How to pull complete list of available Apple OS updates on all Macs?

[donmontalvo]

We have a request to provide a detailed, complete list of all available OS updates for all the Macs in the environment. We set up a Saved Search using "Software updates available" as the criteria. We're able to get a list of computers that need updates. Is there a way to extract, from the details, the actual update names?

Hoping this can be done without having to create a custom query. :)

Thanks,
Don

[dderusha]

Don-

we have a smart group based on Number of available updates is more than 0

you can then click on the link - View membership
click on the Details of a mac.
on the bottom right there is a link for available software updates.

the link brings you to the specific downloads for that mac.

Dan De Rusha

[donmontalvo]

Hi Dan,

Thanks for your response. Yep, we have the Saved Search set up like you described. We have the initial report created, but the folks who asked for it are coming back asking us to expand the report to show what updates are missing on each computer. Doesn't look like this would be possible without a custom query (or tons of overtime for our techs <g>).

Thanks,
Don

[lance_ogletree]

I think Don is looking for a list of those updates that are available or pending, not just on the number pending.

Take a look at the "Available Software Updates" under the logs tab in the JSS.
That will provide you with a cumulative list of all available updates and the computers in need of them.

-Lance

[donmontalvo]

Holy moly! A data miner's treasure trove of data...thanks Lance!

Don

[tlarkin]

you can use Unix....

softwareupdate -l | grep "*" -c

That will display the number of updates available in numeric form

softwareupdate -l > /var/log/available_updates.log

that will out put the command to a log file

[donmontalvo]

Hi Tom,

Yep but we wanted to point someone to JSS to pull reports. Is there a way to have JSS report the result of this command using policy?

Thanks,
Don

** Sent from my iPhone **

[bentoms]

I think there is a custom report in the resource kit that does what you need.

Ben Toms
IT Support Analyst GREY Group
The Johnson Building, 77 Hatton Garden, London, EC1N 8JS
T: +44 (0) 20-3037-3819 |
Main: +44 (0) 20 3037 3000 | IT Helpdesk: +44 (0) 20 3037 3883

[tlarkin]

There is one in the resource kit I just checked, probably will do everything you need

[karthikeyan_mac]

Hi,

I created a custom report for listing Available Software Update using "ShowSUSupdates.jsp" as mentioned in the "Managing Custom Reports.pdf". When I check for the update manually on Client Machines it shows 2 Updates available (iTunes9.2.1 and Safari 5.0.2). But when i try this open custom report, its shows "All Updates Applied " and "0"updates available.

JSS Version :- 7.1
Mac OS X Server 10.5.8.
Mac OS X 10.6.4 (Client)

Do I need to edit anything in the Script to work on our Environment?

Regards,
Karthikeyan

[jwojda]

To my knowledge, you need a 10.6.x server to get updates for 10.6.x
clients.

John Wojda

Lead System Engineer, CTS

3333 Beverly Rd. B2-338B

Hoffman Estates, IL 60179

Phone: (847)286-7855

SMS / Text Page: 2245873298
<mailto:12245873298 at messaging.sprintpcs.com>

Team Lead: Chris Sta Ana
<mailto:cstaana at searshc.com;jwojda at searshc.com?subject=John%20Wojda%20Fe
edback&body=I%20am%20contacting%20you%20regarding%20John%20Wojda.>

[#12]

Yes - that is true.
-- John DeTroye Email: johnd at apple.com
Sr. Consulting Engineer Systems Management Specialist
Edu IT resources - http://www.apple.com/education/resources/information-technology.html

[#13]

to confirm:

you CAN have your leopard server hosting apple software updates for 10.4,
10.5, & 10.6. we hacked our production OSX Leopard Server (10.5.8) using the
details on the page mentioned earlier (
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=2169042&tstart=0) and it
works like a charm.

we're now hosting software updates for all three apple OS's on that server.
remember: after you hack the server and download the updates, you'll need to
push a line of unix to each snow leopard client to look in the right place
on leopard server.

i also recommend installing a server into VM using virtual box or parallels
and practicing this hack before you roll on a production machine. practice
makes perfect :)

cheers,

david koff
systems admin
the j. paul getty trust
dkoff at getty.edu

[bentoms]

Nope.

http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=2169042&tstart=0

^^ works with updates from 10.5.8 server.. ours is cascading to other x-serves too.

Ben Toms
IT Support Analyst GREY Group
The Johnson Building, 77 Hatton Garden, London, EC1N 8JS
T: +44 (0) 20-3037-3819 |
Main: +44 (0) 20 3037 3000 | IT Helpdesk: +44 (0) 20 3037 3883

[karthikeyan_mac]

Hi,

Thanks for the information.

Does this script(ShowSUSUpdates.jsp) requires Software Update sever or it checks using Internet to find the updates available on Client?

We dont have a Software Updates server still now :-( . We are trying to pull the reports to explain the management about the need of SUS Server.

Regards,
Karthikeyan M

[#16]

I guess it depends on using an unsupported hack, or the info from Apple Engineering. Your choice.
-- John DeTroye Email: johnd at apple.com
Sr. Consulting Engineer Systems Management Specialist
Edu IT resources - http://www.apple.com/education/resources/information-technology.html

[donmontalvo]

Bringing thread back to life.

Has any API gurus been able to pull list of available Apple Software Updates using API?

[mm2270]

@donmontalvo I don't think this would be possible via the API. Only way currently I can think of it would be to have an external script loop over every single computer record, extracting any known Apple SWU's, putting them into one list (like an array), then collating and removing duplicates to come up with a single list for all Macs.
Such a script would be very slow and tedious if you have a decent number of Macs in your JSS.

It would be nice if there was something equivalent to the old Logs page in Casper Suite pre-version 9 that was in the current version that we could access via the API, but thats just a pipe dream. It doesn't exist, and I'm not expecting anything like that anytime soon.

[donmontalvo]

@mm2270 Thanks, well, as it turns out, sometimes its staring you in the face...LOL

Export option on all reports.

View > Export > Comma Separated Values (.csv) > Available SWUs > Next

CSV is downloaded, and each SWU is a separate line. If a computer has multiple updates, it'll show up in multiple lines.

Brilliant...thanks to @glmaki (Jamf) for the gentle reminder. #Humbled.

When requests come in, we'll point them to the above.

Don

[mm2270]

Oh jeez! I always forget about the export options, since I use them so infrequently. Nice catch!

[donmontalvo]

Update: for some reason a computer with N updates shows up in N lines, but not all lines show the available update name.

For criteria on the report, this logic works:

Number of Software Updates Available "is not" 0

[krwright]

I'm getting exactly the same behavior. Patch compliance folks want info on what Macs are not patched, and I need to tell them the difference between the ones that need, say, a security update, and the ones that just need iTunes updated. Preferably without going through them one by one. Custom reports mentioned at the beginning of the thread no longer appear to be available (that was several years and updates ago...)

[HimanshuPawar]

Hi ,
I have tried the steps mentioned by donmontalvo however when i get the .csv file. it doesn't give me the numbers.
I have created a custom report where i have selected the criteria for computer groups operator (member of) all manage client and number of available updates operator (is not) 0.

I got the 500+ macs those require some or the other updates and i can also see the number when i am exporting this in .csv i only get 2 or sometimes no mac listed in the excel.

Himanshu