Install older Versions of iMovie/Apple Apps using VPP

We're seeing the same behavior now (understanding that this is an old thread.) . We are trying some shenanigans to push the prior version now. Seems inconsistent; some devices get it (if they already had a license granted maybe?) and some don't.

Hi Guys
I know this is an old thread sorry but i have come up against the same issue for quite a while. It has been becoming more and more of an issue as the devices got older. But recently I finally managed to speak to someone from JAMF who was able to provide a work around! Apparently there is a compatibility check that JAMF does which was stopping the apps from installing the older compatible version of the app. As soon as i made the database change the apps started to install on the older devices! However a side effect of doing this is that any apps which are totally incompatible will also try to install and can get stuck in a loop and constantly fail. The solution to this is to just un-scope or exclude the apps from installing on the incompatible devices.

If you wanted to have a go, here are the instructions provided by JAMF support

a) Take a full snapshot (if this Windows Service is a virtual machine)

b) Take a database backup of the Jamf Pro server

c) Log into the MySQL command line from the Jamf Pro Windows Server. For example:
"C:Program FilesMySQLMySQL Server 5.7inmysql.exe" -u jamfsoftware -p

d) Once logged into the MySQL command line, run the following command:
use jamfsoftware;

e) Run the following command:
select * from jss_custom_settingsG;

f) Ensure query line does not contain 'disableAppCompatibilityCheckvalue'; then proceed to step g)

g) Stop the Apache Tomcat service. Make sure Jamf Pro is offline before proceeding to next step

h) Run the following command in MySQL command line:
insert into jss_custom_settings (settings_key,value) VALUES ('com.jamfsoftware.jss.disableAppCompatibilityCheck','1');

Ensure the output result was successful

i) Start the Apache Tomcat service.
Wait until JAMF pushes the apps or you can cancel all management commands and update inventory on all devices to force the push of the missing apps

Hope that helps! :)

@osbs So this skips the compatibility check, but then does it push the older version or just push the newer version that doesn't work. Also Does this mean it cannot be enabled on our Jamf Cloud server?
Gabe Shackney
Princeton Public Schools

Also I just found that you can turn off automatic updates for said app ( I tested with Garageband using 10.3.5 instead of 10.4.1) and then change the version number to the desired number and it just pushes that version. EDIT: actually this isn't working consistently but creating a 2nd App with a slightly different name (IE instead of GarageBand, GarageBand 10.3.5) and tell it to install in self service, then you can have one for self service and the first one for the newer version.Gabe Shackney
Princeton Public Schools

I want to echo Gabe's questions "does it push the older version or just push the newer version that doesn't work. Also Does this mean it cannot be enabled on our Jamf Cloud server".

Also, what about iPad apps? Same mechanism?

I see that this thread is over a year old but I wanted to add my input in case it helps someone else.

Today a user asked about installing iMovie on an iMac running macOS Catalina. The latest version of iMovie which is currently 10.3.1 requires macOS 11.5.1 or later. Just for giggles I tried installing iMovie from Self Service just to see what it would do. Nothing. I then went to Mac App Store Apps and setup another install for iMovie that would deploy automatically instead of using Self Service. I scoped it to just this one Mac. After a few minutes, iMovie 10.2.5 appeared on this Mac. I have auto-installs of Pages, Numbers, and Keynote setup to deploy automatically since a lot of my clients use those apps but not iMovie. iMovie is only made available as a Self Service install. To confirm that this would work consistently, I tried this using a Mac VM that I use for testing, and the supported version of iMovie installed automatically.