If you are looking to block iOS activation and iOS updates for some reason then this can be a minefield of websites and CDN links on the internet to navigate though, but I have found a formula that works to accomplish:
- Blocking iOS Activations
- Block iOS Updates
However normal operations for existing iOS deice remains valid so you can still access the App Store, iCloud, iMessage and FaceTime, this may also apply for the UK only.
The requirement usually comes around as you cannot stop the downloading f any large iOS updates which when you have thousands of phones can sometimes cripple your networks, while you can stop the install you cannot stop the download process unless you block the endpoints.
Note : This will not work if you have a Mac Mini as a caching server on your network as the Mac Mini can complete these actions via its connection.
You will need to block the following hostnames on your firewall to prevent these actions, all will be required:
swscan.apple.com
swupdates.apple.com
swdist.apple.com
appldnld.apple.com
mesu.apple.com
updates-http.cdn-apple.com
updates.cdn-apple.com
xp.apple.com
gs.apple.com
albert.apple.com
skl.apple.com
ocsp.apple.com
If you try to activate the phone which should look like this:
If you have these addresses blocked you will get this error:
The same way if you try to get the latest update, which at this was iOS 18.2 you will not get further than "Update Requested" as below:
