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I'm trying to figure out exactly what the difference is between the Startup and Login triggers. I understand that if a user just simply logs out and then logs in again, then the Login trigger will be activated. However, when a computer is powered on and the user logs in, what's the difference then? What is the exact timing of the execution? Does Startup run before Login? We are using FileVault, does that affect the timing of when they are executed? Obviously Startup triggers won't run until after FileVault has been unlocked, but when do they run when compared to Login triggers?

The Admin guide doesn't really touch on this at all.

A Startup trigger fires as soon as the computer finishes the boot sequence, and does not require a user to log in (which fires the Login trigger). The exception as you note is with FV enabled they won't run until a user unlocks the machine because with FV you're not booted into the actual OS on the machine until that happens. The triggers should still run in the sequence of Startup followed by Login though.

Ah, OK. Since all our Macs are using FileVault, the Startup trigger really has no value to us... unless maybe I use it as a post-imaging trigger before I enable FileVault.

Filevault can also be configured to not login automatically in which case it would still be relevant, we have our laptops are configured like that as it seemed to work better with AD bound machines when you have AD authentication over Wi-Fi enabled.

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