turn off software update and use a policy to trigger it whenever you want with something like softwareupdate -ia

eric winkelhake
mundocom technology
312 220 1669

you can use launchd, scheduled tasks, or a Casper policy to do this. Software Update has a command line binary, so a simple run once a day script baked in Casper and set to run once per a day and made available offline would run this every day.

from the man page:

bash-3.2# softwareupdate usage: softwareupdate <mode> [<args> ...]

-l | --listList all appropriate updates -d | --downloadDownload Only -i | --installInstall <label> ...specific updates -a | --allall appropriate updates -r | --recommendedonly recommended updates

Per-user preferences: --ignore <label> ...Ignore specific updates --reset-ignoredClear all ignored updates --schedule (on | off)Set automatic checking

-h | --helpPrint this hel

So a quick and dirty example:

/usr/sbin/softwareupdate -i -a

--------- or ----------

jamf runSoftwareUpdate

Just running those commands in an offline policy and set it for once a day will do so in the background. You can also have it force a reboot, however, be weary that users can stop the reboot and it may cause some unsaved data to be lost in current open applications.

-Tom

I realize now in hindsight that I could user Composer. D'oh!

Has anyone had success with this?

I do it via self service policy and it works, but I run internal SUS servers and use Casper to set the SUS to my clients by smart group

You can set the preferences to whatever you want. I borrowed someone's script (posted here) to turn on updates and automatic download - this modifies the com.apple.SoftwareUpdate.<UUID>.plist file in ~/Library/Preferences/ByHost. This script walks through all of the folders in the /Users directory on a machine, establishing preferences. Of course if you create a new user after running this script, unless you modify the /System/Library/User Template, the new users won't get these preferences.
On Nov 30, 2010, at 12:09 PM, David Marcantonio wrote:

#!/bin/bash

for USER in `ls -1 /Users | sed -e '/Shared/d' -e '/Deleted Users/d' -e '/.localized/d'`

do

# Turn on Software Update, silently

sudo -u $USER softwareupdate --schedule on > /dev/null sudo -u $USER defaults -currentHost write com.apple.SoftwareUpdate AgreedToLicenseAgrement -bool YES sudo -u $USER defaults -currentHost write com.apple.SoftwareUpdate AutomaticDownload -bool YES sudo -u $USER defaults -currentHost write com.apple.SoftwareUpdate LaunchAppInBackground -bool YES

done

BTW "AgreedToLicenseAgrement" is NOT a typo. If you wanted to turn off these options, simply change YES to NO.

Now, changing how often updates are checked modifies the com.apple.scheduler.<UUID>.plist file, also in ~/Library/Preferences/ByHost. You could probably find a way to script that if you wanted to.

You can't force the installation of updates at a specific time - as others have said, create a once-per-day policy that runs "softwareupdate -i -a" or "jamf runSoftwareUpdate".

I don't typically force updates, but, for one of my clients, created a Smart Group of machines that are out of scope (i.e. not 10.6.5), then create a once-daily "nag" script which throws up a message like "Mac OS not up-to-date, please run Software Update" and then opens Software Update in the background ;). But what works in this client may not work in yours; YMMV (your mileage may vary).

--Robert