Preference domain and plist path relation

[Asifahmed]

Hello All,

How preference domain in my config profile understand where the corrosponding plist is kept? I can keep under /Library/Preferences, or /library/Manage Preference etc

But question is how Jamf is able to understand where is the plist kept to write on it?

[sdagley]

@Asifahmed Any preference settings you deploy via a Configuration Profile Application & Custom Settings payload will be stored in /Library/Managed Preferences in a .plist matching the preference domain specified in the payload(s). If you want to put a .plist into /Library/Preferences or ~/Library/Preferences you'll need to use something besides a Configuration Profile to do it (e.g. a script or .pkg)

[Asifahmed]

So I checked to remove my mac from Google Chrome settings config profile and see , I noticed plist got removed for Google Chrome, when readded the mac in my config profile again plist for GC created automatically with the settings I mentioned in my config profile with preference domain. So config profile is for managing those plist resides under /Library/managed Preference, am I correct?

Now question is, if I deploy a plist by a script under ~/library/preference or /library/preference then do you think I will be able to manage those plist by config profile mentioning the preference domain?

[sdagley]

@Asifahmed Please review my previous response for the answer to these two questions.

[mm2270]

@Asifahmed You can always push or create a .plist in /Library/Preferences or ~/Library/Preferences, but if you also deploy a Configuration Profile that uses the same preference domain, the profile will likely override any of the local settings with whatever is in the Config Profile. This is by design, since profiles are intended for managed devices and it wouldn't be very useful if users could easily apply their own custom settings to things you were trying to keep managed.

[Asifahmed]

I am confused how a config profile will understand that  this is the path where plist is kept and it need to change, very confusing how does it function with preference domain. But I understood something from all comments here.

[mm2270]

This is an OS function. Basically, the OS is programmed to look in a few different levels, based on hierarchy, for preferences for an application (or just a setting within the OS) and apply them. It will look in /Library/Managed\ Preferences/ /Library/Preferences/ and ~/Library/Preferences/, for a plist file that matches the domain for the app or setting. The "Managed Preferences" one will override the other ones which are lower in the hierarchy. Once it sees a preference set there, it stops looking any further, generally, and will use those settings and ignore anything else.

That's really all you need to know about it.