Apple Configurator 1: Backing up and restoring data
Learn how to back up your Apple Configurator data.
About Configurator backups
You can use Time Machine or another backup strategy to back up and restore Apple Configurator data including device configurations, users, apps, documents, iOS versions, and VPP redemption codes.
Configurator stores most of its data in ~/Library/Containers/com.apple.configurator
Additionally, the Supervision certificate is stored in ~/Library/Keychains and device pairing information is stored in /var/db/lockdown
Make sure that these directories are not excluded from your backup.
Use Time Machine to recover Configurator data
If you previously backed up your data using Time Machine, you can recover your Apple Configurator data using these steps:
Enter Time Machine from the Time Machine menu or Time Machine pane of System Preferences.
Press Command-Shift-G to go to a specific folder.
In the field that appears, type this path:
~/Library/Containers/Select the item "com.apple.configurator" from the backup that has the appropriate date.
Click Restore to restore this item from backup.
Select the item "~/Library/Keychains" in the backup with the same date, and click Restore.
If you need to allow previously Supervised devices to reconnect to the computer, select the item "/var/db/lockdown" in the backup with the same date and click Restore.
If you're using third-party backup software, follow its instructions to restore ~/Library/Containers/com.apple.configurator, ~/Library/Keychains, and optionally /var/db/lockdown.
Restoring data to a new Mac
In order to restore Apple Configurator data to a new Mac (or to the same Mac after it has been erased and reinstalled) you should restore from a full backup instead of restoring specific files. After restoring a full backup, you can use the new or reinstalled Mac to manage devices supervised by the previous Apple Configurator Mac.
Learn more
If you have supervised devices with Apple Configurator and you lose the Apple Configurator data files, the devices are still supervised by your Mac with Configurator. Apple Configurator will not be able to reinstall app backups or user data onto those supervised devices.
It's especially important to back up Apple Configurator information if you're using VPP codes. After a VPP code has been redeemed, only the Apple Configurator database keeps a record of which device a code was redeemed for. If this database is lost and the app is deleted from the device, Apple Configurator isn't able to reuse the redeemed code in order to install the app. Instead, you would need to purchase and redeem additional codes to replace the app on a device.
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