As part of Apple’s unveiling of Declarative Device Management (DDM) at WWDC 2023, Apple announced that DDM management included the ability to deploy MDM configuration profiles using DDM as the delivery mechanism in place of using MDM to deliver the profiles. Jamf Pro’s Blueprints leverages this capability to support deploying printers which can use AirPrint. Let’s see how this works using a AirPrint configuration, using an AirPrint-compatible printer which is set to use the following static IP address:

10.0.1.10

For more details, please see below the jump.

The first thing we need to do is use the ippfind command line tool to discover information about the printer we want to set up and print to. This process is described as part of Apple’s documentation for AirPrint payload settings for Apple devices, available via the link below:

https://support.apple.com/guide/deployment/airprint-payload-settings-dep3b4cf515/web (see the Set up an AirPrint printer in Apple Configurator for Mac section.)

Use the procedure below to discover the information needed:

1. Open Terminal.

2. Run the following command without root privileges:

ippfind

In this example, we’re getting back the following information about the printer:

From this, we can see the following information about the printer:

• Bonjour hostname: BRN466371FFF599.local
• Port number: 631
• Resource path: /ipp/print

We can use the BRN466371FFF599.local hostname to look up what the IP address of the responding printer is, which in this example is going to be the following IP address:

10.0.1.10

The port number is 631, or the default for the IPP protocol.

The resource path is /ipp/print, which we will need for setting up the AirPrint configuration in Blueprints.

Once we have this information, we’re ready to set up the AirPrint printer settings for deployment using Blueprints.

As of Jamf Pro 11.18.0, there is not a Blueprints template available for creating blueprints which manage AirPrint settings so the blueprint will need to be configured manually. To do this, use the following procedure:

1. Log into Jamf Pro.

2. Select Blueprints

3. Click the Create blueprint button.

4. Give it a name when prompted and click the Create button. For this example, I’m using Reception Desk Printer Settings.

5. You should see an unconfigured Blueprint. Scroll down in the list on the right-hand side of the browser window to locate the AirPrint component.

Note: AirPrint is listed as Legacy Payload. In Blueprints, a Legacy Payload type indicates that this is an MDM configuration profile being delivered via DDM.

6. Click on the AirPrint component and drag the AirPrint component to the Declaration group section.

7. Mouse over the AirPrint component and you will see a Configure button appear. Click the Configure button.

8. At this point, you will see an Air print section without any listed printers. Click the Add New Item button.

9. To add the settings for the printer in this example, set the following entries as follows:

• IP Address:
  • 10.0.1.10
• Resource path:
  • /ipp/print
• Port Number:
  • Make no changes
• Force TLS:
  • Make no changes

Note: Because we verified earlier that this printer is using port 631, which is the default port for the IPP protocol, it is not necessary to set the port number in the example AirPrint configuration we’re creating. In the event a printer does not use port 631, it would be necessary to set the port number here in the AirPrint configuration.

Likewise, if the printer was using TLS to secure the printer connection, it may be necessary to use the Force TLS setting. In this example, TLS is not being used so it is not necessary to configure the Force TLS setting.

10. Once all the settings choices have been made and verified, click the Save button.

11. At this point, you should have a blueprint which has all settings configured but where no target scope has been set. To scope this blueprint, go to the Scope section and click the Open button.

For this example, I’m selecting a static group named Printer Deployment Group.

Once the desired smart and/or static groups have been set and verified for the scope, click the Save button.

12. Once everything has been configured, Jamf Pro should inform you that you have undeployed changes. Click the Deploy button to deploy the changes to the Macs you want to manage.

13. Once deployed, the Blueprints screen in Jamf Pro should show the newly-created Reception Desk Printer Settings blueprint as being deployed.

You can also check on the managed device’s end by opening System Settings: General: Device Management, locating the MDM enrollment profile in the list of profiles and double-clicking on it. When you scroll to the bottom of the enrollment profile’s window, you should see a Device Declarations section.

If you’re deploying a legacy profile via Blueprints, you should see a Profiles section in Device Declarations. In the Profiles section, there is a listing with a name that matches the name of the blueprint which was deployed. In the case of our example, the listing shows Reception Desk Printer Settings.

If you click on the Reception Desk Printer Settings listing, you should see the details of what is being managed.

Note: The MDM profiles delivered via Blueprints are not signed. This is mentioned in the documentation available via the link below:

https://learn.jamf.com/en-US/bundle/jamf-pro-blueprints-configuration-guide/page/Blueprint_Builder.html

One thing to be aware of is that the AirPrint printer may not appear automatically. To add it, use the following procedure:

1. Open System Settings

2. Go to the Printers & Scanners settings

3. Click the Add Printer, Scanner, or Fax… button.

4. Select the printer which is identified as being the following kind:

AirPrint Profile

5. Click the Add button.

The printer should set up and configure itself using the printer’s AirPrint settings.