Alan Siu's Blog

Tag: mac

  • Importing applications into Munki that have incorrect or no version numbers

    Generally doing a munkiimport on a .app or .pkg to get it into a Munki repository will tend to just work. Munki will automatically create the appropriate .plist file and know whether an app is installed or not based on the receipts or based on an installs array (more details at How Munki Decides What…

  • Allowing non-admin Mac users to resume printers

    Apparently, more recent versions of CUPS do not allow by default for non-admin users to resume a printer. I’m not sure the logic behind this. Disabling? Activating? Sure. Non-admins don’t need to do those things. Why shouldn’t a non-admin resume a print job, though? Apparently, I’m not the only one who’s had this issue. Thanks…

  • Forcing a Chrome homepage on Macs

    Nick McSpadden has a great (and thorough) write-up on Deploying and Managing Google Chrome: The Rough Guide, and his recommendation is to have some initial Master Preferences that set a default, which can be overriden. In some cases, though (for example, we have some machines that will be used for Hour of Code next week…

  • HDCP error in Netflix using Safari

    If you try to play Netflix on Safari using an external monitor/projector (either mirrored or extended), you may get this errror: Whoops, something went wrong… Display Error There appears to be a display problem. Please ensure your monitor is HDCP compliant and is not mirrored using Airplay. For additional assistance resolving this issue, please visit…

  • Toggle Allow apps downloaded from anywhere

    There’s a setting on Mac OS X for allowing apps to be installed from anywhere or only from signed developers. If you want to automate changing this setting via terminal command, this is how you do it. sudo spctl master-enable sudo spctl master-disable The spctl command is even more versatile than that. More details at…

  • Changing the error policy on a CUPS printer

    The default error policy for printers on CUPS (which Mac OS X uses, and which most Linux systems also use) is stop-printer. You can see information about your printers and error policies by looking at the output of the printers.conf file with this terminal command: sudo cat /etc/cups/printers.conf If you want to get the actual…

  • hdiutil: create failed – error -5341

    Usually if I have an .app I want to import into Munki, I just use munkiimport nameofapp.app, and Munki automatically creates a read-only disk image (.dmg) with the .app inside. For some reason, with the mBlock.app, I kept getting a 5341 error. I tried this workaround, but I still got the same error. What worked…

  • Using a terminal command to disable App Store automatic checks

    If you want to automate disabling the App Store auto check, the terminal equivalent of System Preferences > App Store > Automatically check for updates is sudo defaults write /Library/Preferences/com.apple.SoftwareUpdate.plist AutomaticCheckEnabled -bool false This is handy to know in case you’re managing updates a different way (e.g., Munki) and don’t want your users pestered with…

  • Licensing GSP Deployments with a Payload

    License GSP Deployments with a Payload Generally with licensed software, the trick with importing into Munki is to get the normal software imported and then import as an “update,” whatever needs to happen to get it licensed. Geometer’s Sketchpad works that way. So you import the Sketchpad app as you would any other. Then activate…

  • Preparing SonicWALL Mobile Connect for Munki

    I’ve found NetExtender (Packaging NetExtender for Munki) to be a little less buggy than SonicWALL Mobile Connect, but NetExtender is pretty much non-functioning in El Capitan, so I’m looking at possibly deploying SonicWALL Mobile Connect in the future. The import process into Munki for the .app is fairly straightforward. You install SonicWALL Mobile Connect from…

  • Installing rEFInd on Mac OS X El Capitan

    If you’re using rEFInd on a Mac (for example, if you’re dual-booting or triple-booting with a Linux OS), you may have found rEFInd worked fine with Yosemite but broke with El Capitan. This guide worked for me to get it going again: Installing rEFInd on Mac OS X El Capitan.

  • Enable duplex printing via terminal command on a Mac

    If you want to enable duplex printing via a terminal command (e.g., trying to fix a bunch of already-installed printers with duplex disabled, and you want to fix that with a script), first you have to figure out what parameter to change. On one Mac with the printer installed, find the printer via System Preferences…

  • Fixing ffmpeg for Munki (allowUntrusted)

    Apparently the version of ffmpeg that the Audacity Team wants you to install for Audacity has an invalid or expired signature, which now prevents Munki from installing it. The best solution (workaround) I’ve found is (author of Munki) Greg Neagle’s own: FIXING PACKAGES WITH EXPIRED SIGNATURES

  • Packaging Logger Pro for Munki

    Vernier, the company that produces Logger Pro, is quite generous in terms of its licensing. Schools can pay an affordable site license fee, and that includes the license for not only school computers but even for students to put it on their home computers (Logger Pro 3 site license allows your students to install Logger…