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“An error occurred during personalization” when updating to macOS 11.2
Update Since I wrote this, Apple has already released macOS 11.2.1, so maybe this is no longer an issue? Not 100% sure. So see below if you are experiencing this issue. What’s the error? You may see this error when trying to download the update to macOS 11.2 if you’re on macOS 11.1. Software Update […]
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Unloading Santa’s system extension when uninstalling using Munki
What the problem is System extensions in place of kernel extensions For macOS 10.15+, Apple has deprecated kernel extensions in favor of system extensions, but system extensions can’t be unloaded silently by script. If you try to unload Santa’s system extension using the command: systemextensionsctl uninstall EQHXZ8M8AV com.google.santa.daemon you’ll get this: At this time, this […]
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Known Networks settings moved in Big Sur
In earlier (10.15 and lower) versions of macOS, Apple put the list of known networks in the /Library/Preferences/SystemConfiguration/com.apple.airport.preferences.plist file. In Big Sur (macOS 11.x), Apple moved the known networks to the /Library/Preferences/com.apple.wifi.known-networks.plist file.
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Firmware passwords of all kinds disabled for Silicon-chip Macs
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 […]
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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.. […]
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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 […]
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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 […]
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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 […]
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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 […]
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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 […]