Getting existing Macs into Apple Business Manager (ABM) for Automated Device Enrollment usually demands a full factory reset. This complication arises often when inheriting hardware from consumer purchases or mergers, forcing IT teams into time-consuming backups and restores using tools like Apple Configurator.

The introduction of the open-source utility add2abm offers a workaround to this frustrating standard procedure. This script temporarily modifies system flags and user records, tricking the Mac into running the Setup Assistant fresh, even though the local data remains untouched on the drive.

Administrators gain the ability to push devices into ADE simply by accessing macOS Recovery and executing the script twice—once to prepare the system and once to restore user profiles post-enrollment. The process requires physical access to the machine and careful execution within the recovery environment.

This utility represents a major operational gain for IT departments managing mixed fleets, eliminating the major headache of wiping and restoring employee machines just to satisfy central management requirements. The entire sequence is designed to be fully reversible once the MDM enrollment is finalized.