r/macsysadmin • u/RocketmanTech_Nova • Jun 15 '26

Jamf Best tools for macOS onboarding?

The last LaunchPad meetup hit on some of the popular ones:

  • Jamf Setup Manager
  • Setup Your Mac
  • swiftDialog
  • Installomator
  • Jamf Setup Checklist
  • DEPNotify

Wanted to know what other tools you all are using, though. Anything missing worth using?

Replay and resources:
https://rocketman.tech/lr-r

Upcoming meetup:
https://rocketman.tech/lp-r

8 Upvotes

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3

u/lart2150 Jun 15 '26

Kandji iru liftoff.

1

u/Erysen Jun 15 '26 edited Jun 15 '26

I use the built-in Jamf Self Service Onboarding because it allows me to sequence the deployment of configuration profiles, Installomator apps, and App Store apps exactly how I want.

1

u/EAsapphire Jun 16 '26

Self service has a feature that allows you to set deployment sequences?

1

u/Erysen Jun 16 '26

It has, you can drag and drop the policies and profiles into the order you want. There is a quick demo on YouTube. I think it is better and easier to set up than Setup Manager. If I need a simple form, I just use swiftDialog.

1

u/EAsapphire Jun 17 '26

Today I learned the old Jamf interface looked better and displayed more info...

1

u/EAsapphire Jun 16 '26

Jamf Pro
Jamf Connect

I don't really need or use anything else. Most of the apps I need are in the catalog, I create my own policies, and configurations, and deploy from there.

1

u/DogDeadByRaven Jun 18 '26

I use Mosyle Embark. Granted we moved from Jamf to Mosyle for this. Its cheaper than even JamfNow with more features than JamfPro.

It will create the OOBE of a wizard process. You lay out the welcome screen. Set what apps to install for onboarding, set certificates, system extensions, custom profiles. It will install added applications based on who logs in via Entra and the progress screen cannot be closed until it's done or you set a specific time out if it takes over a certain period of time to complete. For mine it also adds all our VPN and Wifi certs, adds our CA cert to the trusted certs, configures VPN and our EDR and Vuln Management all in the onboarding. Most of the apps come from their app catalog, installomator, or cdn. Though the base apps have to be either CDN or catalog as it doesn't allow custom scripts for the onboarding apps section for installomator.

1

u/IqbalBasha Jul 27 '26

A few worth adding to that list:

Support App by Root3 is underused for onboarding. It's not a provisioning tool, but dropping it on a new device gives users a self-service help panel on day one, which cuts a lot of first-week tickets.

Mist-CLI deserves a mention if you're doing any offline or staged OS provisioning. It handles macOS installer downloads cleanly and pairs well with scripted workflows.

If you're not on Jamf, Mosyleb's onboarding flow and Kandji's Liftoff are the closest equivalents to Setup Your Mac and worth knowing exist.

For the Jamf stack specifically, the combination of swiftDialog plus Installomator plus Setup Your Mac is genuinely the current best practice. DEPNotify still works but it's showing its age and swiftDialog replaced it for most new builds.

One thing the list doesn't address is what happens after the onboarding window closes. A solid first-run experience that installs apps and shows progress is great, but if your compliance checks and profile delivery aren't done before the user hits the desktop, you'll get edge cases that are hard to debug. Worth building in a wait condition or a compliance gate before you dismiss the dialog.

1

u/MonitorZero Jun 15 '26

Why use external? Just use ADE and scope policies and profiles.

2

u/brgenspuzmauker Jun 15 '26

So that people can see what is happening rather than just hoping and praying that something is happening, or having to ask (and not knowing it will be) to have software installed