Chromebook Device Management

Decisions to make before/at time of purchase:

  • Designation of a lab manager who will be responsible for managing the devices.

  • Creation of a department shared NetID if your department does not already have one. This is done so that shared devices are not tied to a specific employee’s NetID. If that employee changes departments or leaves, UTS can assist with account management including password reset. If the department needs to create a department shared account, complete the form under Net ID - Shared Account: https://forms.oakland.edu/

  • Once this information is decided, open a UTS project ticket for “Chromebook Device Management setup.”
  • Chromebooks are registered to a main account for Oakland University. By default devices are enrolled into the top level user organization which is managed by UTS. After enrollment they may be moved into your sub organizational unit (steps listed below).

Do NOT turn on or allow anyone to log on to Chrome before enrollment or the device will need to be ‘wiped/power washed’ prior to enrollment. Failure to perform this step will not allow the device to register with Google.

  • The NetID password must be synchronized with the Google Chromebook password, using the steps documented here: https://netid.oakland.edu; Select Gmail IMAP/POP Password Synchronize Utility.

  • When typing in the user name in the Chromebook it must be the full NetID including the full domain name (i.e. @Oakland.edu).

Decisions to make before the enrollment process:

  • Tag and name your devices – have the information handy because at enrollment, a device will only be identifiable by serial number; you will later have a chance to add/modify the identifying information.
  • Think about the uses of the devices and how they will be managed:

o Do you want them to start up to a certain webpage?

o Custom wallpaper?

  • If you wish to apply different ‘policies or settings’ to some of the devices, you will need separate organizational units for each ‘group’ that will share a policy (i.e. If you have 10 Chromebook for student use and two larger Chromebase units for kiosks they would need to live in separate organizational units (ou). A ticket will need to be submitted to UTS for the creation of the organizational units you will need, or you may be given permissions to create the “ou’s”
  • By default, devices are enrolled into the top level user organization which is managed by UTS. After enrollment, they can be moved into your sub organizational unit.

Helpful articles and tips to read before you begin the enrollment process:

  • Be patient, if you are enrolling multiple devices at once, many behave differently and have unique errors. Dedicate time to work through them and note that often the speed of the process will not be consistent.

  • Enrollment guidance

  • Ephemeral mode

When you are ready to enroll the devices:

  1. Turn on device. You will see a welcome screen where you can configure Language, Keyboard and Wi-Fi. Select Grizznet and Continue. Helpful hint: on the network drop-down you will be able to see the Wi-Fi Mac Address if you need to collect that information.

  2. The next screen will be your Google Chrome OS Terms. Read, then select Accept and continue.
  3. Complete your connection to the Internet through the netreg.oakland.edu screens.
  4. Select ‘Students, Faculty and Staff’ and select Start.
  5. Use your shared lab account NetID to register the device.
  6. And wait…. at times the process can hang up at this screen or not show this screen at all. If you encounter “This host is already registered”, wait 1-2 minutes. You may see “Chrome updates automatically screen” and the process will work itself out or go to a spinning circle. If successful, the next screen will be the Chrome login screen. Press ‘Ctrl-Alt-E’ to get to the Enterprise Enrollment Screen.
  7. If the registration screen is not progressing or displaying an error, check the date and time of your machine. If the date is off, the device may not be recognized properly
  8. If “This host is already registered” does not update and the wireless icon still has the exclamation point by it, disable the Wi-Fi, shut down the Chromebook and restart. Follow the screens upon restart and it may resolve the issue.
  9. If you see the spinning circle and have waited 1-2 minutes try pressing ‘Ctrl-Alt-E’ to get to the Enterprise Enrollment Screen.
  10. At times you may also see ‘oops, something went wrong with signing in’. Try pressing ‘Ctrl-Alt-E’ combination again and wait. If this does not work – you may need to shut down and restart. Sometimes the screen will reappear again after restart, but by pressing the ‘Ctrl-Alt-E’ combination again and waiting the enterprise enrollment screen will appear. At times it happens immediately, other times there can be a 30 second to 1 minute delay. Be patient.
  11. At the enterprise enrollment screen, sign in to with your shared lab account NetID.
  12. Continue the sign in process at the Oakland.edu sign in screen
  13. You will see a “enrolling your device screen”.
  14. If successful, you will see the green checkmark and success screen. Click Done and your device is ready to manage/use. At this point your device is in the Oakland.edu top level domain. Go to your Device Management page to move it into the correct organizational unit or sub unit.

Managing your devices:

  1. In Google Apps, select the Admin icon – this is the Admin console from which you will manage your devices.

  2. From your Admin Console, select Device Management.

  3. Select the ‘Chrome Devices’ icon (Choose chrome management to edit settings for User, Public Session, Devices and App Management –or - choose Chrome devices to see all of the devices in your organizational units).

  4. You will see the latest enrolled (provisioned) device.
  5. Click on the blue serial number. Choose Custom Fields.
  6. Select Edit.
  7. Add your device and location to the Asset ID and Location fields so it will be more easily identifiable in the list of devices.
  8. Save when finished.
  9. Return to the Chrome Devices list by selecting Chrome devices in the menu ladder
  10. Put a checkmark next to the newly provisioned device and in the Move to drop-down menu, select the organizational unit where you would like it to be placed. Highlight your selection and choose Move to Organization.
  11. You may encounter different screens, messages and/or errors. Screenshot images may change as they are updated by the Chrome browser/login process. These changes are beyond the scope of this document, but perhaps have been encountered by another Chromebook management user. Please inquire.

Appendix

Google Ordering Processing Requirements Form:

This form needs to be completed each time a department want to manage Chromebooks for their area. When the UTS ticket is opened to initiate the request to be added to the main account for Oakland University, UTS will need to complete the form and submit it to Google.

October 2015