Managing Groups in the IBM MaaS360 Portal

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

About this task

IBM MaaS360 provides the following default groups.
Group Description Category
System Groups that are provided by IBM MaaS360. Users
Public Groups that are visible to all administrators. Users and Devices
Private Groups that are visible only to the administrator who created the group. Users and Devices
Note: You can schedule automated policy assignments and app distributions for public groups only.

Procedure

  1. From the IBM MaaS360 Portal home page, select Devices > Groups or Users > Groups.
  2. The following information is displayed in columns on the Groups page.
    Column Description
    Name The name of the group.
    Type The type of group is either a User, a Device, or a Smart Device.
    Policies The policies that are applied to the group.
    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 Date Displays the date and time that the group was last evaluated by an administrator.
    Smart Group Evaluation Time Displays the time when an event triggers the smart group evaluation.
    Administrative Access Control Displays whether a group is active, inactive, or disabled for access control by administrators.
    Evaluation Mode Filters a device group based on the type of device group evaluation.
    • Batch
      Displays the device groups that are evaluated in every 24 hours.
    • Batch and Enrollment
      Displays the device groups that are evaluated in every 2 minutes (for iOS) and every 15 minutes (for Android and Windows) after the devices are enrolled.
  3. Select an action on the Groups page from the following options.
    Option Description
    Show Private Groups Displays the private groups that are only visible to the administrator who created the group.
    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 Group Creates a user group from Active Directory for the MaaS360 account in the IBM MaaS360 Portal.
    Note: If there are any pending uploads of the User Groups, then a message is displayed stating that an upload of User Groups from User Directory is pending. To ensure that Cloud Extender has been installed and configured to integrate with your Corporate User Directory.
    Add > MaaS360 User Group Creates a user group for the MaaS360 account that is managed in the IBM MaaS360 Portal.
    The following attributes are displayed.
    1. Name
      Enter the User Group name.
    2. Usernames (or Email Addresses)
      Enter the text for username or email.
    3. Description
      Enter the User Group description.
    4. User group to be available for
      The following checkboxes are displayed.
      • Security (Policies, Compliance Rules, Locations and Privacy Settings)
      • App distribution
      • Doc distribution
    Add > Device Group Enter the following search criteria in the Advanced Search page.
    1. Search for
      The following buttons are available for selection.
      • Active Devices
      • Inactive Devices
      • All Devices
    2. With Device Type(s)
      The following checkboxes are available for selection.
      • Smartphones
      • Tablets
    3. Last Reported
      Enter the last reported time or date.
    4. Search Criteria
      Select a condition from the following values.
      • All Conditions (AND)
      • Any Condition (OR)
      • Across Conditions (Advanced)
    5. Condition 1, Condition 2, Condition 3
      Select the Category, Attribute, Criteria and enter the Text to be searched.
    Add > Smart Device Group Enter the following search criteria in the Smart Device Grouping page.
    1. Search for
      The following buttons are available for selection.
      • Active Devices
      • Inactive Devices
      • All Devices
    2. With Device Type(s)
      The following checkboxes are available for selection.
      • Smartphones
      • Tablets
    3. Last Reported
      Enter the last reported time or date.
    4. Search Criteria
      Select a condition from the following values.
      • All Conditions (AND)
      • Any Condition (OR)
      • Across Conditions (Advanced)
    5. Condition 1, Condition 2, Condition 3
      Select the Category, Attribute, Criteria and enter the Text to be searched.
    Show All Groups Displays the public groups that are visible to all administrators. Be a member of the private groups list to view the Show All Groups button.
  4. Click the information links under the group name to display the 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 other options.
    Information Icon Displays the number of devices or users in the group.
  5. Select one of the following options from the More 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 IBM MaaS360 reporting, but does not remove control of the devices from IBM 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 extra 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 IBM MaaS360 to all users in the group.
    Distribute Doc Distributes a document that was uploaded to IBM 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 must be made default. Dynamic assignment of change plan action doesn't exist for expense plan.
    Distribute Package Only available if you are using the desktop or laptop module of IBM MaaS360. This option distributes a Windows package to users in the group.
    Execute Shell Script Allows administrators to remotely push shell scripts that run 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.