Managing groups in the IBM MaaS360 Portal

A group of users is known as user groups and a group of devices is known as device groups. You cannot act on both groups. For example, the Execute Shell Scripts action is available only for a device group. Follow these steps to deploy policies, apps, or documents to a group in the IBM® MaaS360® Portal.

1. From the IBM MaaS360 Portal Home page, select Users or Devices > Groups.
   Device groups display the icon, while user groups display the icon.
2. The following columns are available on the Groups page:

   Column	Description
   Name	The name of the group.
   Type	The type of group: user group or device group.
   Evaluation Mode	Filters a device group based on the type of device group evaluation. Batch: Displays the device groups that are evaluated every 24 hours. Batch and Enrollment: Displays the device groups that are evaluated every 2 minutes (for iOS) and every 15 minutes (for Android and Windows) after the devices are enrolled.
   Policies	The policies that are applied to the group.
   Enrollments	The type of group enrollment: automated or manual enrollments.
   Rule Sets	The rule sets that are active for the group.
   Apps	The apps that are distributed to the group.
   Docs	The documents that are distributed to the group.
   Updated by	Displays the administrator who last acted on the group.
   Updated	Displays the date and time that an action was last taken on the group.
   Last Evaluated	Displays the date and time that the group was last evaluated by an administrator.
   Administrative Access Control	Displays whether a group is active, inactive, or disabled for access control by administrators.

3. Click the link under the group name to display the following information:

   Option	Description
   Devices	Displays a list of devices in the group. Click Show Criteria to display the criteria that define the group that is also shown as advanced search results.
   Users	Displays a list of users in the User Directory page.
   Refresh	Updates the membership of the group.
   Edit	Changes the search criteria that are used to determine group membership.
   Delete	Deletes the group.
   More	Displays a menu of additional options.
   Information Icon	Displays the number of devices or users in the group.

4. Choose one of the following options from the Groups menu:

   Option	Description
   Create Copy	Copies the group as a basis for a new group.
   Buzz Devices	Sends an alert tone to all the devices in the group.
   Hide Devices	Marks the group as inactive in MaaS360 reporting, but does not remove control of the devices from MaaS360.
   Remove App	Removes an app from all the devices in the user group.
   Add Device	Adds a device to a user in the group.
   Manage Android Devices	Creates one or more user group administrators to manage specific user groups such as user groups that belong to a specific country or business unit. The user group administrators can then distribute apps, assign policies, or assign rule sets to users in the group.
   Send Message	Sends a text message to all users in the group. This action is supported on iOS, Android, or Windows Phones. The Send Message action for BlackBerry devices includes an additional Message Type option. Select the PIN option to send a text message or select the Email option to send a notification as an email.
   Change Policy	Changes the policy that is enforced for all users in the group.
   Change Rule Set	Changes the rule set that is enforced for all users in the group.
   Distribute App	Deploys an app that was uploaded to MaaS360 to all users in the group.
   Distribute Doc	Distributes a document that was uploaded to MaaS360 to all users in the group.
   Change Plan	Only available with the Mobile Expense Management module. This module changes the plan that is in effect for users in the group. Important: When the change plan is applied to a user group or a device group, only devices that are part of the group gets assigned with the plan. The new devices added to the group doesn’t get the plan automatically. The administrator must assign the plan to the new device or the plan has to be made default. Dynamic assignment of change plan action doesn't exists for expense plan.
   Distribute Package	Only available if you are using the desktop or laptop module of MaaS360. This option distributes a Windows package to users in the group.
   Execute Shell Script	Allows administrators to remotely push shell scripts that execute on devices.
   Push iOS Update	Pushes a new update to all iOS devices in the device group.
   Add Device	Adds a device to a user in the group.

   Note: Depending on the services that are enabled in the IBM MaaS360 Portal, some of these options might not be available.
5. Choose from the following actions on the Groups page:

   Option	Description
   Show private groups	Displays the private groups that are only visible to the administrator who created the group.
   Show All Groups	Displays the public groups that are visible to all administrators. You must be a member of the private groups list to view the Show All Groups button.
   Bulk Delete User Groups	Deletes all or specific user groups from the IBM MaaS360 Portal.
   Bulk Import Groups	Imports user groups into the IBM MaaS360 Portal in bulk.
   Add User directory Groups	Creates a user group from Active Directory for the MaaS360 account in the IBM MaaS360 Portal.
   Add MaaS360 User Group	Creates a user group for the MaaS360 account that is managed in the IBM MaaS360 Portal.
   Add Device Group	Creates a new device group from the advanced search feature.