I knew that firmware locks sent via MDM command didn’t work on the new Silicon-chip Macs, but I didn’t realize that the manual setting of a firmware password was also disabled (makes sense, since the two are probably linked in terms of how they’re implemented or the firmware mechanisms they use). If you try to… Continue reading Firmware passwords of all kinds disabled for Silicon-chip Macs
Managing macOS Notification Center settings using a Jamf profile
There’s a feature request called Add support for new Notification Settings payloads for Catalina, originally created 19 August, 2019 and currently marked as partially implemented in Jamf Pro 10.19.0, the details being Starting in Jamf Pro 10.19.0, admins may automatically whitelist notifications in macOS Catalina for the Jamf Management Framework and Self Service application bundle..… Continue reading Managing macOS Notification Center settings using a Jamf profile
Semi-automating profile installation in Big Sur
It’s pretty well known among Mac admins that, starting with Big Sur (macOS 11), Apple has removed the ability for the profiles command to silently install .mobileconfig profiles. Apple wants you to use an MDM to deliver profiles silently… or have users themselves manually install profiles. If you try to install them silently the old… Continue reading Semi-automating profile installation in Big Sur
If you can log in and use sudo but can’t unlock Sys Pref prefpanes in Big Sur
I and at least one other person on the MacAdmins Slack saw situations in which a known working password (can log into the computer, can use sudo to escalate privileges in the terminal) on an admin account is not working in System Preferences to unlock a prefpane. Special thanks to owen on the MacAdmins Slack… Continue reading If you can log in and use sudo but can’t unlock Sys Pref prefpanes in Big Sur
Rolling back versions in Munki and using blocking applications arrays
Downgrading software in Munki can be a bit tricky. One of the tricks you can use is to remove the higher version number from your Munki repo, and replace an .app bundle–based installs array with a binary-based one. So, after removing the higher version from your repo, replacing the lower version’s pkginfo with something like… Continue reading Rolling back versions in Munki and using blocking applications arrays
Munki can get into a notification loop if root is using the Persian calendar
The Problem At some point, this blog post may be obsolete, because I’m hoping this will be fixed soon, but in the meantime, I’ve filed an issue on GitHub: Using Persian calendar results in notification loop at every next Munki run If you have users who claim to see notifications multiple times a day, even… Continue reading Munki can get into a notification loop if root is using the Persian calendar
Installing Rosetta 2 on M1 Apple Silicon Macs (why checks matter)
Actual guides This isn’t really a guide to how to install Rosetta 2. There are already much better guides for those: Rich Trouton’s Installing Rosetta 2 on Apple Silicon Macs Graham Gilbert’s Installing Rosetta 2 on Apple Silicon Macs Rich Trouton’s blog post has some checks to make sure the Mac is running at least… Continue reading Installing Rosetta 2 on M1 Apple Silicon Macs (why checks matter)
How to check the Carbon Black version installed
Update Thanks to Clay Haynes for pointing out you can get the version more easily by running /Applications/VMware\ Carbon\ Black\ EDR.app/Contents/MacOS/CbOsxSensorService -v Back story In Carbon Black 6.3.0 and 7.0.1, it isn’t super obvious how to check for the version installed. For example, if you run defaults read /Applications/VMware\ Carbon\ Black\ EDR.app/Contents/Info.plist, you’ll see CFBundleInfoDictionaryVersion… Continue reading How to check the Carbon Black version installed
Scripting changing user icons: dsimport prompts for password in zsh
Apple is moving toward making zsh the default shell instead of bash, and it may even eventually remove bash completely from being preinstalled on macOS. So lots of Mac admins are working to revise scripts from bash to zsh. Last year, I blogged about Scripting changing the user picture in macOS and referenced this script… Continue reading Scripting changing user icons: dsimport prompts for password in zsh
Using installinstallmacos.py to get beta installers
Usually, if you use installinstallmacos.py, you’ll get the already-released installers: # ProductID Version Build Post Date Title 1 001-15219 10.15.5 19F2200 2020-06-15 macOS Catalina 2 001-04366 10.15.4 19E2269 2020-05-04 macOS Catalina 3 061-86291 10.15.3 19D2064 2020-03-23 macOS Catalina 4 041-91758 10.13.6 17G66 2019-10-19 macOS High Sierra 5 001-57224 10.15.7 19H4 2020-10-27 macOS Catalina 6 061-26589… Continue reading Using installinstallmacos.py to get beta installers