apple configurator 2 firmware location on external drive

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Level 1

3 points

apple configurator 2 firmware location on external drive

Hi,

I have now moved over to AC2 and previously with AC1 I could store all the ipsw firmware files on an external hard drive and create a symbolic link to the appropriate location in the AC1's containers folder. This was perfect as we manage nearly a 1000 devices of varying types and and keep all the firmware files on our laptops HDD.

In AC2 I have repeated the process however it doesn't like it. No about of creating sum links hard links or aliases will work at any of the varying folder levels I have tried.

Can anyone shed light on how storing the firmware files on an external drive with AC2 might be possible?

Thanks

Keith

OS X 10.11.3

MacBook Pro

MacBook Pro, OS X Mavericks (10.9.1)

Posted on Mar 4, 2016 1:51 AM

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Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

jmartin.western

Level 1

4 points

Sep 1, 2017 7:31 AM in response to Crystal Reef

I realize that this thread is over a year old, but were you ever able to figure out a work around for storing the firmware files on an external drive?

Justin Martin

jmartin@westerncusd12.org

Technology Coordinator

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Answer 2

pedro d

Community Specialist

Mar 5, 2016 1:05 PM in response to Crystal Reef

Hello there, Keith.

It seems you're trying to find out where you can maintain your IPSW files with Configurator. The following Knowledge Base article offers up what locations are acceptable for the latest versions of Apple Configurator:

Apple Configurator: Managing iOS device software

Beginning with Apple Configurator 1.3, you have two options for managing iOS software (IPSW files) manually.

Use the Edit Custom iOS Versions command

In Apple Configurator, hold down the Option key while choosing Devices > Edit Custom iOS Versions. You can then add or remove custom versions of iOS software, such as developer previews.

Any IPSW files that you add in this way will appear in the iOS pop-up menu in Apple Configurator.

Place the iOS software in the Firmware folder

Drag the IPSW file to the Firmware folder, located here:

~/Library/Containers/com.apple.configurator/Data/Library/Caches/com.apple.config urator/Firmware/

When you place an IPSW file in the Firmware folder, Apple Configurator does not download that version of the software from the Internet. However, if iTunes has already downloaded that version to the user's iTunes Library, Apple Configurator uses the version in the iTunes Library.

Thanks for reaching out to Apple Support Communities.

Cheers.

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Answer 3

Crystal Reef Author

Level 1

3 points

Mar 9, 2016 1:32 AM in response to pedro d

Hi,

Thanks for the reply.

I used to do this in configurator 1.x and even hard a sim link of the firmware folder to an external drive. Worked great.

This does not appear to work in configurator 2. The new location in group containers will allow me to store the firmware directly in the folder on the local HDD. However if I change that to a gym link to the external drive then it just fails and wants to download the firmware again.

I don't have space on the local HDD to store all the firmware's and copying the required one over each time is just a pain.

Ideally I want the Firmware folder and the folder where it extracts to, to be on the external drive.

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