How to Disable Slack Auto-Updates in 4.0+

[afarnsworth]

Today Slack released version 4.0 (https://slack.com/release-notes/mac]) that finally allows Mac admins to easily control the auto-update functionality via plist and Configuration Profile in Jamf. (Woo!)

After chatting with support briefly you can disable auto-updates by running:

defaults write com.tinyspeck.slackmacgap SlackNoAutoUpdates -bool YES

[lamador]

I tried that and it is supposed to bypass the initial prompt but its still doing it for me. How are you pushing that defualts command?

[paperfixie]

I just pushed a configuration profile to preferences domain com.tinyspec.slackmacgap.

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<!DOCTYPE plist PUBLIC "-//Apple//DTD PLIST 1.0//EN" "http://www.apple.com/DTDs/PropertyList-1.0.dtd">
<plist version="1.0">
<dict>
    <key>SlackNoAutoUpdates</key>
    <string>1</string>
</dict>
</plist>

Hope this is helpful!

[mjames8993]

It seems the proper command to run is:

defaults write com.tinyspeck.slackmacgap SlackNoAutoUpdates -string 1

[Kishan_H]

I had a script to run defaults write com.tinyspeck.slackmacgap SlackNoAutoUpdates -bool YES which seemed to have worked up until recently. But then I started seeing the "check for updates" appear again in the Slack menu (it had disappeared when I first pushed out the above script).

According to https://slack.com/intl/en-gb/help/articles/360035635174-Deploy-Slack-for-macOS the new command is now:
defaults write Users/$USER/Library/Preferences/com.tinyspeck.slackmacgap.plist SlackNoAutoUpdates -bool YES but that still shows the "check for updates" option in the Slack menu

[dnorman]

@kishan.hirani I wonder if it shows "check for updates" because of the Slack installation permissions are set like at the bottom of the page: "Allow users to update Slack"

[dnorman]

I'm also trying to figure out how to set this. I prefer a configuration profile but it looks like this is a per user setting I wonder if it can actually be set globally.

[ryan_ball]

For a config profile do this:

defaults write ~/Documents/com.tinyspeck.slackmacgap.plist SlackNoAutoUpdates -bool YES
plutil -convert xml1 ~/Documents/com.tinyspeck.slackmacgap.plist

After you’ve created the plist above:
1. Create a new config profile in Jamf Pro
2. Choose app and custom settings
3. Choose upload plist and upload the plist (in ~/Documents) you created in the above steps and save it

[sam_clark]

This is the only way I've found to bypass the update request for standard users. Pushing updates manually or via patch management works well. I use this script I created to download the app and install it with permissions for the user.

#!/bin/zsh
#
# Created Aug 26 2020 by J Samuel Clark
# - Downloads a DMG file to extract an app or PKG and install on the user's computer
#
# Updated Oct 21 2020 by J Samuel Clark
# - Added support to quit application before installing
# 
########################################################################
# About this program
#
# Variables which must be defined in Jamf Pro 
#
# "$4" Represents the URL from where the DMG will be downloaded
# "$5" Represents what the DMG will be named after being downloaded
# "$6" The exact name of a .app file within the downloaded DMG
# "$7" The exact name of a .pkg within the downloaded DMG
#  
# NOTE: A parameter must be set in either "$6" OR "$7", the script will
# fail otherwise. Enjoy!
#
########################################################################
# Defining variables - DO NOT MODIFY
########################################################################
downloadUrl="$4"  # The URL must return a file
dmgName="$5"  # The name of the file after it's downloaded
appName="$6"  # Name of the .app file within the DMG
pkgName="$7"  # Name of the .pkg file within the DMG
downloadLocation="/private/tmp"       # Where the file gets downloaded
applicationDmg=""$downloadLocation"/"$dmgName""   # The location and name of the downloaded file
mountPoint="/Volumes/$dmgName"
loggedInUser=$(/usr/bin/stat -f%Su /dev/console)

# Preliminary checks
if [[ -n "$appName" ]] && [[ -z "$pkgName" ]]; then     
    installApp="$6"
elif [[ -n "$pkgName" ]] && [[ -z "$appName" ]]; then
    installApp="$7"
elif [[ -z "$appName" ]] && [[ -z "$pkgName" ]]; then
    echo "Nothing found in parameters, exiting"
    exit 1
elif [[ -n "$appName" ]] && [[ -n "$pkgName" ]]; then 
    echo "Too many parameters set, exiting"
    exit 1
fi

########################################################################
# Begin program - HOLD ONTO BUTTS
########################################################################
# Download and mount DMG
/usr/bin/curl -sL "$downloadUrl" -o "$applicationDmg"
/usr/bin/hdiutil attach "$applicationDmg" -mountpoint "$mountPoint" -nobrowse

# Choose which installation to run
installType=$( echo "$installApp" | cut -d '.' -f2 )
case "$installType" in
    app )
        # Killing and copying .app to /Applications folder
        killApp=$(echo "$installApp" | cut -d '.' -f1 )
        if [[ -n $(pgrep "$killApp") ]]; then
            echo "Killing process "$killApp""
            /usr/bin/killall "$killApp"
        fi

        echo "Copying "$appName" to Applications folder"
        if [[ -a "/Applications/"$appName"" ]]; then
            echo "Removing old instance of "$appName""
            /bin/rm -r "/Applications/"$appName""
        fi

        #Checking if user is admin or standard and setting permissions
        if [[ -n $(id -Gn $loggedInUser | grep "admin") ]]; then
            echo "Installing app with admin rights"
            /bin/cp -pR ""$mountPoint"/"$appName"" /Applications
            /bin/chmod 755 /Applications/"$appName"
            /usr/sbin/chown -R root:wheel /Applications/"$appName"

        else
            /bin/cp -pR ""$mountPoint"/"$appName"" /Applications
            /bin/chmod 755 /Applications/"$appName"
            /usr/sbin/chown -R "$loggedInUser":wheel /Applications/"$appName"

        fi
        ;;

    pkg )
        # Installing .pkg within DMG to /
        echo "Installing "$pkgName""
        installer -pkg ""$mountPoint"/"$pkgName"" -target /
        ;;
    * )
        echo "Nothing to install"
        ;;
esac

# Cleanup
/usr/bin/hdiutil detach "$mountPoint"
/bin/rm "$applicationDmg"

exit

Here is an alternative to @ryan.ball 's method of using a config profile, where you can create a custom configuration and use the JSON schema to enable the SlackNoAutoUpdates key within com.tinydesk.slackmacgap. Both work equally well and do the same thing.

{

    "$schema": "http://json-schema.org/schema#",
    "title": "Slack Disable Auto-Updates",
    "description": "This schema will enable the option to disable auto updates for Slack.app",
    "properties": {

        "SlackNoAutoUpdates": {

            "type": "boolean",
            "title": "Disable Auto-Updates for Slack.app",
            "property_order": 5       
        }
    }
}

[Mcleveland]

{
  "$schema": "http://json-schema.org/schema#",
  "title": "Slack Supported settings",
  "description": "This schema will enable the option to disable auto updates for Slack.app",
  "properties": {
    "AutoUpdate": {
      "type": "boolean",
      "title": "AutoUpdate",
      "description": "Enables or disables automatic updates of the desktop app",
      "default": false
    },
    "ClientEnvironment": {
      "type": "integer",
      "title": "ClientEnvironment",
      "description": "Configures the client to run in either commercial mode or government compliance mode (GovSlack).",
      "enum": [
        1000,
        1001
      ],
      "default": 1000
    },
    "DefaultSignInTeam": {
      "type": "string",
      "title": "DefaultSignInTeam",
      "description": "Sets a default workspace URL for users to sign into on first launch. A valid workspace ID should be typed in.",
      "default": "your-workspace-id"
    },
    "DownloadPath": {
      "type": "string",
      "title": "DownloadPath",
      "description": "Configures a download location.",
      "default": "/tmp/downloads"
    },
    "HardwareAcceleration": {
      "type": "boolean",
      "title": "HardwareAcceleration",
      "description": "Enables or disables hardware accelerated rendering on the client.",
      "default": true
    }
  }
}

Here is an updated version of all supported settings for Slack (Source of available settings can be found here)

[mm_tim_baker]

What we have done (with success it seems so far) is:

• Create a script, a modified version of what was posted above

currentUser=`ls -l /dev/console | cut -d " " -f4`
sudo -u $currentUser defaults write com.tinyspeck.slackmacgap SlackNoAutoUpdates -bool YES

• Then create a profile that runs the script on a ongoing occurrence

I've tested that with Slack version 4.10.x