IPad – how to configure shared iPad for Apple Business Manager

Have you verified that all required ports are open from the iPads to the server? (Port 1640 specifically, but also you'll want to ensure access to 80/443 for web and 2195/2196/5223 for push)

• Lion Server: Ports used by Profile Manager

You can also run some tests to see if this is a problem with the server itself or with the network. Connecting to the server's IP address from the iOS device will rule out DNS and other issues.

I've found it helpful to open the Console app and watch /var/log/apache2/access_log for incoming requests so you can see which iOS devices are getting through to the server. That log shows you the IPv4 or IPv6 address of each connection request so you can detect which devices are networked correctly to send traffic to the server and narrow down in the chain where your problem lies.

Hopefully this helps others with DNS issues in getting to the same resolution as you.

The apple configurator doesn't currently have this option.

The only workaround I've discovered so far is to register an exchange account with the iOS device using SSL. This forces the user to use a passcode, and disables the option to remove it. Now go into your exchange account settings on the iOS device, deselect "Use SSL" then go and disable the passlock. Now go back to exchange settings and re-enable "Use SSL". You should now find that 1) the passlock is no longer enabled and 2) the setting to turn on the passlock is gone. You should be able to disable all the sync settings so students don't start using that account for anything. (source)

If you don't have an exchange account you can use for this, set up a free google mail, and register it as the exchange account.

It may depend on the exchange server settings/policy, though, so some experimentation may be required.

Lastly, if you are using Supervised devices then the passcode will be reset when reconnected to the apple configurator. Still more work than desired, but quicker and more painless than a full refresh.