Bulk Deprovision Chrome Devices In Google Workspace

Introduction

In this article, you will learn about how to bulk deprovision chrome devices in Google Workspace. When you are working with Google Workspace, it's important to be careful about device management. Several tasks need execution to maintain the Chrome devices. But what happens when you no longer need to manage a Chrome device? that's why sometimes a manager needs to bulk deprovision Chrome devices in Google Workspace.

In that case, you need to Deprovision a Chrome device. When you do this, the device automatically goes to factory reset mode. This leads to erasing all data, including device policies, enrollment data and user data. It means now the Provisioned device has become converted to a blank slate.

xFanatical Foresight Automation tool is a Google Workspace workflow that allows you to bulk deprovision chrome devices. It allows thousands of chrome devices to become deprovision at once.  Google admin console does have the option, but it allows only limited devices to select at a time. So here, Foresight works best.  You just need some simple steps to do that. Foresight also provides a 14-day free trial for this.

Why do you need to bulk deprovision Chrome devices in Google Workspace?

Sometimes you don't need to manage a Chrome Device or a group of them, so you need to remove those uncontrolled devices from Google Admin Console to prohibit any security threats. That's why you need to deprovision Chromebooks. 

 Here are some scenarios when you need to do this –

• To replace or upgrade an older model.
• Permanently remove a device from your organization so an outsider/ stranger can't use it.
• The technician needs to test and fully repair the defective device after it undergoes repair or return.
• The old user policies become inapplicable when a student graduates or when a K-12 school assigns a device to a new student.

Therefore, the admin should be aware of when to perform this action.

How to bulk deprovision Chrome devices in Google Workspace using Google Admin Console?

1. Sign in to your Google Admin console via an Administrator account.
2. Then go to 'Devices>Chrome Devices' from the home page of Admin Console.
3. Now, it's vital to select the present status of targeted devices. Select "all" in the Status filter at the top of the devices list.
4. Then it's necessary to select a 'Top Organization Unit' from the left side because all the users/ groups of devices belong to the top organizational unit. Leave it if it is already selected.
5. Alternatively, you can select a 'Child Organizational Unit' because the Child unit is able to inherit all the settings and policies from the parent unit or top unit.
6. Check the box for the device you want to deprovision. Check multiple boxes for multiple devices if required.
7. Next, click on Deprovision at the top.
8. Choose an option to set up a rule either Yes, for factory reset to remove all data about user profiles and devices. Or No, for keeping existing data about user profiles and devices. Also, confirm that you understand the actions for re-enrolling a device.
9. Finally, select the reason for the deprovision and click on the Deprovision option.

How to bulk deprovision Chrome devices in Google Workspace with Foresight?

Foresight provides the ability to bulk disable thousands of devices at once, whereas Google Admin limits this functionality to a limited number of devices.

The Foresight established some rules for every action. Foresight uses a trigger that automates the workflow to execute a particular action. In this case, we use Manual trigger with the Deprovisioned Chrome devices action. Hence, it saves time and helps to improve productivity.

Video demo

This video demo shows you the procedure of using Foresight to bulk deprovision Chrome Devices so that you can understand it very well.

Instructions

Let's use a classroom within Google Workspace as an example. In the Admin console, you'll find the Chrome devices. Specifically, you can locate devices within the Grade 1 organization unit. Each device has a status indicating its authorization within the organization. Your task is to deauthorize these devices, also known as deprovisioning.

For this demonstration, we're working with 50 devices. However, in real-world scenarios, this number could be in the thousands.

Rule Creation 

This process is now divided into two parts.

Part 1: Exporting Chromebooks in CSV (Comma-Separated Values) list from Grade 1 Organization unit.

Part 2: Deprovision the Chrome devices via exported CSV files.

Process for Part 1

1. Log in to your Foresight account with your Google Admin account. 
2. Go to the Rules page and click the New Rule button.
3. Select the Manual trigger from the select a trigger screen.
4. Click Next.
5. On the Select an action screen, click the List Chrome devices action.
   • First, if necessary, you need to grant Foresight the required permissions to access the Google Workspace account.
   • Set up the Columns field by keeping the default columns. In the Organizational Unit field, select /Students/Grade 1. Leave the remaining fields as they are.
   • Click Review.
6. Enter the Rule name, click Create.

Rule Triggering

• Click the Play icon to trigger the rule. The process may take a few seconds to complete.

Verifying Results

1. A notification will appear in the upper right corner. Click View log to see the successful rule execution.

Process for Part 2 

Rule Creation

1. Log in to your Foresight account with your Google Admin account. 
2. Go to the Rules page and click the New Rule button.
3. Select the Data uploaded trigger from the select a trigger screen.
4. Click on the upload box and upload the downloaded .CSV, wait for the CSV to be parsed.
5. Click Next.
6. On the Select an action screen, select the Deprovision Chrome device action.
7. Select the Device ID and the Deprovision reason as RETIRING_DEVICE. 
8. Click Review.
9. Enter the Rule name, click Create.

Rule Triggering

• The rule is now created, click the upload icon to upload the CSV file again.

Verifying Results

• Now, you will see a notification in the top right corner indicating the rule has run successfully. Click on View log. You can also see the results on the Logs page.
• Finally, you can observe the status of all devices has been changed to Deprovisioned.

Note:

• Remove user accounts, device policies, and licenses.
• Also, remove device-level printers and access to Kiosk Mode.
• Google Admin Console is removing the serial number of the device from the Provisioned view.

Conclusion

Efficient device management is a cornerstone of successful organizations leveraging Google Workspace. With xFanatical Foresight Automation tool robust capabilities for bulk deprovisioning Chrome devices, administrators can save time, streamline workflows, and ensure proper device management. By simplifying the deprovisioning process, Foresight empowers organizations to maintain a well-organized and secure device fleet, ultimately enhancing productivity and reducing administrative overhead.

Apart from this, Foresight can also be used to create mail merge templates and customize them. You can also export Google Chrome Devices List in Google Workspace using Foresight. Visit Foresight’s web page to know more about it and its use cases.

Try a 14-day free trial with xFanatical Foresight and manage your tasks.