Here is the overarching question:
What could cause the software update mechanism to present multiple recommended updates, instead of just the latest edition?
We have JSS 9.65, but this problem has existed since at least 9.61. We have a package for an in-place upgrade of Mavericks 10.9.2 (13C1021), which is tied to a Self Service policy. There is also a JSS policy that enforces our in-house software update server (a mac Mini), and another policy called "Install Software Updates" that runs at next check-in: "softwareupdate --install --recommended" . It gives the user 60 minutes to comply before a forced reboot.
A couple of hours after the 10.9.2 in-place upgrade, I am getting calls from users saying that their computers are "stuck at the gray Apple."
Fortunately these machines are alive and responsive to SSH, so I logged in and tail'ed the system log. All I see are kext's failing to load, services crashing, etc... so my first thought is a corrupted installation. "sw_vers" also shows 10.9.2, which doesn't make sense if an update was installed.
"softwareupdate --list" shows the following:
Finding available software
Software Update found the following new or updated software:
* OSXUpd10.9.3-10.9.3
OS X Update (10.9.3), 450679K [recommended] [restart]
* OSXUpdCombo10.9.4-10.9.4
OS X Update Combined (10.9.4), 935562K [recommended] [restart]
* OSXUpdCombo10.9.5-10.9.5
OS X Update Combined (10.9.5), 959090K [recommended] [restart]
And this is the installation history in /var/db/receipts:
-rw-r--r-- 1 root wheel 174718 Apr 30 18:28 com.apple.pkg.BaseSystemBinaries.plist
-rw-r--r-- 1 root wheel 1991269 Apr 30 18:28 com.apple.pkg.BaseSystemBinaries.bom
-rw-r--r-- 1 root wheel 174322 Apr 30 18:28 com.apple.pkg.BaseSystemResources.plist
-rw-r--r-- 1 root wheel 7608158 Apr 30 18:28 com.apple.pkg.BaseSystemResources.bom
-rw-r--r-- 1 root wheel 10011 Apr 30 18:29 com.apple.pkg.Essentials.plist
-rw-r--r-- 1 root wheel 41754709 Apr 30 18:29 com.apple.pkg.Essentials.bom
-rw-r--r-- 1 root wheel 393 Apr 30 18:29 com.apple.pkg.JavaTools.plist
-rw-r--r-- 1 root wheel 80281 Apr 30 18:29 com.apple.pkg.JavaTools.bom
-rw-r--r-- 1 root wheel 1209 Apr 30 18:29 com.apple.pkg.BSD.plist
-rw-r--r-- 1 root wheel 7214096 Apr 30 18:29 com.apple.pkg.BSD.bom
-rw-r--r-- 1 root wheel 621 Apr 30 18:29 com.apple.pkg.X11redirect.plist
-rw-r--r-- 1 root wheel 106239 Apr 30 18:29 com.apple.pkg.X11redirect.bom
-rw-r--r-- 1 root wheel 521 Apr 30 18:29 com.apple.pkg.OxfordDictionaries.plist
-rw-r--r-- 1 root wheel 449794 Apr 30 18:29 com.apple.pkg.OxfordDictionaries.bom
-rw-r--r-- 1 root wheel 594 Apr 30 18:29 com.apple.pkg.MediaFiles.plist
-rw-r--r-- 1 root wheel 122637 Apr 30 18:29 com.apple.pkg.MediaFiles.bom
-rw-r--r-- 1 root wheel 604 Apr 30 18:29 com.apple.pkg.JavaEssentials.plist
-rw-r--r-- 1 root wheel 223253 Apr 30 18:29 com.apple.pkg.JavaEssentials.bom
-rw-r--r-- 1 root wheel 526 Apr 30 18:29 com.apple.pkg.AsianLanguagesSupport.plist
-rw-r--r-- 1 root wheel 133827 Apr 30 18:29 com.apple.pkg.AsianLanguagesSupport.bom
-rw-r--r-- 1 root wheel 528 Apr 30 18:29 com.apple.pkg.AdditionalSpeechVoices.plist
-rw-r--r-- 1 root wheel 81634 Apr 30 18:29 com.apple.pkg.AdditionalSpeechVoices.bom
-rw-r--r-- 1 root wheel 841 Apr 30 18:29 com.apple.pkg.AdditionalEssentials.plist
-rw-r--r-- 1 root wheel 3422320 Apr 30 18:29 com.apple.pkg.AdditionalEssentials.bom
-rw-r--r-- 1 root wheel 1794 May 1 13:16 com.apple.pkg.update.os.10.9.3.13D65.delta.plist
-rw-r--r-- 1 root wheel 3968336 May 1 13:16 com.apple.pkg.update.os.10.9.3.13D65.delta.bom
-rw-r--r-- 1 root wheel 3618 May 1 13:16 com.apple.pkg.update.os.10.9.4.13E28.combo.plist
-rw-r--r-- 1 root wheel 7914132 May 1 13:16 com.apple.pkg.update.os.10.9.4.13E28.combo.bom
-rw-r--r-- 1 root wheel 884 May 1 13:16 com.apple.pkg.update.security.10.9.2.13C1021.2014.002.plist
-rw-r--r-- 1 root wheel 842151 May 1 13:16 com.apple.pkg.update.security.10.9.2.13C1021.2014.002.bom
-rw-r--r-- 1 root wheel 707 May 1 13:16 com.apple.pkg.Safari7.0.3Mavericks.plist
-rw-r--r-- 1 root wheel 911473 May 1 13:16 com.apple.pkg.Safari7.0.3Mavericks.bom
The SUS is a Mac Mini running Mavericks. Is this a problem with SUS, or with the client, or with something in the in-place upgrade?
