Dockutil works from self service, but not from policy deployment

[admin8]

Hey folks, 

I have a weird one. We use dockutil to manage Dock. 

Dockutil installation + sorting out the Dock is set as a policy after enrollment. 

Policy deploys fine, installs Dockutil, adds the required icons but doesn't remove any of them with error 'Remove failed for xxx in /User/Username/Library/Preferences/com.apple.dock.plist'. Although, same script is added to our SelfService and when its run from there, it works as a charm. 

#!/bin/bash

echo "running dockutil"
DOCKUTIL=/usr/local/bin/dockutil

$DOCKUTIL --remove 'Safari' --allhomes
$DOCKUTIL --remove 'Mail' --allhomes
$DOCKUTIL --remove 'Contacts' --allhomes
$DOCKUTIL --remove 'Calendar' --allhomes
$DOCKUTIL --remove 'Photos' --allhomes
$DOCKUTIL --remove 'Messages' --allhomes
$DOCKUTIL --remove 'FaceTime' --allhomes
$DOCKUTIL --remove 'iTunes' --allhomes
$DOCKUTIL --remove 'iBooks' --allhomes
$DOCKUTIL --remove 'Maps' --allhomes
$DOCKUTIL --remove 'TV' --allhomes
$DOCKUTIL --remove 'Music' --allhomes
$DOCKUTIL --remove 'Podcasts' --allhomes
$DOCKUTIL --remove 'Freeform' --allhomes
$DOCKUTIL --remove 'App Store' --allhomes


apps=(
"/Applications/Slack.app"
"/Applications/1Password.app"
"/Applications/Quip.app"
"/Applications/Clockify Desktop.app"
"/Applications/Self Service.app"
"/Applications/Privileges.app"
)

for app in "${apps[@]}"; do
$DOCKUTIL --add "$app" --no-restart --allhomes
sleep 2
done

killall Dock

exit 0

Any idea what could be the problem here?

Thanks a lot. 

[AJPinto]

If I’m not mistaken when it’s run from SS JAMF is running the script as the user or targeting the user. As far as running it on a device with a logged in user try adding a function to identify the current logged in user. Keep in mind it will fail if no user is logged on as there is no dock to target

[TrentO · Accepted solution]

I had a similar issue and fixed it by just using 

$DOCKUTIL --removal all --allhomes

and then adding back what I want, instead of trying to remove everything individually. I suspect it has to do with loading the dock for each removal, so you could also try adding --no-restart to the removals as you have done with the adds. 

[admin8]

Thank you @TrentO!
Adding --no-restart to each line has resolved the issue.