Traveler & iOS 8 - Why should you have to update your servers?

Detlev Poettgen  September 15 2014 06:08:37 PM

As I posted this morning (Details  here), IBM released a new Interims Fix for Traveler. This Interim Fix for 9.0.1 / 9.0.0.1 / 8.53 UP2 will prepare Traveler for iOS8 and it is important that you update your servers as soon as possible. Apple will release iOS8 in two days and there are some issues that will be get fixed with this IF.

The reason is simple:

The iOS integrated native Apple Mail App, which is used via ActiveSync by Traveler, is submiting up to now a unique Device ID to the ActiveSync Server. Traveler is using this Device ID together with the User name to "define" and "find" the Device record in Traveler. The IBM Companion and IBM Todo App are using this Device ID for matching the Traveler Device with the App installed on these device.
This Device ID can be viewed by the User on the Device under Settings / General / Info / Device ID and it is the ID that is printed on the back of any iPhone or iPad.

A Device ID looks like this: F4KJQ456F19J
Submitted via ActiveSync it looks like this: ApplF4KJQ456F19J

The Device ID is device specific and can be used to track a Device. That's the reason why Apple decided last year with iOS7 to define a new so called EASDeviceIdentifier, which will be a random generated number, which should be used in a future release instead of the Device ID. This EAS Identifier will only be used for ActiveSync and cannot be viewed by the user.


Starting last week with the iOS8 Gold Master release the iOS ActiveSync client is sending the EAS Identifier and no longer the Device ID to the Traveler server.  

The EAS Identifier is looking like this: KUSTI1BCOD06VCNOF10EQGNV2G

IBM had to do some fixes on the server backend and the related Companion and ToDo App to handle this new EAS Identifier.

So what will happen when you update your already configured iOS device from 7 to 8?

What I could already test: Nothing - because Apple takes care, that when under iOS 7 there had been already a Traveler profile; the EAS Identifier was set equal to the Device ID. So all will be fine.

But when you setup a new iOS 8 device without restoring a backup, Apple will create a new EAS Identifier and will use it from then on. Without updating to the new Interims Fix Companion and the ToDo App will no longer work and you will find an additional Device document in your Traveler inventory, which you may be have to approve.

If you are using a MDM solution like our midpoints mobile.profiler, you will be able to query, collect and view the EAS Identifier together with other device information.  

To sum it: To prevent any trouble - update to the Interims Fix until iOS 8 will be in the wild in your environment.

IBM published so far this information:

With Apple changing the iOS8 DeviceId to no longer start with
"Appl", some Companion and To Do flows are not functioning
properly as the device is not longer recognized as an iOS8
device in the Companion and To Do flows with the new DeviceId.
This causes issues in handling prevent copy mails, attachments
being limited to the max admin setting when they should not be,
out of office not being recognized as supported, and possibly
other issues.  This change will fix the recognition of iOS8 with
the new DeviceId such that the existing functions work as they
did before.

https://www-304.ibm.com/support/entdocview.wss?uid=swg1LO81842



 

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