. Again navigate back to Settings and select Security. Enable Install from unknown sources.
    7. Now, open Command Prompt on the expanded folder and execute the command makedeviceowner.bat. The ME MDM app gets installed on the device.
    8. On the MDM server, navigate to Enrollment -> EMM Token Enrollment (present under Android), on the left pane. Use an online tool to convert the QR code provided into a JSON file.
    9. Open ME MDM app on the device and select Scan QR. Enter the JSON data obtained in the space provided.
    10. On completing the previous step, the device is listed under the EMM Token Enrollment view. You can then assign users to the enrolled devices either individually or in bulk using a CSV file, to complete enrollment.

  • Devices with no Camera but support Google Play Services
    In this case, follow the steps 8-10 mentioned above.

  • Devices with Camera but no support for Google Play Services
    In this case, the devices can be enrolled using EMM Token Enrollment, Android Debug Bridge (ADB), or Near-Field Communication (NFC) methods. Prior to enrollment, on the MDM console, navigate to Enrollment->ME MDM app (under Android), set Communication Type to Periodic, and save the changes.

  • Devices with both Camera and Google Play Services support
    These device can be enrolled using any of the enrollment methods listed here.

    • NOTE:

    • If you were unable to enter the JSON data, contact mdm-support@manageengine.com (MDM On-premises) or mdmcloud-support@manageengine.com (MDM Cloud).
    • Devices with a low camera resolution can also be enrolled using the enrollment methods for devices without a camera.
  • Devices without Google Services:

    • Android devices that do not support Google Mobile Services can be added via NFC enrollment or Android Debug Bridge(ADB) enrollment methods. To enroll devices running android 9.0 and above via EMM Token enrollment, contact Support.
    The following functionalities are also different for these devices:

    • Instant Agent-Server Communication : MDM uses Google Firebase messaging to communicate with the devices. Since this is not possible, the devices communicate with the server directly, once every 60 minutes. Note: If the frequency of contacting the server has to be changed, please contact Support.
    • Silent installation of Play Store apps : Silent installation of Play store apps is dependent on Google Play Services and hence, is not available. However, features are in development so that when an app is published in the MDM app catalog, it redirects the device user to the native app store to install, if the particular app is available.
    • Enterprise Factory Reset Protection : Not supported.
    • SafetyNet Attestation : Not supported.
    • Google Play Protect : Not available because it is part of Google Play services.