vpp redownload call timed out <mdmclienterror:72>

[mjames]

Hi,

I am seeing a lot of our systems having the "vpp redownload call timed out <mdmclienterror:72>" error when cliets try to install VPP apps via Self Service on MacOS (most clients are 10.14.2).

I have tried clearing the failed commands, reconning, re-enrolling etc with no luck.

I am hesitant to revoke all apps as I have seen suggested because I am concerned about the number of people who will experience iTunes notifications about apps not being assigned (the staff at this school are fragile...).

Any advice would be appreciated.

[ajfunk]

VPP still isn't working at my org, except for iOS app deployment.

[KyleEricson]

Working with Apple on this issue.

This is the info we need:

What apps are affected?
What is working(app install, app update, nothing?
What OS version(10.14.6 or 10.15.3?

Thanks

from Apple:
This is still a high priority for Apple and we're doing everything possible to resolve this. This issue is more complex than it might appear.

You mentioned previously you can install apps but "all" apps are not updating all the time. Specifically, which applications? Please list all you can that are affected.

I'd also like to mention we are tracking a separate issue related to updating MS Office apps in macOS Catalina.
I assume this is consistent across different sites and locations, correct?

[easyedc]

So like many of you this has been going on for...[checks watch]...ever. Did anyone else Try @ikhlasberrazi's fix of

After adjusting our firewall to allow all incoming traffic from the Apple IP range 17.0.0.0/8 issues were resolved. The previous role *.apple.com was not sufficient anymore.

and anyone have luck if you did? Is your fix still working? After yet another unproductive call with our SE and Sales Rep yesterday asking "what would it take to get more Macs in your .org?" and the answer being to "fix yo shiz" I thought I'd reinvestigate people's workarounds.

Also - FWIW my ticket with Apple support is considered "This is your case priority: Low - Other Questions or Issue" in their eyes.

[dash4385]

With a lot of companies working from home this not working is causing me a real headache.

[donmontalvo]

Definitely something that has lingered on, not sure I’d escalate now, they are impacted too.

[Simonus]

Is the error still happening to you? I just tried it a couple of times and it's gone :)

[Madmax85]

I'm still running into the same error after running through some tests today. It's unfortunate. I got excited thinking maybe this was resolved.

[easyedc]

Yup. And Apple still doesn't have any fix for us.

[sim_brar]

Spoke too soon :-(

[hhorn]

Please Apple, solve this issue, it is really frustrating. Especially in these times...

[KyleEricson]

Does anyone has a good workflow to go from VPP office apps to PKG apps. I need to revert now since Apple is no where near to fixing this issue.

[pbowden]

@kerickson simply run the latest Office Suite installer and it will close the existing MAS apps and overwrite them.

[pbowden]

@kericson ^^

[bcbackes]

Yeah, I was testing out MAS apps and the Office Suite installer. Installer worked flawlessly where the MAS apps was hit and miss on whether they installed or not. I decided to just remove MAS apps as a source for deploying/installing Office.

@pbowden I wasn't able to find a great uninstaller. Have you ran across one? I was looking to get one setup in case we need to uninstall O365/Teams and reinstall for any reason.

[pbowden]

@bcbackes yeah, I was thinking at the weekend of putting an uninstaller together. There are two scenarios I can think of:

1. You want to put Office into a factory defaults state. Basically, remove all Config files, keychain items, group containers, Outlook profile, etc but leave the app bundles intact in /Applications

2. Do all of #1, and delete the app bundles in /Applications

I like the idea of #1 because I find that when Office isn’t working, people tend to delete the apps and get frustrated because the problem is usually one of the Config files. They also waste time by re-downloading the installer pkg from the CDN when this is very rarely the problem.

What do you think?

[bcbackes]

@pbowden Both options sound great. Like you said, option 1 brings it back to default. I'm thinking it would be similar to taking a snapshot of a VM right after you install Office, then, when things are messed up you restore it back to the part right after the install. That would certainly save time of having to redownload/install the app bundles.

However, I do see a benefit with option 2 as well. If there happens to be an issue during installation where something didn't install right, however, it wasn't bad enough to prevent the app from opening. In that situation I would like to nuc everything including the app bundles.

Nowadays there can be multiple variables on why things don't work correctly. For most tickets, I spend "x" amount on it before I decide it's time to uninstall/reinstall. I really hate to spend 3 hours trying to resolve an issue especially if uninstalling/reinstalling will resolve it. It's a fine line and each situation will dictate how much time I spend on it.

Just my two cents.

[KyleEricson]

@pbowden This script should work as well correct? Will this prompted users to quit Office apps?

https://gist.github.com/talkingmoose/a16ca849416ce5ce89316bacd75fc91a

[PatrickD]

I too am still seeing this issue after implementing a workaround from Jamf for a separate issue where Self Service installed MAS apps cannot update and you have to delete the app and reinstall it through Self Service.
PI-005189 - Self Service fails to display updates for Mac App Store apps if an older version of the app is already installed on the computer. Workaround: Use the Mac App Store to download the app update. ---- Which will only work if you are signed in with an Apple ID that has that app in its purchase history. Defeating the purpose of Volume Purchasing.

Jamf suggested setting the app to install Automatically and scope it to a Smart Computer group looking at a custom EA. That's when I saw the <MDMClientError:72> error. I have been trying to get Apple to give me an update on this issue for the last couple of months but all they are saying is "we only respond when there is a fix, which there isn't at this stage".

Personally, I think Jamf should be pressuring Apple on this issue.

[Robified]

Just want to post this as a quick workaround with Managed Apple IDs and pushing apps.

If you're getting this error, go ahead and get the user to open the App Store. They can click on their name in the bottom left, and a list of "purchased" apps will appear. Whatever app you licensed to them will appear there, and they can just go ahead and download/install it from the App Store itself.

I was experiencing this issue, and was diagnosing with a user. Was about to get them to sign out of the managed Apple ID and use a personal one, when I noticed this. Seems like the license gets properly assigned through the MDM, but the installation at the OS level fails.

This circumvents it, without the need of asking the user to hit "Install" until it just magically works the 100th time.

[tzeilstra]

I've been keeping half an eye on this thread for six months or more after running into this issue with a few apps. I haven't really touched Mac App Store apps since then and I'm wondering if in a macOS 10.15.5/Jamf Pro 10.21 world, whether things are still messed up enough that it's not worth my time even exploring these apps or whether it's time to dip my toe back in the water and give it a shot? I find it hard to believe that the feature is so irreparably broken that it's useless but it's also pretty hard to believe how long this has been an issue with no apparent fix.

Thoughts?

[pbowden]

@tzeilstra yup, still horribly broken I’m afraid.

[hhorn]

VPP installations worked for us today... is this bug finally fixed???

[hhorn]

Still broken... I had another 33 devices with VPP errors this morning...

[david_harman]

VPP deployments and upgrades are both still jacked up ...

[ImAMacGuy]

ours were working for a while, just saw it broken again today.

[hhorn]

It seems to be working occasionally, we are definitely seeing an improvement, usually the apps would not install at all, but currently we are getting VPP errors but the app will eventually install. We are using macOS 10.15.5 and Jamf Pro 10.22.1

[ImAMacGuy]

I had a user today that was trying to install a couple apps but were on VPN. I had them disconnect VPN and try again. The reported back that all apps installed as expected.

[hhorn]

It is definitely a hit and miss at this stage... Still better than in the past. Apple you are on path to solving this...

[hhorn]

I take everything back, as of yesterday we can't install any App Store Apps anymore...

[bradtchapman]

@jwojda : which VPN provider are you using? And is it split-tunnel or full-tunnel? Are you seeing this on all versions of macOS or just just the latest?

[GeorgeCasper]

We're having it here with iMovie and XCode. Nothing like trying to get software on machines for the start of the semester and having it inexplicably and silently fail...

[lmoeckler]

Same here. sometimes they work and sometimes they don't. No solution yet.

[JamfMyMac]

This is still not working for us. Any one got this solved?

Thank you.

[Dylan_YYC]

Still an ongoing issue for me too. Its a little less frequent, but i still see it often enough.

[aarron_tilley]

Still an issue here as well, typically with xcode but typically because its the biggest installer we are getting from VPP

[hhorn]

I have received a message from Jamf Support today with the following statement:
The issue that you were originally experiencing, so the PI-007435 is partially resolved by Apple from what we know.
By partially I mean that new installations of applications should work without any issues only updates of Applications may fail. The updates, unfortunately, may still fail with those errors. Sometimes it might be caused by the network connection also.
Can anyone confirm this?

[PatrickD]

Hey @hhorn,

Yes, I can confirm that. We are still struggling with Self Service installed VPP apps and having them update automatically.

We have had a case open with Jamf for several months now. Their last workaround was to run a particular script which would attempt to prompt the app to update. This, however, would not work due to a separate issue when trying to call the install policy from Self Service. Instead of running the policy as it should, it simply opens Self Service to the description of the policy.

They are apparently still working on a solution. That was a few weeks ago.

[gregreznik]

confirming that updating to the latest version 10.24 worked to fix our VPP issues.

[PatrickD]

Hey @bayareag,

Would you mind confirming exactly what issues it resolved? eg:
- Self Service app installs
- Updates to Self Service installed apps (for device assigned content that does not require the user's Apple ID to have that in their purchase history)
- Auto installed apps
- Updates to auto installed apps

Cheers

[gregreznik]

@PatrickD

Confirming that I am now able to do:

1. Self Service app install of VPP resources
2. Auto install VPP apps

Updates to Self Service apps or auto-install apps I could not test yet.