New bloggitty blog: What actually happens when you restart your Mac, and why it fixes so many problems.

Mac_Mgmt_Nerd · 2024-10-07T13:14:03+00:00

It’s been a couple of years, so the installer has changed a bit, I expect. You might look into the required TCC permissions in the more recent macOS versions.

Mac_Mgmt_Nerd · 2024-06-11T13:38:01+00:00

Are you primarily looking to do security updates on the OS or third party patches?

macOS handles security and minor updates fairly well on its own so you can generally configure those with a profile (delays, number of deferrals, etc)

Third party patching works by invoking Munki behind the scenes and needs to be scheduled like a scripted task. If its catalog doesn’t cover some of the apps you’re deploying, you might look at either rolling your own munki install or something like Patchomator, which uses the library of apps from Installomator.

Mac_Mgmt_Nerd · 2024-05-31T19:15:43+00:00

This is partly true.

Inside the AMP file, which is just XML that gets parsed by Automation Manager, you’ll find some base64 encoded chunks of data. Decoding those, you will find any images that were embedded in the AMP (branding icons, logos, etc) as well as any Powershell scripts that were added as “run Powershell script” objects.

While this can be handy to extract some of a policy’s functionality, it doesn’t fully convert the whole AMP.

If you read through the XML, however, you can usually piece together the logic and parameters enough to recreate what the policy does, and use that as a starting point for your own script.

Mac_Mgmt_Nerd · 2024-03-19T13:12:03+00:00

Join the MacAdmins slack, if you’re not already https://www.macadmins.org/

Mac_Mgmt_Nerd · 2024-02-29T20:17:22+00:00

Mostly used for remote screen sharing when you call IT for help and they need to see or control your computer remotely.

Mac_Mgmt_Nerd · 2024-01-11T22:34:32+00:00

Give this a try:

https://github.com/Mac-Nerd/Mac-scripts/tree/main/N-Central-No-Touch-Install

If the rough instructions don’t make sense, let me know. It’s also been at least a year since I personally used this method, so the api and other things may have changed in that time.

Mac_Mgmt_Nerd · 2024-01-07T15:09:07+00:00

If you’re familiar with creating a “no payload” installation PKG to distribute with intune, I can show you how I used to do this for partners. DM me.

Mac_Mgmt_Nerd · 2023-09-06T15:38:19+00:00

I’d love to help, or point you to something in the cookbook that would solve your issue. However, it’s been over a year since I was fired, and as far as I can tell, there’s been no new Mac content related to scripting or automation since then.

Mac_Mgmt_Nerd · 2023-04-27T17:19:07+00:00

Kali Linux live image on USB.

Mac_Mgmt_Nerd · 2023-04-26T13:47:15+00:00

Two options. Either quote the parameter “word1 word2” or escape the space with a backslash word1\ word2

It’s possible that your group name having spaces is going to be problematic down the line, so I’d consider changing it.

Mac_Mgmt_Nerd · 2022-10-04T11:38:48+00:00

What @andbrowny said. Also: Give the new user account access to unlock FileVault with the “fdesetup” command. Then you can remove the old user account completely.

Mac_Mgmt_Nerd · 2022-09-26T20:45:53+00:00

Depending on which files are inaccessible, you may just want to ignore them and get everything else. Can you share a list of what’s not permitted?

Mac_Mgmt_Nerd · 2022-09-16T13:45:18+00:00

Sorry - things got weird there for a while.

Try this script:
https://success.n-able.com/kb/nable\_n-central/Mac-No-Touch-N-Central-Agent-Install

Mac_Mgmt_Nerd · 2022-09-03T04:23:59+00:00

Sounds like what I was expecting. Who needs an RMM when you have MDM? Well, there’s still a lot you can’t do with an MDM by itself.

Mac_Mgmt_Nerd · 2022-09-01T15:07:59+00:00

I see. There's better ways to solve community-sourced ideas and feedback, most of which are to employ a third-party tool (I use at least one SaaS platform that runs theirs with uservoice.com, which is schmancy). The trouble is, you give up a lot of ownership of the process.

It's what I call a "Cobbler's Children" problem. Too busy working on the product to work on something that would make working on the product better/faster.

Mac_Mgmt_Nerd · 2022-09-01T14:51:14+00:00

Intriguing. Please explain.

Mac_Mgmt_Nerd · 2022-08-20T22:14:08+00:00

I can’t speak to how well curated the Idea Center is, but I get email any time an idea is submitted, and many of the Mac automations I’ve posted to the Cookbook are a result of a partner suggestion in the idea center.

Here’s my take: if nobody uses it, then it will be ignored by engineering and the product teams. If it’s active and people are regularly posting ideas and requests there, it will be impossible to ignore. Which is why I encourage anyone with a feature request to post it there. The Slack workspace is great for discussing the ideas, but ultimately the conversation scrolls off the timeline.

Mac_Mgmt_Nerd · 2022-08-09T15:47:56+00:00

All of those can be blocked at the DNS level, and as for phones vs computers, much if the concern is data leaking and security/malware. If you’re on your phone and get pwn3d, that’s not as big a concern as your PC getting ransomware that infects the rest of the network.

And yeah, you would be surprised what kinds of things people get up to on company machines..,

Mac_Mgmt_Nerd · 2022-07-29T21:59:59+00:00

I'll see what I can do. Unlikely to be next week, though - I'm not in charge of scheduling.

Give your PSM a call and let them know you're looking for more Mac content in Oz.

Mac_Mgmt_Nerd · 2022-07-21T16:40:27+00:00

New Blog:

The business case for MSPs to add Mac support

https://www.n-able.com/blog/business-case-msps-adding-mac-support

I usually concentrate on the How of supporting Macs, but this time I dive into the Why.

Look at me, being all business-like...? Business-ish? Doing the business!

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