Default PKGs settings for all users?

[rmaldonado]

Good morning/afternoon everyone,

I have been begun to fill our casper repository with all sorts of software but I am still unclear on the correct way to make the packages custom settings(.plists, custom settings, etc) default for all users when the machine is imaged. The specific program I am referring to is Google Chrome. The way I have been trying to do this is by starting a normal snapshot with Composer, then installing Google Chrome and adjusting it's settings, then creating the package afterwards. I tried changing the user name in the package to the local account we have installed on all images by standard but that isn't working. Does any one have any suggestions?

Thanks to all!

[mm2270 · Accepted solution]

If you're talking strictly about getting those settings into the image, you'll want to look at dropping them into the User Template directory tucked away inside the System/Library folder. Anything that gets dropped into the User Template preference folder (/System/Library/User Template/English.lproj/Library) becomes the default for any new users after a machine is imaged.
You can look at capturing these plists in your own home directory and creating them as DMGs, then checking on the FUT option and finally making it install at reboot in your imaging workflow. I don't usually do this myself, so I may be missing a step there, but I think that the general idea.

If on the other hand, you mean deploying settings to user profiles after the fact, this can be done a number of ways, but is usually dependent on the application and supported methods. For example, for some apps you can use MCX/Configuration Profiles to get settings down. In other cases it can be deployed as a plist in a DMG file with the FEU (Fill Existing Users) and/or FUT (Fill User Template) options checked. Although the Casper Suite doesn't support it out of the box, its also possible to emulate the DMG + FEU/FUT function with a post install script looping through home directories in a PKG format. There are a number of threads here that discuss this approach.

Also keep in mind your packages do not necessarily need to be single items, as long as you plan to only use them from within the Casper Suite environment. In other words, you can use a PKG to capture the application itself and a separate DMG (plus FEU/FUT) to capture user based settings. Then place both into your policy. Nothing stops you from adding as many "packages" as you want into a single policy. Even if publishing it in Self Service, to the end user it looks like a single installation.

[rmaldonado]

Thank you for this answer! I just never thought to add more than 1 "package" to the policy. This actually resolved some other minor issues I was trying to work through. Very much appreciated!

[rmaldonado]

Thank you for this answer! I just never thought to add more than 1 "package" to the policy. This actually resolved some other minor issues I was trying to work through. Very much appreciated!