Maintaining the Launchpad Asset Cache

Assets are files shared across deployments, such as Wi-Fi profiles, backups to restore, wallpaper images, and iOS firmware files. Mobile Access Management caches these assets on each Mac or PC Launchpad so that assets only have to be downloaded once per machine.

Cache Location

Mac: ~/Library/Application Support/GroundControl/Content Downloads/

Windows: %LOCALAPPDATA%\GroundControl\Content Downloads\

From the Launchpad, select Open Asset Cache from the GroundControl menu.

Seeding the Cache

iOS firmware files are specific to iOS device model, and are around 7 GB each. The Launchpad will download these as needed for deployments. To speed deployments you may want to seed the asset cache with the appropriate firmware files.

  1. Download the IPSW files, using a reference such as IPSW.me. Do not change the filenames.

  2. Copy the unmodified files to the cache locations on each Mac or PC. You may use a tool such as SCCM or Casper to automate distribution to many Launchpads at once.

  3. Mobile Access Management will automatically detect the new files.

This process is the same whether the Launchpad is running or stopped.

Automatic Purge

Mobile Access Management admins can modify Workflows from time to time, making some assets obsolete. In addition, Apple periodically releases new iOS updates, making older firmware obsolete.

The Launchpad checks for obsolete assets on Launchpad start, or every 24 hours (if the Launchpad is running). Obsolete assets are deleted from the local cache.

Manual Purge

When the Launchpad is stopped, the Launchpad caches. Choose Clear Asset Cache… from the Launchpad Cache menu. The Launchpad will re-download assets as deployments require. You can also Reset the Launchpad to delete all files from the asset cache, but keep in mind this will also restore the Launchpad to its original defaults.

Using a File Server as the Cache Location

The Launchpad can be instructed to point to a secondary location for cached files. This is handy if you wish to place the cached files on a file server to be served to multiple Launchpads at once. The Launchpad will treat this location as read-only; any new files to be downloaded will be written to the primary, local cache location.

To set up the secondary location, perform the following task. Repeat this on every Launchpad.

  1. Make sure the Launchpad Service is stopped, and the Launchpad process is not running.

  2. Open the Windows command prompt by typing “cmd” into the Windows Start search box.

  3. In the Command Prompt window, change directory to the Apple Support folder by pasting this command:

    cd /d "%programfiles(x86)%\GroundControl"
    gcprefs write com.GroundControl.gcservice AlternateContentStoragePaths -array -string "G:\CacheLocation"

  4. Start the Launchpad service.

  1. Make sure the Launchpad service is stopped.

  2. Set up the alternate location with the following command (The server is named “FileServer” and the folder is named “CacheLocation” in this example):

    defaults write com.GroundControl.gcservice AlternateContentStoragePaths  -array -string "/Volumes/FileServer/CacheLocation"
IMPORTANT:

Files in the shared cache must have a specific naming convention and structure. You may simply copy the local cache from one Launchpad into the shared cache and this will work.

For iOS firmware updates, you only need to copy the files ending in .IPSW into the alternate cache. It's not necessary to copy the expanded IPSW folders and files.