Where do self-service buttons appear?

[Morningside]

I have worked my way through this blog post (https://www.jamf.com/blog/reinstall-a-clean-macos-with-one-button/) detailing how to set up a macbook for a one-button clean install. The end results is supposed to be a self-service button that says "Erase & Install" however, for the life of me I cannot find it. Where is this supposed to appear?

[jcarr]

The 'button' is the policy you place in Self Service and scope to the devices you want to upgrade.  I usually use the 256x256 version of the ProductPageIcon.icns icon (found inside the app bundle) and change the default button text from 'Install' to 'Upgrade' (note that the erase-install package can either erase and install or just upgrade, depending on how you call the script).

[stevewood · Accepted solution]

Are you referring to where you put "Erase & Install" in the policy setup, or are you referring to when you look at Self Service from a machine you do not see that policy (button)?

If the former, that is on the Self Service tab of a policy, you replace the "Button Name" fields.

If the latter, make sure that the policy you are using for Erase & Install is scoped to the machine you are on. If you are using the Smart Groups that are described in that article, is the machine that you are checking from part of that Smart Group? I have not read the article lately, but looking at the Targets for that policy, it states it should be a Smart Group of machines that have cached the Monterey installer ( Install macOS Monterey.app Cached (Smart Computer Group)). So if the machine you are on has not cached the installer, the policy will not show up in Self Service.

[Morningside]

I am referring to where do I find it on the macbook I want to do a clean install on. I believe I have everything set up correctly: the policy is created and deployed to my test mac... but now how do I actually trigger the reinstall?

[stevewood]

If I go by the blog post, in order for the Erase & Install policy to be visible on that MacBook Pro, the first policy, Cache Install macOS Monterey.app, has to have completed and inventory has to be submitted. And in order for the MacBook Pro to run that first policy, it has to be a part of the "macOS Monterey Compatible Macs" Smart Group.

First thing I would check is if that computer shows up in the "macOS Monterey Compatible Macs" Smart Group. If it does, then you can move on to checking the policy that caches the macOS installer to the device.

If the policy to cache the installer has run and completed successfully, I would check the "Install macOS Monterey.app Cached" Smart Group to make sure the computer is now showing up there. If it is, then I would check to make sure the second policy, "Erase and Install macOS Monterey", is enabled.

[stevewood]

Oh, and also, if you're on an Apple Silicon device, then the policy will not show up since according to the blog post you would have an Exclusion setup on the scope to exclude all Apple Silicon devices.

[Morningside]

Thank you, for the continued help!  The device is not a silicon mac so that's one less thing to worry about. The device is definitely in the correct smart group. The thing is, I do not know for certain that the policy is not work. _where do I look on the macbook for self-service items_? _what do I click on to find it_? If I even knew that much I'd be a step closer to knowing if I have a problem or not.

[stevewood]

You would need to open the Self Service application that should be in the Applications folder of the MacBook Pro.

[Morningside]

I see!  There is no self service app in the applications folder. I have checked the self service section of the jamf pro settings and "auto install" is  turned on. I wonder if something is preventing it from being installed.

[Morningside]

I found the app. It was hidden! Didn't show up until I hit cmd + hift + . The policy is working as expected. Thank you for your help!