Basics

Consider CSE...

http://www.jamfsoftware.com/training/casper-suite-essentials

Casper is a powerful tool, and a bit dangerous if you don't have your head wrapped around the basics. I'd pass that along to your boss. ;)

Don

Not an option, but thank you for taking the time to post. I was able to work my way around the base images, I am determined to do the same with this.

Have you taken a look at the QuickStart Guide for Client Management? I think that's the name of the PDF. Its included in the software download, but you can also find it on the main JAMF Software website. It actually provides step by step guides for some of what you're looking to learn. I'd start there.

I will start there. I have printed off a lot of information, and I think that all the information has just got me a little overwhelmed, so just looking for the "starting block" Thank you for taking the time.

Read the manual, search this forum for topics of particular interest and get a test machine you can beat on. That's what I had to do. Yes, it's a thick book, but the basics to get started are in there, and frequently discussed already here and in the knowledge base.

Try not to overwhelm yourself trying to learn all of it at once. Pick one task and learn that. If you are looking to do updates of your apps, start with that. As you learn that, then delve into Policies and such.

JAMFNation is a huge resource, and many of the problems you may run into are problem already discussed on this site. And if it's not here, just ask your specific question and I'm sure someone will be able to help you out.

@vbrooks, what apps and plugins are you most interested in getting updated using Casper? I would echo what stevewood stated, start with one thing, master it then move onto other tasks.

I appreciate everyone who posted information for me today. I started out doing the base images, and was able to navigate using all of the information that I found on this website as well as others, to create them successfully. The software was started a couple of years ago, so I am coming in after some of these things have been started. So trying to find "starting block" has just been a little overwhelming. I have started reading the manual and will continue to work thru that. Is there anything out there that would make understanding this a little easier? Some of the things right now is just updating software, such as; FireFox, Adobe Flash, etc. Any information is greatly appreciated.

If you search the Nation, you'll see that there are about 15 different opinions on how to install Flash updates. I personally follow Todd Ness' (@nessts) method, utilizing his Perl script, that was discussed in this thread:

https://jamfnation.jamfsoftware.com/discussion.html?id=5713

And I run that update on logout or login, whichever I feel is better suited, so that I can make sure all browsers are closed down. I find that any installer that requires all apps to be closed, is better done at login or logout.

Firefox, and any other "drag and drop installation" application can be packaged up using Composer or whatever other package making app you want. Using Composer, for example, you simply drag Firefox from the Applications folder into Composer, click on Build PKG or Build DMG, and voilá, you have an installer for Firefox.

A lot of apps that are PKG install based can be dropped directly into Casper Admin and installed in that manner.

However, as Damien mentioned above, get yourself a Mac, or a virtual machine install of OS X, and test, test, test. I personally like using a VM because I can snapshot and roll back to do testing.

@vbrooks, for an application such as Firefox, you can use Composer to create the package file that you deploy with Casper. Like some other folks said, it's a good idea to have a computer you can use for packaging and testing. I usually use one computer for making my packages and another computer for testing. Of course you could get by with one computer with multiple boot partitions if you're short on computers. Here are the steps you could use:
1. Copy the Firefox.app file to the Applications folder on the computer you are using to package software. 2. Launch the Composer application. If the wizard comes up asking to chose what method to create your package just click cancel to close it. 3. Drag the Firefox.app file from the Applications folder to the Sources area on the left side of the Composer window. 4. You might want to rename the source so it includes the version number. 5. Now you can click the Build as PKG button to build the installer package. Save the file somewhere and you've got your Firefox package you can use with Casper. Keep in mind, if you have multiple different versions of the Mac OS installed on computers you plan on deploying Firefox to you then you will want to be mindful of the system requirements of the version of the software you are deploying. Now you are ready to drop the package file into Casper Admin and build a policy to install it. Of course you will want to test your policy carefully before you deploy it to all of your systems. As stevewood notes, often times you will want to install the software when you know there aren't any applications running, so doing the install at login or logout is a good option. You can also utilize Self Service to allow the end user to choose when to install the software.

I'll add one small step to the above example instructions on packaging up Firefox. And this should apply to all apps that you download from the internet in a DMG file. Launch the application once after copying it to /Applications/ and go through or dismiss any initial messages that come up, especially the one confirming if you want to open the app since it came from a website. Doing that clears the quarantine flag all downloads get by default on OS X. If you don't do that, your end users will see that message when they first launch the app. If they aren't administrators, they won't be able to clear the flag since it lives in /Applications/ and they'll see it every time they open it. That's a quick way to annoy people.
As with just about anything, there are probably 3 or 4 different ways if not more to clear the flag, but launching it once is typically the easiest method.

Good luck!