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Chromebook location assignments

  • August 16, 2024
  • 12 replies
  • 330 views
A
Mentor
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Hi all!

I am working on a bunch of stuff in iiQ at my new district. One issue is locations associated with devices.

For the Google Devices app, Location Mappings tab we currently have Map by OU enabled, with student OUs set to match their physical buildings.

Staff Chromebooks are all in a single OU. With many of our staff traveling between buildings, choosing a single OU was not working. This results in all staff Chromebooks coming through with an “unassigned” location.

I’m leaning towards enabling the Map by Owner’s location site option. But, I’m unsure if that means Map by OU will no longer work?

Also, many of our elementary Chromebooks are shared devices stored in classrooms, which means they have no owner. Am I correct in thinking these devices would need an owner? In my previous district, we created virtual iiQ users to “own” those devices.

February 27, 2025

This is a bit long so I’ll put in in the spoiler tag to collapse the content. Figured I would write out my process as a reference point for others. This is working well from what I can see, which is neat!

Here’s the steps I took to get this working. For context, our student Chromebooks are assigned to a school-specific OU, but staff devices are in a single Staff OU. We are not using the Site Option of assigning devices based on an owner’s location at this time since that would impact devices that should not have their locations change automatically.

Part 1 - Google Devices setup

IncidentIQ has a FAQ about this process. I’m including my setup for reference. iiQ FAQ is here: Write back OU information to Google

  1. In the Google Devices app>General tab, scroll down to Additional write-back options.
  2. Toggle on Write orgUnitPath to Google
  3. Click the blue New Mapping button, then Add Filter in the box that comes up
    1. Choose the appropriate filter(s)
    2. Recommended: To test the process, include the filter Asset Tag to test a single asset
  4. Once satisfied with the filters, click Save Filters. You can duplicate a filter set, then change the criteria or just create new ones.
  5. The new mapping will show up at the top of the list. Type in the OU path to the right of the filters. This field will not auto-fill, but you can copy & paste if needed. This is my current setup.
    AD_4nXfT_NoBQV-XI9ewhXqfJLIz4tCB-XqOvdLSv_yBA_5t9Eq5PacPJdFwX2E8h8dWpValEsxN-RXkxdFqeZ33Wx3u_B_D77FrH5O_puzR2PDf-ijOloRY4hXvbeavP1vXDOK8v7_MaQ?key=RfivdN9IzKVvqjzU9jZgySEV
  6. At the bottom of the page, click Save

*Note: You may have to make changes to the Location Mapping tab as well. See Testing/Troubleshooting below

 

These write-backs will happen during the overnight sync (or if a manual one is triggered) unless an iiQ rule is written to push the change.

Part 2 - iiQ rules setup

In Admin>Rules>Assets, you’ll set up a few options. Which ones make the most sense will depend on your environment. Mine are set up as follows, and both trigger on Updated. We have opted for “virtual” iiQ users to be the owners of our Grades 2-4 class sets of Chromebooks, rather than checking those out to individual students. My staff rule is triggered on Checked Out.

Note: When I initially set these up, I used an Asset Tag filter to restrict the rule’s actions to my test device.

 

Student Chromebooks - Assign Location & Update Google OU

 

AD_4nXeRi0x47ld0so4CKjd-cSCDf_i2rHAN-6bd54iVuhNxnxdJztsNr3psbYrZOVhG1p7aRQpFcFK1VunEQgBTr8j-O6OYJ7ogmWp9rvhwECalY3Kr0eM_Jyx8g3ttTRh5-PZjSySG?key=RfivdN9IzKVvqjzU9jZgySEV

 

Student Chromebooks - Assign Location & Update Google OU - (Grade 2 through Grade 4 Class sets)

AD_4nXdFzOD71SCB2qPNEwlzrGTuH0CEwzYwcvxi6mrkmvTxKsju-R1CDJVT_8Sy7Gfe-WLYyEOjwMm-fsST-_LYn098CTilLaCmZz8u3EUKU7Wpe4mohYScWpn62vopWn_yXVXqx3_P7A?key=RfivdN9IzKVvqjzU9jZgySEV

 

Staff Chromebooks - Assign Location & Update Google OU 

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Testing/Troubleshooting

Test the setup

 

Update or check out the test Chromebook, depending on which trigger(s) your rule is using. If you have access to the Google Admin Console in your district, you can confirm the Chromebook has switched OUs. iiQ will not show this change unless a full sync is pushed.

 

You can view the Rule Log for an asset by navigating to the Asset Details and clicking Rule Log on the far right. Rules are listed with the oldest first, so you may have to scroll down.

Check after overnight sync

Check the test device after an overnight sync to see if the location information is correct. If not, click on the Timeline tab to see what changes have been happening. I noticed my rule had run successfully, but the Google Devices app had changed the location after a sync.

 

AD_4nXf94Cg-6ibiMjd_TF3sJCJYsNOgBjMvrjMRBng41PlWzM7h-jB898u3PrH0g9iqcx-RZN4Bom9SX2ND-dfjAY2OK0NuZMqAf7uUnlr4JUMUXeRjOxwQlOcHosyuaPdVcTfzuN77Iw?key=RfivdN9IzKVvqjzU9jZgySEV

 

Resolution:Take note of the location being assigned by Google Devices. In Google Devices, navigate to the Location Mappings tab. Toggle on the Map by Owner’s Location option. 

 

Wait for an overnight sync & check again. If the same behavior occurs, check the Default Location and switch this to None.

 

Once the test device is moving as expected, update the filters in Parts 1 and 2 to reflect which device(s) should be impacted.

 


​​​​

 

Alyssa Meyer - Tech Lady, Superhero & Guru (depending on who you ask)
    T

    12 replies

    Kathryn Carter
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    • Kathryn Carter
    • Community Manager
    • August 19, 2024

    @AMeyer Greendale Schools Thank you for submitting your question to our community! 😄

    I have been thinking about this one. I know that if you allow mapping by multiple options, the owner’s location will overrule any of the others. However, if they are sitting in an OU & have no owner, the OU will assign the location. I hope this helps! 

    Kathryn Carter - Community Moderator /// Did you ask a question? Don't forget to mark the correct answer!
    A
    Mentor
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    Thanks for the info, Kathryn! With the school year just about starting, I’ll probably wait to make these changes anyway. I’ll export a list of the classroom Chromebooks from iiQ beforehand just in case things go sideways.

    Alyssa Meyer - Tech Lady, Superhero & Guru (depending on who you ask)
    Kathryn Carter
    nathaniel_lindley
    Participant
    Forum|alt.badge.img+4

    Not sure if this is what you are looking for, but we just switched to separating “Staff Chromebooks” from Student for different Device policies in Google Control Panel.   

    In the Google Devices IIQ app, “OrgUnitPath Translation Map”  we have rules to match the location of the student and their building assignment to a “/Elementary Devices/School Name Devices” OU in Google, the filter is by Student.

    Then a rule to say match owner location to a single OU in Google if their role is staff independent of what building they are from.    Does that make sense or help?

     

    Kathryn Carter
    A
    Mentor
    Forum|alt.badge.img+9

    Not sure if this is what you are looking for, but we just switched to separating “Staff Chromebooks” from Student for different Device policies in Google Control Panel.   

    In the Google Devices IIQ app, “OrgUnitPath Translation Map”  we have rules to match the location of the student and their building assignment to a “/Elementary Devices/School Name Devices” OU in Google, the filter is by Student.

    Then a rule to say match owner location to a single OU in Google if their role is staff independent of what building they are from.    Does that make sense or help?

     

    It does make sense - thank you!

    My snag with this setup is our “shared” student devices. Chromebooks for grades 2-4 are not assigned to individual students. I think those devices would need individually checked out or assigned to a virtual iiQ user for this to work?

    Alyssa Meyer - Tech Lady, Superhero & Guru (depending on who you ask)
    Kathryn Carter
    Forum|alt.badge.img+18
    • Kathryn Carter
    • Community Manager
    • August 20, 2024

    @AMeyer Greendale Schools You could create a user “2nd grade Chromebooks” and then you will be able to see all those devices in a view as well. It could be easier to track them. 

    Kathryn Carter - Community Moderator /// Did you ask a question? Don't forget to mark the correct answer!
    A
    Mentor
    Forum|alt.badge.img+9

    @AMeyer Greendale Schools You could create a user “2nd grade Chromebooks” and then you will be able to see all those devices in a view as well. It could be easier to track them. 

    That’s what I’m leaning towards as well. It’s what we did in my last district. I didn’t love the hassle of the extra check-ins/checkouts, but knowing where each device was at all times was helpful.

    It’s a change that I need to run by the rest of the crew, though, so it’s “on hold” till we can squeeze in a meeting. Hopefully that happens before school starts!

     

    Alyssa Meyer - Tech Lady, Superhero & Guru (depending on who you ask)
    Kathryn Carter
    nathaniel_lindley
    Participant
    Forum|alt.badge.img+4

    We created a Building User account “Eastview Location” user to checkout devices assigned to a location like a room.   Not great, but at least associated with a building.   Annoying part was we have to edit the asset after checkout in order to set the Room at the building.  Since a single generic user can’t be associated with multiple rooms.  

    A
    Mentor
    Forum|alt.badge.img+9

    We’re probably going to do individual rooms as users, unless my coworkers poke all the holes in my idea. We try to stay 1:1 based on enrollment, and having each room as an “owner” lets me see at a glance what the count is.

    I’ve been telling people there’s no one right way to do these things, we just gotta agree on which one we want to manage 😅

    Alyssa Meyer - Tech Lady, Superhero & Guru (depending on who you ask)
    nathaniel_lindley
    Kathryn Carter
    EStapf_iiQ
    A
    Mentor
    Forum|alt.badge.img+9

    Okay I am halfway there, which is neat. I have our student devices (1:1 and class sets) updating their locations in iiQ and pushing the changes over to Google Admin.

    I’m missing something with our staff devices, though. No changes are happening in the Google Admin Console. iiQ updates the device’s location to match my test staff account (which means the rule I set up is running), but the device does not move to our Staff OU.

    I currently have the OrgUnitPath Translation Map narrowed to my test account, mapping to our Staff OU. No change happens when I check out a device. If I change the test account’s mapping to one of the student OUs, the device moves as expected. If I change to a sub-OU within our Staff OU, the device moves. I can manually move devices into /Staff when I log in to the Google Admin Console.

    Anyone got thoughts for what I’m missing? I can grab screenshots if needed - I just have to redact stuff & I avoid it since I’m on a Chromebook 😅

    Alyssa Meyer - Tech Lady, Superhero & Guru (depending on who you ask)
    Kathryn Carter
    A
    Mentor
    Forum|alt.badge.img+9

    Think it’s too late to edit my post but I might have sorted this out…

    My iiQ Rule was set to update device location first, then update Google Admin. This order works fine for student devices and/or most OUs.

    I eliminated the location step, then tested & my device switched OUs. 

    I added the location update as the second step and it seems to be working. Feels bizarre that just the /Staff OU was impacted but I’ll test some more tomorrow and report back.

    Alyssa Meyer - Tech Lady, Superhero & Guru (depending on who you ask)
    Kathryn Carter
    A
    Mentor
    Forum|alt.badge.img+9

    Think I spoke too soon about figuring it out. I’m seeing the same odd behavior. iiQ is not moving Chromebooks to the /Staff OU. If I change the mapping under Google Devices>General Settings to any other OU, the device moves when checked out.

    I deleted & recreated both the rule and the mapping, just in case something had gone weird when I’d copied them, but that didn’t help. 

    So.. open to ideas if people happen to read this 😅 And I’ll revisit in a day or two; maybe our instance of iiQ is just having a time... 

    Alyssa Meyer - Tech Lady, Superhero & Guru (depending on who you ask)
    A
    Mentor
    Forum|alt.badge.img+9

    This is a bit long so I’ll put in in the spoiler tag to collapse the content. Figured I would write out my process as a reference point for others. This is working well from what I can see, which is neat!

    Here’s the steps I took to get this working. For context, our student Chromebooks are assigned to a school-specific OU, but staff devices are in a single Staff OU. We are not using the Site Option of assigning devices based on an owner’s location at this time since that would impact devices that should not have their locations change automatically.

    Part 1 - Google Devices setup

    IncidentIQ has a FAQ about this process. I’m including my setup for reference. iiQ FAQ is here: Write back OU information to Google

    1. In the Google Devices app>General tab, scroll down to Additional write-back options.
    2. Toggle on Write orgUnitPath to Google
    3. Click the blue New Mapping button, then Add Filter in the box that comes up
      1. Choose the appropriate filter(s)
      2. Recommended: To test the process, include the filter Asset Tag to test a single asset
    4. Once satisfied with the filters, click Save Filters. You can duplicate a filter set, then change the criteria or just create new ones.
    5. The new mapping will show up at the top of the list. Type in the OU path to the right of the filters. This field will not auto-fill, but you can copy & paste if needed. This is my current setup.
      AD_4nXfT_NoBQV-XI9ewhXqfJLIz4tCB-XqOvdLSv_yBA_5t9Eq5PacPJdFwX2E8h8dWpValEsxN-RXkxdFqeZ33Wx3u_B_D77FrH5O_puzR2PDf-ijOloRY4hXvbeavP1vXDOK8v7_MaQ?key=RfivdN9IzKVvqjzU9jZgySEV
    6. At the bottom of the page, click Save

    *Note: You may have to make changes to the Location Mapping tab as well. See Testing/Troubleshooting below

     

    These write-backs will happen during the overnight sync (or if a manual one is triggered) unless an iiQ rule is written to push the change.

    Part 2 - iiQ rules setup

    In Admin>Rules>Assets, you’ll set up a few options. Which ones make the most sense will depend on your environment. Mine are set up as follows, and both trigger on Updated. We have opted for “virtual” iiQ users to be the owners of our Grades 2-4 class sets of Chromebooks, rather than checking those out to individual students. My staff rule is triggered on Checked Out.

    Note: When I initially set these up, I used an Asset Tag filter to restrict the rule’s actions to my test device.

     

    Student Chromebooks - Assign Location & Update Google OU

     

    AD_4nXeRi0x47ld0so4CKjd-cSCDf_i2rHAN-6bd54iVuhNxnxdJztsNr3psbYrZOVhG1p7aRQpFcFK1VunEQgBTr8j-O6OYJ7ogmWp9rvhwECalY3Kr0eM_Jyx8g3ttTRh5-PZjSySG?key=RfivdN9IzKVvqjzU9jZgySEV

     

    Student Chromebooks - Assign Location & Update Google OU - (Grade 2 through Grade 4 Class sets)

    AD_4nXdFzOD71SCB2qPNEwlzrGTuH0CEwzYwcvxi6mrkmvTxKsju-R1CDJVT_8Sy7Gfe-WLYyEOjwMm-fsST-_LYn098CTilLaCmZz8u3EUKU7Wpe4mohYScWpn62vopWn_yXVXqx3_P7A?key=RfivdN9IzKVvqjzU9jZgySEV

     

    Staff Chromebooks - Assign Location & Update Google OU 

    AD_4nXdGcSRwhgtTDWKRatDAbWdEs86oxByIcIsGxMCmwZgqyW5vtogBwub_sKY_NEDBcqxJqXW7s6Cn3UrBWt-DSzflRV3BR6XFEJB6M2AD__lx-JbP4cDO0c6mePZfo3gfhY6oGClb5g?key=RfivdN9IzKVvqjzU9jZgySEV

    Testing/Troubleshooting

    Test the setup

     

    Update or check out the test Chromebook, depending on which trigger(s) your rule is using. If you have access to the Google Admin Console in your district, you can confirm the Chromebook has switched OUs. iiQ will not show this change unless a full sync is pushed.

     

    You can view the Rule Log for an asset by navigating to the Asset Details and clicking Rule Log on the far right. Rules are listed with the oldest first, so you may have to scroll down.

    Check after overnight sync

    Check the test device after an overnight sync to see if the location information is correct. If not, click on the Timeline tab to see what changes have been happening. I noticed my rule had run successfully, but the Google Devices app had changed the location after a sync.

     

    AD_4nXf94Cg-6ibiMjd_TF3sJCJYsNOgBjMvrjMRBng41PlWzM7h-jB898u3PrH0g9iqcx-RZN4Bom9SX2ND-dfjAY2OK0NuZMqAf7uUnlr4JUMUXeRjOxwQlOcHosyuaPdVcTfzuN77Iw?key=RfivdN9IzKVvqjzU9jZgySEV

     

    Resolution:Take note of the location being assigned by Google Devices. In Google Devices, navigate to the Location Mappings tab. Toggle on the Map by Owner’s Location option. 

     

    Wait for an overnight sync & check again. If the same behavior occurs, check the Default Location and switch this to None.

     

    Once the test device is moving as expected, update the filters in Parts 1 and 2 to reflect which device(s) should be impacted.

     


    ​​​​

     

    Alyssa Meyer - Tech Lady, Superhero & Guru (depending on who you ask)
    Kathryn Carter
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