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Jamf School - macOS Configuration Guide

The following contains procedures for deploying Blocksi URL Filtering OSX using Jamf School. The solution consists of two components:

  • Proxy - A system-level service that intercepts and filters web traffic.

  • Agent - A menu bar application that communicates with Blocksi servers to enforce filtering policies.

Prerequisites

Ensure the following prerequisites are in place before proceeding with deployment:

  • Administrator access to Jamf School.

  • Your Blocksi Super-Admin account email address.

  • Devices are enrolled in Jamf School and their local account name matches the part of their Blocksi licensed email address before the @ - for example, for student123@blocksi.net the local account name is student123.

  • Download the following files provided by Blocksi:

    • Blocksi_Filter.pkg - Installer that installs the proxy and agent.

    • Blocksi_Settings.mobileconfig

    • Blocksi_Proxy.mobileconfig

    • blocksi_uninstall.sh - (Optional) Uninstaller script for the Blocksi Filter agent. Click here to download.

Downloads

Download the Blocksi Filter agent and configuration files from the Admin Dashboard.

  1. Click on your profile icon in the top right of the dashboard.

  2. Click Downloads.

  3. Select the Apple tab and download the appropriate package for your MDM.

Warning

After completing each step, wait a few minutes for the configuration to be pushed to the target devices before proceeding to the next step.

Note

If you are currently using the Blocksi For OSX filtering solution for macOS, remove all DNS proxy configuration profiles and filtering agent deployment assignments from your MDM before proceeding. Refer to the final section of this guide for more details.

Configuring and Uploading the Blocksi Settings Configuration Profile
Configuring the Blocksi Settings Configuration Profile
To configure the Blocksi Settings file:

  1. Download the provided Blocksi_Settings.mobileconfig file.

  2. Open the downloaded .mobileconfig file using any text or code editor.

  3. Search for the organizationId key and replace admin@blocksi.net with your Blocksi Super Admin account (CompanyId) within the <string></string> fields.

  4. The bundle_id key is used to configure which apps are filtered by the Blocksi agent. The provided .mobileconfig file is configured to filter the most commonly used web browsers: Chrome, Safari, Edge, Brave, Firefox, and Opera. You can filter additional apps by adding <string>package_name</string> lines to the file.

    Blocksi Settings

  5. Click the .mobileconfig filename in the top bar, select File, then click Save.

Uploading the Blocksi Settings Configuration Profile
To upload the Blocksi Settings Configuration Profile:

  1. In Jamf School, navigate to Profiles > Overview.

  2. Click Create Profile.

    Create Profile

  3. Select Upload custom profile.

  4. Select Blocksi_Settings.mobileconfig and click Next.

  5. Type Blocksi Filter - Settings in the Profile name field.

  6. Click Finish.

  7. Under the Groups tab, select the device groups you want to deploy to, and click Save.

Configuring the Application Package Deployment
Uploading the Package
To upload the package:

  1. In Jamf School, navigate to Apps > Inventory.

  2. Click + Add App.

    Add App

  3. Select Add In-House macOS Package.

  4. Select Blocksi_Filter.pkg and click Confirm.

  5. Click Next.

  6. Select device groups that you want to deploy the application to.

  7. Click Save.

Uploading the Blocksi Proxy Configuration Profile
To upload the Proxy Configuration Profile:

  1. In Jamf School, navigate to Profiles > Overview.

  2. Click Create Profile.

  3. Select Upload custom profile.

  4. Select Blocksi_Proxy.mobileconfig and click Next.

  5. Type Blocksi Filter - Proxy in the Profile name field.

  6. Click Finish.

  7. Under the Groups tab, select the device groups you want to deploy to, and click Save.

Validating the Deployment

To validate the deployment, verify that the profiles, services, and filtering agent are installed on the target device correctly.

To check whether the Blocksi services are running:

  • Open Terminal on the target Mac and run the following command:

    launchctl list | grep blocksi

The output should include com.blocksi.proxy.

To check whether the system extension is installed:

  • Open Terminal on the target Mac and run the following command:

    systemextensionsctl list

The output should include FNVRG3YPHU com.blocksi.filter.proxy (1.0/1) com.blocksi.filter.proxy [activated enabled].

To check whether the proxy is active:

  1. Navigate to System Settings.

  2. Click Network in the sidebar, then click Filters.

    The Blocksi Filter should show with a status of Enabled.

    Blocksi Filter Enabled
To check whether the agent is running:

  1. After login, verify that the Blocksi Filter icon appears in the menu bar.

  2. Click the icon. The status should show Connected.

    Blocksi Filter Connected
To check whether filtering is working:

  1. Log in to the Mac device with a licensed user that has a policy assigned.

  2. Navigate to some sites that should be blocked by your policy.

  3. Verify that the Blocksi Access Denied page appears:

    Blocksi Access Denied Page

  4. On the Blocksi Admin Dashboard, navigate to Insights from the Main Menu, click Web Analytics from its sub-menu, then switch to Logs.

  5. Verify that the browsing activity from the device appears in the logs.

Uninstalling the OSX Filtering Solution

Refer to Uninstalling Blocksi Filter to uninstall the Blocksi Filter (full URL filtering) solution. If you are migrating from Blocksi for OSX (legacy DNS filtering) to Blocksi Filter (full URL filtering), refer to Migrating from Blocksi For OSX to Blocksi Filter before proceeding with deploying Blocksi Filter.

Important

Unassign the Blocksi application package deployment and Blocksi configuration profiles from the target devices before proceeding with deploying the uninstall script.

Uninstalling Blocksi Filter
To uninstall Blocksi from OSX devices using Jamf School:

  1. In Jamf School, navigate to Scripts in the sidebar and click + Add Script.

  2. Enter Blocksi Uninstall in the Name field.

  3. Paste the contents of the downloaded blocksi_uninstall.sh file under Content. The script is available for download here.

  4. Set the execution frequency to run the script Just once under When to run.

  5. Click Save.

  6. Under the Scope tab, select the device groups to remove Blocksi from, and click Save.

    Blocksi Uninstall Jamf School
Migrating from Blocksi For OSX to Blocksi Filter

In order to migrate to the Blocksi Filter (full URL filtering) solution, Blocksi For OSX (legacy DNS filtering) needs to be uninstalled first.

To deploy the uninstall script:

  1. In Jamf School, navigate to Scripts in the sidebar and click + Add Script.

  2. Enter Blocksi Uninstall in the Name field.

  3. Paste the contents of the script below under Content.

    #!/bin/bash

launchctl unload /Library/LaunchAgents/com.blocksi.filtering.agent.plist




sudo killall 'Blocksi for OSX'
sudo killall BlocksiXPCservice



sudo rm -f ~/Library/Preferences/com.blocksi.filtering.agent.plist


sudo rm -rf /Applications/Blocksi\ for\ OSX.app

  4. Set the execution frequency to run the script Just once under When to run.

  5. Click Save.

  6. Under the Scope tab, select the device groups to remove Blocksi from, and click Save.

    Blocksi Uninstall Jamf School