Due to the lack of "blocking apps" in JSS...

[donmontalvo]

Is there a graceful way to push Office 2016 to a logged in user who might have any/all of the suite's applications open during the push?

I wonder if JSS 10 will provide a way to warn users to close any apps that shouldn't be open, (ala "blocking apps" in Munki).

But wait...isn't Office 2016 properly sandboxed? If so, why should the Microsoft installer package give a hoot if the application is open?

Users should not be disrupted - we should be able to push, and a simple quit/launch should show new version installed.

That's how properly designed (*) apps like Microsoft Remote Desktop work...got it open?...who cares...want new version?...quit/launch, we've already pushed it to you. :)

(*) At least until the wrong people at Microsoft get involved and ruin it's proper design/deployability...seems like a habit over there...we continue to subsidize their profits.

Don

[McAwesome]

Office 2016 doesn't require you to close any apps when you install it. Is that pkg one you've built or is it one from Microsoft?

[donmontalvo]

Microsoft's packages are fine, no need to repackage. Try running the Outlook 2016 15.14.2 updater while 15.14.0 is running. Do you get the same dialog?

[mm2270]

@donmontalvo Are you seeing that when its run manually, like when downloaded from the Microsoft Auto Update application? Because, I think, when run from a command line install, it won't send up such a dialog, nor require quitting any open apps. I still have to test that, but I think the installers now distinguish between running in command line installation versus the GUI.
For my 2¢ on the subject, I think the whole 'must quit open apps' nonsense is just that, nonsense. I've been updating apps while running in place for a while now and have yet to see any corrupted applications from doing this. In my experience, it just isn't necessary. The only drawback, if you consider it one, is that the new application code won't be running until the client quits and relaunches the application, but that is simple enough to prompt for with dialogs on screen.
I've even come up with a way to remind them on a daily basis if that application hasn't been quit and relaunched since it was updated to do that to start using the new code.

[donmontalvo]

In this case you guys were right, deploying through Casper doesn't cause these dialog boxes, just displays the dialog when their package is double-clicked in Finder. I can understand why they do that, to inform users. But a "Hey you need to quit/relaunch" would be better.

Just wanted to take the opportunity to post regarding "blocking apps", or lack of that function, in case the JAMF Software elves behind the curtain is listening. :B

Don

[elliotjordan]

In 10 seconds of searching, I couldn't find a feature request for "blocking apps." But I suppose that falls under the larger umbrella of patch management.

My "Auto Update Magic" script includes a check with pgrep before triggering installations; that might work if you need a solution now.

But yes — I just this week realized that Office 2016 (and even the newer 2011) updates don't require quitting apps. Hooray for that!

[mm2270]

This seems to be the closest request that I can find to "blocking apps"
https://jamfnation.jamfsoftware.com/featureRequest.html?id=173

[jkuo]

You could maybe put in a preinstall script to check to see if it's running. Here's an example that I did with Keynote:

#Verify that Keynote exists
if [ ! -e "/Applications/Keynote.app" ]; then
    echo "No Keynote detected, exiting downgrade script..."
    exit 0
fi

echo "Checking to see if Keynote is running..."
KeynoteRunning=`ps aux | grep Keynote.app | grep -v grep`

if [[ ! -z $KeynoteRunning ]]; then
    echo "Keynote is currently running, do not proceed..."
    exit 0
fi

You'd basically replace the KeynoteRunning variable with a ps aux command to check for Microsoft apps instead...

Hope that helps,
Jason