Preparing the device

Preparing the device for mSupply is very dependant on factors including:

The make of the device

The version of Android running on it

The details of how the organisation plans to manage devices and communicate with users

Please consult with Sustainable Solutions on this.

Initial Android device power up

It is virtually impossible to prevent a modern Android device which is connected to the internet from doing at least some software updates. These can be of the order of 0.5 GB of data. If the device's OS is updating you can add ~1.0 GB to that! If possible, it is worth preventing these updates from occurring over slow and expensive cellular data connections. Therefore, it is recommended to connect the device to a (lower cost and faster) internet connected Wi-Fi network at the time of initial device power up and allowing OS updates and mSupply installation. Once this process is complete, the device can then use its cellular data connection for ongoing mSupply operation. Each new version of Android and the branded OS introduce changes to the menu structure. These instructions will likely need to be amended to suit the particular version of Android and branded OS. Therefore, these instructions are generic, and will likely need to be documented in more detail depending on the particular device and version of Android and branded OS

Install Manage Engine-Mobile Device Management

Manage Engine-Mobile Device Management (ME-MDM) is used to remotely manage the Android devices running mSupply Mobile around the world.

ME-MDM allows remote management of the device. Using ME-MDM we can install, update and uninstall software, track the location of lost devices and wipe the contents of the devices remotely.

This means only the applications (mSupply, Telegram, Gmail, etc.) will be shown on the home screen and all other functions of the tablet are locked down.

Once ME-MDM is installed on the device, considerable control over the device is possible including remotely deploying, installing and executing apps. There is extensive public documentation on ME-MDM. This document focuses on the particular elements relevant to mSupply Mobile installations.

Requirements Mobile device is Android 6.0+ Mobile device is using the EMM token (QR code) enrolment method

Terminology

DEVICES are enrolled to the MDM.

Devices are assigned to GROUPS. You may need to configure additional groups if there will be more than one type of device installed in the system (that requires different profiles or apps). It is also recommended to have a Beta tester group of just one device which can then be used to verify that a software upgrade actually works properly. ME-MDM has a good system of marking newly upgraded software as Beta, and then approving it for release after testing.

USERS are assigned to devices. All devices will be assigned to the same ‘system’ user for this ME-MDM ‘Customer’ account. This user will need to be created in ME-MDM. The user must have the same email address that is used to set up Android for Work (AfW) / Managed Google Play when initially configuring the user’s account.

PROFILES (Restrictions, Kiosk, EFRP, etc.) are associated with Groups (or devices - not recommended)

APPS are stored in the App Repository and distributed to Groups (or devices - not recommended)

To record asset tags with sites, it is necessary to maintain a small database external to ME-MDM. This may be done using a spreadsheet or similar. Device serial number Device name Asset tag Phone (SIM) number Note: If you succeed in transferring the phone number on to the SIM card, it will be automatically stored in ME-MDM, and does not need to be stored in the external database.

Installation

Charge and label the device.

If the battery level is low, take this opportunity to put the device on charge.

Make sure the device is labelled and serial number recorded.

If the device has been used before, complete a factory reset for the device.

If the device has a SIM, ensure that the SIM is functional, with sufficient data, etc. If the devices don’t have their own SIM, ensure that you have the best WiFi connection possible. Three modes are possible in order of preference:

Open WiFi: For speed of processing multiple devices, it is recommended that the WiFi is open (no password).

Pre-configure WiFi AP in the QR code: If an open WiFi is not possible, then the WiFi credentials can be entered in the QR Code configuration in the ME-MDM Admin Console.

Manual configuration: If this is not done, the WiFi can be manually entered on each device (please note that this can be tedious if there are many devices).

Enrol the device with ME-MDM.

If the device is Android 9 or above:

Obtain QR code (generated from ME-MDM: remember to select Android 9 code) for enrolling.

Tap six times on the screen and, after allowing access to the camera, scan QR code.

Ordered List ItemIf the device is Android 6 to 9:

Obtain QR code for ME-MDM registration.

On the google accounts page, enter the username afw#mdm and press OK.

Open (or download) a QR code scanner when prompted.

Scan the QR code.

If necessary, enter the WiFi credentials.

Notify ME-MDM admin of the following and request they Complete enrolment on the ME-MDM Admin Console.

device site name

device serial number

Once enrolment has been completed, profiles and apps (including mSupply mobile) will be pushed to the device through ME-MDM.

You can find the latest version of open source mSupply Mobile here.

We recommend that you use TeamViewer and Telegram on the devices to aid with support. They can also be pushed through ME-MDM and configured as below.

Configure TeamViewer

Launch TV and accept permission requests.

Once TeamViewer has been configured on the device, find the device based on the serial number.

In the properties of the entry, change the ‘Alias’ to the Device site name.

Configure Telegram

Launch Telegram and configure as desired.

The following section highlights the key steps for initialising mSupply Mobile once it has been pushed to the device through ME-MDM.

Return to: Setting up mSupply Mobile on the device | | Next: Initialising the store