Overview
The Radix Device Management Platform allows you to create groups of devices by assigning tags to each device. You can create a group of devices by assigning matching tags. Once you have created a group, you can then perform many operations on entire groups of devices with a single command. You can do this using the Group Management option. We will explain how the Group Management option will allow you to install software apps on groups of devices.
Furthermore, you may encounter a situation where a remote device has several users. If there are several users on a device, the Radix Device Management Platform gives you the option of installing an app for all users of a device or for only selected users.
Accessing the Group Management Option
To access the Group Management Option:
1. Click on the Devices icon in the Radix Device Management Platform sidebar menu to open the Devices Table.
2. In the Groups pane search bar, enter the name of the group of devices to which you want to install applications. In our example, we will select the group “aep”:
There are two methods to install apps on the devices in the group:
- - Method One: Using the Install App command to install a single app
- - Method Two: Using the Edit Group pane to install several apps at once
Method One: Using the Install App command
1. Click on the group’s three-dots menu and select App Management>Install App:
The Install App repository of saved software packages opens:
2. Select the software package that you would like to install by clicking on its respective tile and clicking Apply in the lower right corner. To illustrate, we will install Chess—Play and Learn.
3. Upon clicking Apply, you will get a notification in the bottom center of the screen telling you that the app will be installed on the group.
Method Two: Using the Edit Group pane
If you wish to install several apps on devices in the group, it’s advised to use the Edit Group pane.
1. In the Group pane, click on the three-dot menu>Edit Group:
The Edit Group window opens:
This table summarizes the icons on the sidebar menu:
2. Click on the Apps icon in the sidebar menu. The following window opens:
3. Click on Add Apps. The Packages repository opens:
4. Click on the software packages that you wish to install onto the devices in the group and click Add. In the example below, we selected Temple Run 2, Chess—Play and Learn, and Plex: Streams, Movies, & TV.
Tracking Progress of the Installation
You will see progress bars indicating the installation of the selected apps.
1. You can click on the Refresh icon in the upper right, to check on the progress of the installation.
Location of Refresh icon to view installation progress
2. Click on the row of the application to get further information about the installation. You will see how many devices installed the app properly, and which failed to install the app.
Removing Persistence from an Application
As long as an application is listed in the “Edit Group” window in Group Management, the application will have persistence. That means that after the Radix Device Management Platform installs an application on devices in a group using the Group Management option, you can only temporarily uninstall the app on these devices. If an app appears in the Install Packages pane, the Radix Device Management Platform will reinstall the application on the group’s devices.
As an example, let us examine the Edit Group pane for the group “aep”:
Since the Temple Run app still appears in the Edit Group pane, the Radix Device Management Platform will reinstall it, even if you or the remote user tries to uninstall it.
To remove persistence from an application:
1. Click on the Delete icon in the Install Packages pane:
2. Click Save in the lower right to save the changes you have made to the Group Management command.
Uninstalling an Application
Once you have removed the Temple Run app from the Group Management command, you will be able to uninstall it permanently. There are two methods to uninstall an application:
Method One: From the Settings app on the remote device:
1. To uninstall an application from a device, go to Settings>Apps and Notifications, and find the app you wish to uninstall.
2. Click on Uninstall.
3. In the pop-up notification, click OK to delete the app.
Method Two: Using the Uninstall packages command in the Radix Device Management Platform
You can also uninstall the app from the entire group by means of the Radix Device Management Platform.
1. Find the group using the Groups search bar as above.
2. Click on the group’s three-dot menu to open up the grid of commands.
The Uninstall App window opens.
3. Type the name of the app you wish to uninstall in the search bar.
4. Click on Add to list to move the app over to the Selected apps that you wish to uninstall:
5. Click on Uninstall to complete the uninstall operation.
6. You will receive a notification in the lower left corner indicating whether the app has been uninstalled on all devices in the group:
7. Clicking on the specific command will display more details about the uninstall operation:
Installing Applications for Specific Users
There are instances where a remote device may be an Android tablet with several users sharing it, and each user has specific apps that they want installed. The Install Packages repository gives you options for installing an application for all users of a remote device or only a specific user.
To modify the installation for only a specific device user:
1. Click on Edit Group in the three-dots menu for your specific group, as above.
2. In the Edit Group window, click on the Apps icon.
3. Click on Add Apps to open the repository of software packages:
4. Click on the Edit icon for the particular app that you want to install.
5. In the Edit window that opens, you will see an option to install the app for all users or specific device users:
6. Under User Type, you can select whether to install the app for:
- - All users,
- - The current user of the remote device, or
- - A user that you specify by name.
User type options
Note: The “By user name” option may only work on specific devices.
To illustrate, we will install the WhatsApp application on devices in the group to all users of the devices in the group:
7. Click Confirm to save the installation package to the repository.
8. Select the WhatsApp Messenger app in the repository and click Apply.
9. If you click on the status bar in the lower left corner, you will see the progress of the installation:
10. If you check the device on which the application was installed, you will see that all users on the device have access to it.