Ventura Mass action software update command

[tdenton]

Hi All

hoping someone might be able to help.

We have been struggling with pushing out OSX updates for sometime.

It does appear Apple want to make this more difficult than it should be. I understand on Ventura, mass action software update commands will run when the machine is ideal I.e not been used.

However I can’t find anywhere in Apple documentation that this is the case.  Is anyone able to confirm this?

[AJPinto]

Yes, softwareupdates in 2012/2013/.../2021/2022 is a confusing and miserable mess. It depends which MDM command you push as to how macOS behaves. 

The three major functions are

1. Download only and let users install
2. Download and install but let users defer x number of times
   1. this will install updates between 12a-4a, until the deferral hit 0 at which time the 3rd option is used. this was discussed in the 2021 WWDC Keynote for managing OS updates
3. Download and force install
   1. will install on the spot no matter what the device is doing

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Software updates with MDM command have about a 70-80% success rate. Adding to this things that suppress reboots can and will cause any of the software update MDM commands to fail, even the force reboot. There are plenty of good discussions of software updates in JAMF nation, but I'll leave you with these links.

ScheduleOSUpdateCommand.Command.UpdatesItem | Apple Developer Documentation

About software updates for Apple devices - Apple Support

macOS Upgrades and Updates Using a Mass Action Command - Deploying macOS Upgrades and Updates with J...