Nudge and Major OS Deferral

[Antbanks51]

So i've been searching everywhere for a simplified answer (and maybe i did find it but am too dumb to realize) but does Nudge play nice with the Delay Major Update restriction payload?

Basically what I am wondering is this:

I have the major update delay set to 90 days.  This means Ventura will be allowed to be updated on Jan 22nd.

I have Nudge setting the minimum required OS as 12.6.2.

In a perfect world this means Nudge would upgrade any devices below 12.6.2 to that version and not anything newer.  I was reading however that the restriction payload simply hides the option to update.  Does this mean Nudge would override the restriction and simply update any devices to the newest OS?  I ask this because I saw a device go from 12.5 to 13.1 today.  I wasn't sure if that was from Nudge overriding or if it was due to the "feature" for devices running 12.3 to 12.6.1 which offers a different path for upgrading (https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT213471)

Hopefully I asked this correctly.

[sdagley · Accepted solution]

@Antbanks51 Nudge doesn't install anything itself, it just opens the Software Update panel for the user (in the default configuration). Your problem is that 12.6.0 and earlier consider the Ventura update to be a Minor, not Major update.

My approach for Macs still on a version of macOS less than 12.6.1 is to block both Major and Minor updates, and use a Nudge configuration which opens Self Service to a policy which runs the erase-install script to install 12.6.2. Not ideal, but it works for me. 

[Antbanks51]

Ah gotcha.  I wasn't aware that Ventura was seen as Minor.  Luckily we are still in our infancy when it comes to Jamf and they had no restrictions in place for OS upgrades prior to me getting Jamf setup so no one really will even notice.  

Basically though if Ventura would have been viewed as a Major update then Nudge would have suggested 12.6.2 and the Mac would have only installed that correct?

[sdagley]

@Antbanks51 It's a bug in macOS Ventura that versions prior to 12.6.1 consider the Ventura "delta" update available for 12.6.3 and higher to be a Minor update (as if it was a 12.x update). Nudge itself isn't recommending a specific version based on what's available, it's just pushing the user to update to at least the version you specify.