Apple Configurator 2: Load a Gmail Account onto iPads

Question

Level 1

6 points

Apple Configurator 2: Load a Gmail Account onto iPads

Has anyone loaded a single Gmail account onto to multiple iPad Air's using Apple Configurator 2? Not a different Gmail account for each iPad, just the same Gmail account over and over again onto each iPad.

I understand there might be other ways of skinning this cat and you may have concerns that I want to load the same Gmail account on to a whole bunch of iPads, however I need to do this and trust me when I say that short of manually entering the account information for each iPad (which I do not want to do.....170 iPads and counting), the only tool that I have and can have available to do this is Apple Configurator 2 using a Mail Payload in a Profile.

I have tried all settings and combination of settings that I can see on the MAIL Payload section of my Profile. Here are the Gmail settings I am using:

Incoming Mail: imap.gmail.com, Port 993

Outgoing Mail: smtp.gmail.com, Port 465 (and 25 tried both with and without SSL)

When I install the profile and then click on the MAIL icon on the iPad, it thinks for a second and then I get the following message:

Cannot Get Mail

The user name or password for XXXXXX@gmail.com is incorrect

I have checked the user name and password multiple times and they are all typed in correctly.

Any help would be appreciated!

iPad Air, iOS 9.2.1

Posted on Feb 5, 2016 1:00 PM

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Answer 1

Feb 12, 2016 3:41 PM in response to David_NMP

Hi David,

I have just moved one of my schools from Exchange to Gmail. The exchange Payload was easy but I have had to configure my "master" ipad manually with the Gmail settings for my 1 Gmail account and then Create a backup which all my other iPads restore from when I refresh them at the beginning of the year. This gets most of the job done but it doesn't keep the password when restored from the backup - so I have to open the mail program and quickly enter the Gmail password on all ipads before giving them back to the classes. Annoying I know, but it only takes a few seconds to do it. In fact I had to accept the "Trust Certificate" question on each iPad when I used Exchange so it's not much different.

If you crack the Gmail Payload issue please let us know.

Kind regards

Tim C.

Wellington

NZ

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Answer 2

Feb 15, 2016 6:05 AM in response to David_NMP

Hi again Dave,

Just solved it.

I had to login to my single iPad gmail account via webmail and enable iMap under settings - by default google disable this feature and therefore email simply doesn't work !! Grrrr I even knew this but was so wrapped up in Configurator stuff I overlooked it.

The setting can take a few minutes to propagate so be patient.

My Configurator Payload has the standard settings under the Mail object

Incoming = imap.gmail.com port 993 SSL enabled

Outgoing = smtp.gmail.com port 587 SSL enabled

Hope this all helps

Tim Cook

OneStop IT Ltd

Wellington

New Zealand

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Answer 3

David_NMP Author

Level 1

6 points

Feb 15, 2016 8:31 AM in response to Schools-NZ Support

Thank you Tim! I appreciate the response and I just tried it and it worked!!!! A couple of small change I had to make were the following:

The Gmail view that I kept getting on Safari and Chrome (on Android) was the Mobile View and not the Desktop View. The Desktop View was the only view that had the Settings button with the correct section on Enabling POP/IMAP. The Mobile View had the "Settings" button, but it did not have a selection for Enabling POP/IMAP. All the help links on how to enable imap settings did not mention this, they just assumed you were on the Desktop View. To turn on my Desktop view on an iPad, I used Safari to sign into Gmail and then at the bottom left of the page there was a selection called: "View Gmail in: Mobile : basic HTML : Desktop". One I clicked on "Desktop" it had the Settings button with the selections for Enabling POP/IMAP.
For some reason, installing the Gmail account via Apple Configurator 2 sets up the Mail Account on the iPad differently than if you manually added it on the iPad itself. For this reason, I had to update my Gmail account settings and turn on "Allow less secure apps" for it to work.

Thanks again for your response and it very much helped me out (and saved me from ripping out all my remaining hair).

With sincere thanks,

David_NMP

Syracuse, NY

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