Enabling Device Owner Mode using Android Debug Bridge (ADB)
Introduction
Android Debug Bridge (adb) is a command line tool that allows for communication between a computer and a connected Android device. It facilitates a variety of device actions, such as installing and debugging apps, and it provides access to commands that are not traditionally available to a connected device.
On Android 5.0 (Lollipop) devices Meraki cannot enable Device Owner Mode without using ADB. For enrolling devices on Android 6.0+ this method can be used as well, though using an over-the-air enrollment through device setup is recommended for higher versions. For enrollment instructions and general info regarding Android Enterprise, see our deployment guide here.
Note: Enabling Android Enterprise's kiosk mode requires both Device Owner enrollment and Android 6.0+.
Enabling Device Owner Mode via ADB
- First, download, install and configure the Android Debug Bridge (ADB) binary
- Download the latest Android SM app from https://dl.meraki.net/androidsm/AndroidSM.apk
- On a computer run the following command to initialize ADB:
- adb start-server
- With a new (or factory reset) Lollipop Android device, go through the setup wizard WITHOUT adding a Google account. If you accidently added an account, simply remove the account from the Settings app once you finish the setup wizard.
- Once the setup wizard is done and you’re on your device’s home screen
- Go to Settings
- Go to “About device” (Might be named slightly different)
- Click the “Build number” field 7 times. This will turn on “Developer options”
- Go back to Settings
- Go to “Developer options”
- Scroll down and enable “USB debugging”
- Plug the device into computer
- Your device might prompt you with a trust dialog. Click accept.
- On a computer run the following command to install the latest Android SM app you downloaded onto your device:
- adb install AndroidSM.apk
- ADB commands must be run in the same directory where the ADB binary was installed.
- You must be in the directory of your AndroidSM.apk file, or you must specify the full explicit path for the APK.
- Depending on hardware, this process may appear to hang after the transfer of the APK is complete. Wait until the process ends with Success.
- adb install AndroidSM.apk
- Once installed, run the following command to set Systems Manager as the device owner of the device:
- adb shell dpm set-device-owner com.meraki.sm/.DeviceAdmin
- Repeat these steps for all devices. If there are large number of devices a simple script can be used to cycle through the devices and apply those commands.
- Once the previous steps have been completed: Open the SM app on the device, click enroll and then login with either your Meraki managed owner account or your Google Domain account.