Grouping Devices

All devices enrolled in SOTI MobiControl are organized into device groups. SOTI MobiControl has three default devices groups: Management, Sales, and Warehouse but you can create your own device groups that better suit your deployment strategy. For example, it might be useful to organize your devices based on geography or type of device rather than department. You can also nest device groups under each other to establish a hierarchy.

This section contains the following topics and folders:

All top-level or root device groups are listed alphabetically in left side of the console. Lower level device groups are alphabetically nested under their root groups. You can hide the device group tree by clicking the device group name in the search bar.

When a device group is selected, the devices within that group appear in the Devices list. The Include Subfolders option in the Search Settings drop-down determines which devices are displayed. When enabled, Include Subfolders shows all devices under the device group, including devices in device groups nested under the selected group. When disabled, only devices directly within the selected group appear. You can also choose to see all of your devices, irrespective of device grouping by clicking View All Devices.

You can assign device configuration settings and perform some device actions on whole device groups at once.

Note: It is important to consider your console security when organizing your device groups. SOTI MobiControl allows you to tailor which users have access to which device groups, which can have important ramifications on the structure of your device group tree.

If you plan to assign different permissions based on device group, you should organize your device group structure based on security then consider your deployment's other needs.

Some user permissions relevant to device group management include:

  • The View Groups permission which restricts who can view a group.
  • The Manage Groups permission which restricts who can edit filter criteria
  • The Manage Root Groups permission which restricts who can create groups at the root level.
  • The View Absolute Devices Path permission which allows users to see the names and structures of the device tree but not the devices within the device groups they do not have permission for.

All users, regardless of permissions, will be able to see full path of a device group in a device's Device Information panel, even if the path includes device groups they do not have permission to view.

Virtual and Filter Device Groups

In addition to regular device groups, you can create virtual and filter device groups.

Virtual groups let you group devices from different device groups together without moving them from their 'real' device groups, essentially creating a reference for each device in the virtual group.

In the device group tree, virtual groups are marked by a curved arrow icon.

Filter groups are virtual groups whose membership is established according to user-defined criteria. Any device that matches the criteria is automatically placed within the filter group, while remaining in its 'real' device group.

Where you create a filter group affects its membership:

  • Filter groups created at the root level draw their membership from all of the devices in your database.
  • Filter groups created under another group are only populated by the devices within that branch of the device group tree.

In the device group tree, filter groups are marked by a filter icon.

You cannot move a device into or out of a filter group without editing the filter criteria. Devices that were in the virtual group before it was transformed into a filter group are removed from the group unless they meet the criteria. If you remove all filter criteria, all devices will be removed and the filter device group will become an empty virtual group.

Note: Placing filter and virtual groups at the root level can expose devices to SOTI MobiControl users who would otherwise be unable to see them. Consider restricting who can view and create device groups at the root level and review your permissions model for the virtual or filter groups that you do create at the root level.