Self Service Un-Installers?

[brandonpturner]

Hello, everyone. I was wondering if it's possible for my users to uninstall from Self Service. It would be useful for them if they could remove a troublesome app and replace it on their own. Thank you!

[nessts]

anything is possible with enough determination and skill. How often does uninstalling an app and re-installing actually help? On a Mac its usually fixing broken plist files, caches, etc. in my experience.

[brandonpturner]

@nessts Join.me for example. There was an issue with it, and they couldn't re-install from SS without removing it first. That's 65 panicking users I support on my own. I just want to empower them to do as much as possible.

[bentoms]

@brandonpturner, did you create a DMG of it?

If you index the DMG, you can then uninstall it.

So you can uninstall via a policy or via Self Service.

[nessts]

so script the removal and put it in self service. the only guaranteed piece of software i had to remove was junos network connect, a couple of years ago. if Join.me is junky and needs removed often I would script it for sure. I did for network connect when we had that.

[brandonpturner]

@bentoms That sounds great! All of my installs are DMGs. Do I just index them in Admin? Where does the uninstall come from?

[mm2270]

Once a DMG is indexed in Casper Admin, double click on it to bring up the Info window in CA and make sure to check the box for allowing the package to be uninstalled. Close and go back to your JSS and when setting up a policy, after you add the package in, a new option will show up called "uninstall" (in addition to the usual "install", "cache" and "install cached" options) for that package, or any others that are indexed and have that box checked.

Be aware though that, at least in the past, uninstalling in this way can sometimes leave files and folders behind on the system. i believe this happens if the application is updated from the original installation and either new files/folders are added as part of the upgrade, or modified in a significant way. The uninstall process ignores these because they don't match the files in the index.

[bentoms]

What @mm2270 said ^^

But worth a shot.

[jpfromdc98]

One solution that might be up your ally..

First off, I create an uninstall category

For packages I create:
I index them in Casper admin and check the box that says I can uninstall in. Then I create a separate policy for that software and set the drop down to Uninstalls package.

For preloaded software:
I create a script that removes the software, or if it's more complicated (i.e. software comes with its own uninstaller) I create a package that drops the uninstaller into a folder I pre-detrimed, and launch that uninstaller.

After:
And just because I like randomly creating icons, I create a black and white icon with a red X on it, for the policy to distinguish it in Self-Service. I then scope the uninstaller (If user has application, or if install receipt in on system). Set it to on-going and call it a day.

Hope this gives you a jumping off point!

[emily]

You could throw App Cleaner in Self Service. They can install App Cleaner and then uninstall the app using that if Indexing/uninstalling through policy doesn't get the job done.

[c0n0r]

Being a BASH script monkey, I personally deplore DMG "packages" (and don't get me started about shared file modification and how DMG muddies those waters), and avoid them under most situations.

So, having no automated uninstall method, I largely do as @nessts mentions, and manually script the uninstall. But, I go one step further, and roll those scripts into preflight scripts within payload-less packages, and include them as optional installs in the distribution package. This way I don't have to make an "uninstall" category in self-service, or set up any deployment method at all for the uninstaller; if you want to uninstall, go get the installer and activate the custom install choice.

[brandonpturner]

I like @emilykausalik 's suggest best as it does take care of all the extra files. I've used this app extensively and love it. My concern though is the user deleting management or required items. I know I can protect locked items and so forth...

I have often considered just putting it in the applications folder in my image. I might do a trial run and see if we get into trouble.

Thank you again for your suggestions!

[emily]

So far making App Cleaner available hasn't been a huge issue for us. It hasn't been an issue at all, really. Any apps that you want to make sure are still on the machines, just create a policy scoped to computers that don't have it. That way if they fall into the Do Not Have X group, the JSS pushes the app back to their machine, runs inventory, and they have it again. Persistence!