<!--
{
  "documentType" : "article",
  "framework" : "DeviceManagement",
  "identifier" : "/documentation/DeviceManagement/device-management-essentials",
  "metadataVersion" : "0.1.0",
  "role" : "collectionGroup",
  "title" : "Device management essentials"
}
-->

# Device management essentials

Set up and maintain connectivity with devices and leverage declarative device management.

## Topics

### Connectivity

[Managing connections](/documentation/DeviceManagement/managing-connections)

Establish or remove a connection between a device and your device management service.

[Managing certificates for device management services and devices](/documentation/DeviceManagement/managing-certificates-for-device-management-services-and-devices)

Ensure secure connectivity with your device management service using valid certificates.

[Providing information about your device management service](/documentation/DeviceManagement/providing-information-about-your-device-management-service)

Create a service configuration entry point to your device management service to access frequently used information.

[Dealing with inactive managed devices and invalid push tokens](/documentation/DeviceManagement/dealing-with-inactive-managed-devices-and-invalid-push-tokens)

Handle when devices become unmanageable due to inactivity or invalid push tokens.

### Push notifications

[Setting up push notifications for your device management customers](/documentation/DeviceManagement/setting-up-push-notifications-for-your-device-management-customers)

Create and sign a certificate signing request (CSR) to enable push notifications.

### Commands

[Sending MDM commands to a device](/documentation/DeviceManagement/sending-mdm-commands-to-a-device)

Execute commands on a device and receive responses that contain the results of each operation.

[Handling NotNow status responses](/documentation/DeviceManagement/handling-notnow-status-responses)

Handle when a device won’t execute a command and instead returns a NotNow status.

### Declarative device management

[Leveraging the declarative management data model to scale devices](/documentation/DeviceManagement/leveraging-the-declarative-management-data-model-to-scale-devices)

Use declarative management to make devices more autonomous and proactive.

[Integrating declarative management](/documentation/DeviceManagement/integrating-declarative-management)

Use declarative management to deploy configurations and retrieve status updates more efficiently.



---

Copyright &copy; 2026 Apple Inc. All rights reserved. | [Terms of Use](https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/terms/site.html) | [Privacy Policy](https://www.apple.com/privacy/privacy-policy)