Has anyone figured out how to serve iLife updates from your 10.8 SUS?

[pat_best]

I have a fresh new Mountain Lion iMac (10.8.3) with Server app installed running only Software Updates. I have successfully connected client computers that are now happily receiving updates for every program except iLife apps from my SUS. I only have 10.8 clients connected to this server. The installed iLife is what was preinstalled from the factory and I would rather not uninstall it to install from a retail disk. My deployed 10.8 clients number is rising quickly and most of these computers will not be assigned an Apple ID. Am I doomed to stare at iLife update notifications until the end of time? (Please read as humor ) Let me know if I have left out any pertinent information about my deployment. Thanks for your time!

[taugust04 · Accepted solution]

Hi Pat,

The way iLife updates are deployed to your Macs is dependent on the type of iLife apps installed on those computers.

If your Mountain Lion Macs have the older version of iLife '11 installed from a DVD installer (or disk image of that installer), then your Apple SUS will deploy iLife updates.

If your deploying the iMovie, iPhoto, and GarageBand that's pre-installed from the Mac App Store, or you have purchased from the Mac App Store, then you will need to package these applications up on an "administrators" computer and deploy these updates via Casper.

Apple's best practice/recommendation is that you have one "institutional copy" of iMovie, iPhoto, and GarageBand that was purchased or downloaded with an AppleID that is assigned to the department that manages the Mac computers. Whenever updates are issued to these apps, these updated apps are downloaded again from the Mac App Store, repackaged, and deployed using your favorite deployment method, such as Casper.

This is Apple's policy for all their applications that are available in the App Store, including Final Cut Pro, iLife, and iWork.

~Ted

[pat_best]

Awesome reply, thanks!! I was wondering if the best practice or recommendations you mentioned is posted somewhere? If so can you link it for me? I spent more than enough time stomping around the web to not get anywhere! Just to repeat back what you wrote to me to make sure I understand:

Take a Mac I have here in the shop and use it as an "update capture device" with an assigned apple ID, download whatever new updates or updated apps come down the pike via the app store, and repackage whatever is downloaded to be deployed to my clients (via policy as an example). Did I read correctly here?

[nkalister]

pretty much- the only detail to be careful of is that you do NOT want to launch the app store applications before packaging them.

[pat_best]

wonderful tidbit there nkalister, thanks!

[ericbenfer]

There is a VPP for the Mac App Store. http://www.apple.com/mac/volume-licensing/
If you are looking for something "official" from Apple, this page has suggestions for deploying Mac App Store apps.

[acdesigntech]

you can also "un-app store-ize" them - delete the _MASReceipt folder in <app>/Contents/

I write about it here:

http://acdesigntech.wordpress.com/2013/03/06/disable-mac-app-store-receipts-to-reenable-downloaded-u...

[tkimpton]

I'm think I'm going to do this. I didn't want to but I have no choice. Apple have made this impossible and I didn't understand the method listed on mac enterprise referred to in another post.