Skip to content
Dew

Deploy the desktop app to Macs with another MDM tool

Any MDM tool that can install apps and custom configuration profiles can deploy the Dew desktop app to your Macs. You deploy Dew and a ready-made settings profile to the same Macs.

You need:

  • The Dew installer package for Mac, Dew_<version>_macos_universal.pkg, from the download page. It’s signed and notarized.
  • Permission to add apps and custom configuration profiles in your MDM tool.
  • Your Dew server address, for example https://files.example.com.

1. Deploy Dew

Section titled “1. Deploy Dew”

Upload the Dew .pkg file to your MDM tool as a Mac app and assign it to the Macs that use Dew. The package installs Dew in the Applications folder. If someone is signed in to the Mac at the time, Dew starts in their menu bar right away.

2. Choose Dew’s settings

Section titled “2. Choose Dew’s settings”
  1. Download Dew.mobileconfig and open it in a text editor.
  2. Find these lines and change the server address to your own:
<key>ServerURL</key>
<string>https://files.example.com</string>
<key>VerifySSL</key>
<true/>
<key>AutoStartOnBoot</key>
<true/>

Each <key> line and the line below it is one setting:

  • ServerURL is the server address, the Server URL on Dew’s sign-in screen.
  • VerifySSL is certificate checks, Verify SSL certificates in Dew. Keep it <true/>.
  • AutoStartOnBoot opens Dew at sign-in, Auto-start on login in Dew. Use <false/> to stop it opening then.

To leave a setting up to each person, delete both of its lines. Don’t change anything else in the file.

  1. Upload the file as a custom configuration profile and assign it to the same Macs you deployed Dew to.

3. Check it worked

Section titled “3. Check it worked”

On an assigned Mac, Dew starts in the menu bar once your MDM tool has installed it. If its icon isn’t there, open Dew from the Applications folder. Click the Dew icon in the menu bar: the Server URL on the sign-in screen shows your server address, locked. After signing in, select Settings (the gear icon) in the Dew window: Auto-start on login and Verify SSL certificates are locked if you set them, and show Managed by your organization when you hover over them.

If something doesn’t work

Section titled “If something doesn’t work”
What you see What to do
Dew isn’t in the Applications folder Check the app’s install status for that Mac in your MDM tool.
The sign-in screen doesn’t show your server address Check that the settings profile is installed on the Mac, then close the Dew window and open it again.
The settings aren’t locked Click the Dew icon in the menu bar, quit Dew, and open it again. Dew reads its settings when it starts.
Still not locked after reopening Dew Check that the profile is installed on the Mac, in System Settings → General → Device Management (on macOS 13, System Settings → Privacy & Security → Profiles; on macOS 12, System Preferences → Profiles).
One setting is ignored and the others work Check that it’s written as <true/> or <false/>, not <string>true</string>. A setting with the wrong kind of value is ignored.

For more detail, see the settings reference.