Tag: Munki

Keyboard Setup Assistant, YubiKeys and a Munki NoPkg

Kevin M. Cox June 21, 2023 No Comments

We are always looking for ways to reduce friction for end users. Our job in IT is to empower users to get their work done with as few technological distractions as possible.

Many times Apple makes this harder due to features or functionality in macOS. One such example is Keyboard Setup Assistant (KSA) which automatically launches anytime a new input device is detected.

While this is very helpful for consumers who have purchased a new peripheral; in a corporate setting it can be an annoyance multiplied thousands of times over.

YubiKeys present to macOS as keyboards and trigger KSA. When rolling them out we decided to use a Munki NoPkg to save our co-workers from having to dismiss this useless dialog.

Read on for the details…

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MunkiReport, Python 3 and PHP 8

Kevin M. Cox June 20, 2023 No Comments

MunkiReport 5.8 was released today and primarily includes compatibility with Python 3 and PHP 8.

Just like last year’s release of 5.7, this new version of MunkiReport requires admins to deploy a specific Python package to clients before updating.

It will also likely require a coordinated update on your web server to enable PHP 8.

Read on for the details…

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Gather logs with a Munki NoPkg

Kevin M. Cox June 14, 2023 No Comments

CREDIT: flaticon.com

Troubleshooting with remote users can often be a challenge.

This is especially true when you need to see logs stored in hidden folders that users can’t easily find.

To make this process easier for both IT and our staff we added a Self-Service item to Managed Software Center to easily gather everything we need.

Read on for the details…

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AWS VPN diagnostics with a Munki NoPkg

Kevin M. Cox June 13, 2023 No Comments

Troubleshooting VPN issues can be tricky for end users.

When we started to see recurring issues with AWS VPN, our Cloud team asked us to make it easier to gather logs and run diagnostics.

We already utilize Managed Software Center for Self-Service so a Munki NoPkg was the logical solution.

The result is a script that gathers all the requested information and makes it easy for users to share with just one click.

Read on for the details…

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Enabling macOS betas with a Munki NoPkg

Kevin M. Cox June 12, 2023 No Comments

Apple changed the process for enrolling in macOS beta seeds beginning with 13.4 released in May 2023.

What could previously be automated via the seedutil command line tool now requires user interaction.

Thankfully we can still use Managed Software Center to make this process easier for users.

Read on for the details…

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Uninstalling Workspace ONE Intelligent Hub with Munki

Kevin M. Cox May 7, 2023 1 Comment

A very annoying bug in the latest release of Workspace ONE Intelligent Hub caused us to uninstall it from our macOS fleet using Munki.

Last week VMware released version 23.04.0 and the users in our testing group were immediately bombarded with a confusing error dialog. These errors would appear repeatedly throughout the day and worst of all, steal focus every time.

We halted the rollout and immediately engaged VMware support who confirmed the issue isn’t isolated to our tenant. Multiple customers are experiencing the bug including others in the #workspaceone channel on the MacAdmins Slack.

However despite pulling 24.04 from Munki and making sure automatic updates were disabled in our WS1 console, the install count continued to climb. With no resolution in sight from VMware we decided to remove 24.04 from our fleet completely.

So much for Read-Only Friday! Read on for the details…

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Deploying Docker Desktop 4.15+ with Munki

Kevin M. Cox December 31, 2022 1 Comment

Docker Desktop icon Docker made significant changes to the unattended installation process of Docker Desktop on macOS in the minor update between versions 4.14.1 and 4.15 this month, causing automated installation of the new version to fail.

Daz Wallace was the first MacAdmin to notice the change and begin digging in. I’m not going to rehash all his discovery here so make sure to read his blog post for the details.

Read on for the new scripts I am using with my Docker Desktop deployments via Munki going forward.

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MunkiReport and Python 2

Kevin M. Cox February 10, 2022 5 Comments

Apple announced the deprecation of Python 2 with the release of macOS 10.15 Catalina in 2019, however MacAdmins have never known when it would actually be removed. The general expectation was with macOS 13 due out later this year, but Apple surprised us when it published the macOS Monterey 12.3 Beta Release Notes last week.

Open source projects have been planning for this eventuality, with many having already completed the transition to Python 3 by shipping their own version or using clever code to locate an appropriate version already installed.

MunkiReport is no exception, development of version 6 is well underway, but is not ready yet. Thanks to the quick work by a number of talented contributors to the project, an update to version 5 has been released to bridge the gap until MR6 with Python 3 is ready.

However there is a major change admins will need to account for, so read on for the details.

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Control the CUPS web interface with a Munki NoPkg

Kevin M. Cox January 25, 2022 1 Comment

Back in September 2021 a colleague on the MacAdmins Slack was looking for a way to programmatically enable the CUPS web interface on macOS. I had recently completed my article “Allow standard users to manage printers with a Munki NoPkg” and realized I could easily adapt it to handle this task.

This isn’t something I use in production but read on for the details if you think it could be helpful in your environment.

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Configure MunkiReport groups with a Munki NoPkg

Kevin M. Cox January 23, 2022 1 Comment

Historically I have always configured our MunkiReport Machine Groups with a configuration profile delivered via Munki. However starting with macOS Big Sur, the ability to manage profiles from the command line was removed meaning Munki can no longer install or remove them.

One option would have been to move these configuration profiles to our MDM as I did for our other profiles. However I didn’t want to duplicate the effort of managing computer group assignments in both Munki and MDM.

Since maintaining groups in Munki to aid in software deployments is still required, I decided to use NoPkgs to configure our MunkiReport Machine Groups. This way they will be automatically changed whenever a computer gets moved to a different group (via included manifest). Read on for the details.

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