Network error when enrolling via Apple Configurator



You may receive this error when trying to install the SimpleMDM .mobileconfig profile to a device with Apple Configurator:

Unable to install profile "SimpleMDM" Profile Installation Failed Profile Failed to Install The profile "SimpleMDM" could not be installed.  A network error has occurred. The internet connection appears to be offline. 

For the SimpleMDM profile to install correctly, the device must communicate with SimpleMDM servers during the installation process. If you are receiving this error, it's because the device that you are installing the profile to does not have a pre-existing way to connect to the internet.

To explain better, Apple devices have two specific behaviors that may be different than you expect:

  1. They use their own internet connection to communicate with SimpleMDM during the enrollment process. They are not able to tether the internet connection from the USB connection they have to the computer running Apple Configurator.
  2. They will only use an internet connection (WiFi, cellular) that is functioning before pushing the SimpleMDM configuration to the device. Including a configuration for WiFi and pushing this along with the SImpleMDM profile will not work.

To resolve this issue, we recommend one of two methods:

  1. Create a WiFi network configuration profile in Apple Configurator and push it to your devices before pushing the SimpleMDM profile.
  2. Manually configure an internet connection on your device before pushing the SimpleMDM profile.
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