macOS Mojave incompatible Mac Models - Smart Computer Group

[AndreasRumpl]

According to the Apple Public Beta Page the following Macs are compatible with macOS 10.14 (Mojave):

MacBook (Early 2015 or newer)
MacBook Air (Mid 2012 or newer)
MacBook Pro (Mid 2012 or newer)
Mac mini (Late 2012 or newer)
iMac (Late 2012 or newer)
iMac Pro (2017)
Mac Pro (Late 2013, plus mid 2010 and mid 2012 models with recommended Metal-capable GPU, including MSI Gaming Radeon RX 560 and Sapphire Radeon PULSE RX 580)

@rtrouton Wrote a nice page about how to create a smart group for High Sierra incompatible Macs

As we have many soon to be unsupported Macs in our infrastructure I adapted his xml-file to reflect the changed compatible models:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<computer_group>
  <name>Macs incompatible with macOS Mojave</name>
  <is_smart>true</is_smart>
  <criteria>
    <size>37</size>
    <criterion>
      <name>Model Identifier</name>
      <priority>0</priority>
      <and_or>or</and_or>
      <search_type>is</search_type>
      <value>MacBookPro4,1</value>
    </criterion>
    <criterion>
      <name>Model Identifier</name>
      <priority>1</priority>
      <and_or>or</and_or>
      <search_type>is</search_type>
      <value>MacPro2,1</value>
    </criterion>
    <criterion>
      <name>Model Identifier</name>
      <priority>2</priority>
      <and_or>or</and_or>
      <search_type>is</search_type>
      <value>MacBookPro5,1</value>
    </criterion>
    <criterion>
      <name>Model Identifier</name>
      <priority>3</priority>
      <and_or>or</and_or>
      <search_type>is</search_type>
      <value>MacBookPro1,1</value>
    </criterion>
    <criterion>
      <name>Model Identifier</name>
      <priority>4</priority>
      <and_or>or</and_or>
      <search_type>is</search_type>
      <value>MacBookPro5,3</value>
    </criterion>
    <criterion>
      <name>Model Identifier</name>
      <priority>5</priority>
      <and_or>or</and_or>
      <search_type>is</search_type>
      <value>MacBookPro5,2</value>
    </criterion>
    <criterion>
      <name>Model Identifier</name>
      <priority>6</priority>
      <and_or>or</and_or>
      <search_type>is</search_type>
      <value>iMac8,1</value>
    </criterion>
    <criterion>
      <name>Model Identifier</name>
      <priority>7</priority>
      <and_or>or</and_or>
      <search_type>is</search_type>
      <value>MacBookPro5,4</value>
    </criterion>
    <criterion>
      <name>Model Identifier</name>
      <priority>8</priority>
      <and_or>or</and_or>
      <search_type>is</search_type>
      <value>iMac5,1</value>
    </criterion>
    <criterion>
      <name>Model Identifier</name>
      <priority>9</priority>
      <and_or>or</and_or>
      <search_type>is</search_type>
      <value>iMac5,2</value>
    </criterion>
    <criterion>
      <name>Model Identifier</name>
      <priority>10</priority>
      <and_or>or</and_or>
      <search_type>is</search_type>
      <value>iMac6,1</value>
    </criterion>
    <criterion>
      <name>Model Identifier</name>
      <priority>11</priority>
      <and_or>or</and_or>
      <search_type>is</search_type>
      <value>MacBookPro3,1</value>
    </criterion>
    <criterion>
      <name>Model Identifier</name>
      <priority>12</priority>
      <and_or>or</and_or>
      <search_type>is</search_type>
      <value>MacBookPro1,2</value>
    </criterion>
    <criterion>
      <name>Model Identifier</name>
      <priority>13</priority>
      <and_or>or</and_or>
      <search_type>is</search_type>
      <value>iMac9,1</value>
    </criterion>
    <criterion>
      <name>Model Identifier</name>
      <priority>14</priority>
      <and_or>or</and_or>
      <search_type>is</search_type>
      <value>Macmini3,1</value>
    </criterion>
    <criterion>
      <name>Model Identifier</name>
      <priority>15</priority>
      <and_or>or</and_or>
      <search_type>is</search_type>
      <value>Macmini1,1</value>
    </criterion>
    <criterion>
      <name>Model Identifier</name>
      <priority>16</priority>
      <and_or>or</and_or>
      <search_type>is</search_type>
      <value>iMac4,2</value>
    </criterion>
    <criterion>
      <name>Model Identifier</name>
      <priority>17</priority>
      <and_or>or</and_or>
      <search_type>is</search_type>
      <value>MacBookPro2,2</value>
    </criterion>
    <criterion>
      <name>Model Identifier</name>
      <priority>18</priority>
      <and_or>or</and_or>
      <search_type>is</search_type>
      <value>MacBookPro2,1</value>
    </criterion>
    <criterion>
      <name>Model Identifier</name>
      <priority>19</priority>
      <and_or>or</and_or>
      <search_type>is</search_type>
      <value>MacBook3,1</value>
    </criterion>
    <criterion>
      <name>Model Identifier</name>
      <priority>20</priority>
      <and_or>or</and_or>
      <search_type>is</search_type>
      <value>MacBook5,1</value>
    </criterion>
    <criterion>
      <name>Model Identifier</name>
      <priority>21</priority>
      <and_or>or</and_or>
      <search_type>is</search_type>
      <value>MacBook5,2</value>
    </criterion>
    <criterion>
      <name>Model Identifier</name>
      <priority>22</priority>
      <and_or>or</and_or>
      <search_type>is</search_type>
      <value>MacBook2,1</value>
    </criterion>
    <criterion>
      <name>Model Identifier</name>
      <priority>23</priority>
      <and_or>or</and_or>
      <search_type>is</search_type>
      <value>iMac4,1</value>
    </criterion>
    <criterion>
      <name>Model Identifier</name>
      <priority>24</priority>
      <and_or>or</and_or>
      <search_type>is</search_type>
      <value>MacBook1,1</value>
    </criterion>
    <criterion>
      <name>Model Identifier</name>
      <priority>25</priority>
      <and_or>or</and_or>
      <search_type>is</search_type>
      <value>MacBookPro5,5</value>
    </criterion>
    <criterion>
      <name>Model Identifier</name>
      <priority>26</priority>
      <and_or>or</and_or>
      <search_type>is</search_type>
      <value>Xserve2,1</value>
    </criterion>
    <criterion>
      <name>Model Identifier</name>
      <priority>27</priority>
      <and_or>or</and_or>
      <search_type>is</search_type>
      <value>MacBookAir1,1</value>
    </criterion>
    <criterion>
      <name>Model Identifier</name>
      <priority>28</priority>
      <and_or>or</and_or>
      <search_type>is</search_type>
      <value>Xserve3,1</value>
    </criterion>
    <criterion>
      <name>Model Identifier</name>
      <priority>29</priority>
      <and_or>or</and_or>
      <search_type>is</search_type>
      <value>MacBookAir2,1</value>
    </criterion>
    <criterion>
      <name>Model Identifier</name>
      <priority>30</priority>
      <and_or>or</and_or>
      <search_type>is</search_type>
      <value>Xserve1,1</value>
    </criterion>
    <criterion>
      <name>Model Identifier</name>
      <priority>31</priority>
      <and_or>or</and_or>
      <search_type>is</search_type>
      <value>Macmini2,1</value>
    </criterion>
    <criterion>
      <name>Model Identifier</name>
      <priority>32</priority>
      <and_or>or</and_or>
      <search_type>is</search_type>
      <value>MacPro3,1</value>
    </criterion>
    <criterion>
      <name>Model Identifier</name>
      <priority>33</priority>
      <and_or>or</and_or>
      <search_type>is</search_type>
      <value>iMac7,1</value>
    </criterion>
    <criterion>
      <name>Model Identifier</name>
      <priority>34</priority>
      <and_or>or</and_or>
      <search_type>is</search_type>
      <value>MacBook4,1</value>
    </criterion>
    <criterion>
      <name>Model Identifier</name>
      <priority>35</priority>
      <and_or>or</and_or>
      <search_type>is</search_type>
      <value>MacPro1,1</value>
    </criterion>
    <criterion>
      <name>Model Identifier</name>
      <priority>36</priority>
      <and_or>or</and_or>
      <search_type>is</search_type>
      <value>MacPro4,1</value>
    </criterion>
    <criterion>
      <name>Model Identifier</name>
      <priority>37</priority>
      <and_or>or</and_or>
      <search_type>is</search_type>
      <value>MacBook6,1</value>
    </criterion>
    <criterion>
      <name>Model Identifier</name>
      <priority>38</priority>
      <and_or>or</and_or>
      <search_type>is</search_type>
      <value>MacBook7,1</value>
    </criterion>
    <criterion>
      <name>Model Identifier</name>
      <priority>39</priority>
      <and_or>or</and_or>
      <search_type>is</search_type>
      <value>MacBookPro7,1</value>
    </criterion>
    <criterion>
      <name>Model Identifier</name>
      <priority>40</priority>
      <and_or>or</and_or>
      <search_type>is</search_type>
      <value>MacBookPro6,2</value>
    </criterion>
    <criterion>
      <name>Model Identifier</name>
      <priority>41</priority>
      <and_or>or</and_or>
      <search_type>is</search_type>
      <value>MacBookPro6,1</value>
    </criterion>
    <criterion>
      <name>Model Identifier</name>
      <priority>42</priority>
      <and_or>or</and_or>
      <search_type>is</search_type>
      <value>MacBookPro8,1</value>
    </criterion>
    <criterion>
      <name>Model Identifier</name>
      <priority>43</priority>
      <and_or>or</and_or>
      <search_type>is</search_type>
      <value>MacBookPro8,2</value>
    </criterion>
    <criterion>
      <name>Model Identifier</name>
      <priority>44</priority>
      <and_or>or</and_or>
      <search_type>is</search_type>
      <value>MacBookPro8,3</value>
    </criterion>
    <criterion>
      <name>Model Identifier</name>
      <priority>45</priority>
      <and_or>or</and_or>
      <search_type>is</search_type>
      <value>MacBookAir3,1</value>
    </criterion>
    <criterion>
      <name>Model Identifier</name>
      <priority>46</priority>
      <and_or>or</and_or>
      <search_type>is</search_type>
      <value>MacBookAir3,2</value>
    </criterion>
    <criterion>
      <name>Model Identifier</name>
      <priority>47</priority>
      <and_or>or</and_or>
      <search_type>is</search_type>
      <value>MacBookAir4,1</value>
    </criterion>
    <criterion>
      <name>Model Identifier</name>
      <priority>48</priority>
      <and_or>or</and_or>
      <search_type>is</search_type>
      <value>MacBookAir4,2</value>
    </criterion>
    <criterion>
      <name>Model Identifier</name>
      <priority>49</priority>
      <and_or>or</and_or>
      <search_type>is</search_type>
      <value>Macmini4,1</value>
    </criterion>
    <criterion>
      <name>Model Identifier</name>
      <priority>50</priority>
      <and_or>or</and_or>
      <search_type>is</search_type>
      <value>Macmini5,1</value>
    </criterion>
    <criterion>
      <name>Model Identifier</name>
      <priority>51</priority>
      <and_or>or</and_or>
      <search_type>is</search_type>
      <value>Macmini5,2</value>
    </criterion>
    <criterion>
      <name>Model Identifier</name>
      <priority>52</priority>
      <and_or>or</and_or>
      <search_type>is</search_type>
      <value>Macmini5,3</value>
    </criterion>
    <criterion>
      <name>Model Identifier</name>
      <priority>53</priority>
      <and_or>or</and_or>
      <search_type>is</search_type>
      <value>iMac10,1</value>
    </criterion>
    <criterion>
      <name>Model Identifier</name>
      <priority>54</priority>
      <and_or>or</and_or>
      <search_type>is</search_type>
      <value>iMac11,1</value>
    </criterion>
    <criterion>
      <name>Model Identifier</name>
      <priority>55</priority>
      <and_or>or</and_or>
      <search_type>is</search_type>
      <value>iMac11,2</value>
    </criterion>
    <criterion>
      <name>Model Identifier</name>
      <priority>56</priority>
      <and_or>or</and_or>
      <search_type>is</search_type>
      <value>iMac11,3</value>
    </criterion>
    <criterion>
      <name>Model Identifier</name>
      <priority>57</priority>
      <and_or>or</and_or>
      <search_type>is</search_type>
      <value>iMac12,1</value>
    </criterion>
    <criterion>
      <name>Model Identifier</name>
      <priority>58</priority>
      <and_or>or</and_or>
      <search_type>is</search_type>
      <value>iMac12,2</value>
    </criterion>
  </criteria>
  <computers/>
</computer_group>

For creating the smart group you will need to use the api as in the original blog post described:

curl -skfu username:password https://jamfpro.server.here:8443/JSSResource/computergroups/id/0 -T /path/to/filename.xml -X POST

I hope that this is useful for some of you guys :)

[jwojda]

thank you @AndreasRumpl and @rtrouton for doing the heavy lifting for the community!

[Taylor_Armstron]

Thank you!

Working 100% here.

[MLBZ521]

I've been considering doing something similar for machines that are not on the proper firmware version per OS. ( See: our large fleet of imaged Macs that haven't been getting firmware updates for years now... :/ )

If anyone would want to do this a different way, given Jamf doesn't recommend so many criteria in a Smart Group, I have an extension attribute to get the Latest OS Supported per Model and Current OS Version.

https://github.com/MLBZ521/MacAdmin/blob/master/Jamf%20Pro/Extension%20Attributes/jamf_ea_LatestOSSu...

Supports El Capitan to Mojave.

[mm2270]

Like @MLBZ521 states, having that many criteria items in one Smart Group is not advisable. While I'm sure it "works", it also creates a lot of stress on the server during Smart Group calculation, which happens a lot more frequently than most people realize - basically every time a machine checks in with new inventory, and some other times as well.
Using an EA that simply creates a Supported/Not Supported result is more efficient. It offloads the work onto the client during a recon. You could also have a one time policy run on each Mac that runs a script to determine Mojave eligibility, and then either drops the result into a file that an EA can pick up easily, or even an API script to write the result into a pop up menu style EA. Any of the above would be better than creating a Smart Group with 59 criteria items in it in my opinion.

[mkolb]

I'm not so sure if this really causes such troubles for the database like you said. We all use a lot of smart groups for all kind of things and yes, in this smart group are 59 criteria BUT they are just "connected" with OR. So there wouldn't be much difference between one group with 59 criteria or 59 smart groups with one criteria. And in any bigger environment the amount of ~60 smart groups doesn't seem to be unrealistic. I guess an even higher amount would be totally normal.

I agree, the solution with the extension attribute is an elegant way to solve this, but I don't see any real problems if you go the smart group way. If something like this really stresses your database in a critical way, I think it's time to check the database(-host).

And no matter if you do the EA or the SG way, after your environment upgraded to Mojave and/or you got rid of all the clients that are too old, you can stop to monitor this anyway, so it is just temporary.

[MLBZ521]

We've been having some pretty noticeable performance issues in our environment and when I reached out to Jamf, they specifically said:

We normally don't recommend over 10 criteria for smart groups as you will then see some performance issues

The other thing would be, what are you using this Smart Group for? We teach to our Site Admins that Smart Groups are not for Reporting purposes. If they're only creating the Smart Group to see the number in the group, and not using the Group in a Scope some where, we highly request they do not do that.

Our server side environment, resource wise, has more than the recommended resources for the quantity of managed devices (or at least we believe based on what support provided me). Still, if you're not going to use it, it would be better to create an Advanced Search out of the criteria.

Also, for my EA, I have a use for it outside of this as well. I have an macOS Upgrade workflow (script) that can be used to provide a "Self Service" Upgrade to users and/or push a forced upgrade as well. So a Site Admin can scope the Policy to the status of that EA essentially.

[kstrick]

Using @MLBZ521's script, but it's showing Mac Pro 2013's as incompatible...
i just looked at a 2013 model, and "/usr/sbin/system_profiler SPDisplaysData" doesn't show metal support, but it's a using AMD Fire Pro GPU's, so i know it's supposed to work.... gonna have to look at script to see if i can tweak...
machines like that show 'High Sierra / OS Limitation,GFX unsupported'

trying to avoid the complex smart group, since it hammers jamf pro to calculate for every machine that checks in

Update: i think i know why--- OS is lower than 10.13.6 on some mac pro 2013's, so it considers it too low... my guess is that this is accounting for firmware patch level?

[cbrewer]

I use a Smart Group for this but with regex for each model identifier to keep my criteria cleaner and more manageable.

[MLBZ521]

@kstrick

Eh, I didn't specifically test on a MacPro 2013....

Just tested and I see what the issue is for "GFX unsupported". These models report different results on Sierra and High Sierra/Mojave, as well as reporting for each GFX Card installed.

10.12 Sierra:

Supported Supported

10.13 High Sierra/10.14 Mojave:

Supported, feature set macOS GPUFamily1 v3 Supported, feature set macOS GPUFamily1 v3

For the OS Limitation issue, this is caused by the logic I added for the Mac Pro Mid 2010/Mid 2012 models. For MacPro 6,1 (2013/Trash Cans), these should be supported no matter the existing state, since they wouldn't be compatible with any OS that is too old, nor have incompatible hardware. So they shouldn't run through the logic for those older systems.

Updated my EA to reflect. Let me know if that doesn't resolve it for you.

[donmontalvo]

FWIW...

#!/bin/bash
# Check if computer supports Mojave (https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201475). 20190129 DM

outputFile="/tmp/.tempMojaveTestFile.txt"
modelIdentifier=$( sysctl -n hw.model )
folderPath="/Library/COMPANY/SearchResults"
dateString=$( date '+%Y%m%d-%H%M%S-%Z' )

# Create folder if it doesn't exit

mkdir -p $folderPath
chown root:admin $folderPath

# Create temp file

cat << 'EOF' > $outputFile
iMac10,1
iMac11,1
iMac11,2
iMac11,3
iMac12,1
iMac12,2
iMac4,1
iMac4,2
iMac5,1
iMac5,2
iMac6,1
iMac7,1
iMac8,1
iMac9,1
MacBook1,1
MacBook2,1
MacBook3,1
MacBook4,1
MacBook5,1
MacBook5,2
MacBook6,1
MacBook7,1
MacBookAir1,1
MacBookAir2,1
MacBookAir3,1
MacBookAir3,2
MacBookAir4,1
MacBookAir4,2
MacBookPro1,1
MacBookPro1,2
MacBookPro2,1
MacBookPro2,2
MacBookPro3,1
MacBookPro4,1
MacBookPro5,1
MacBookPro5,2
MacBookPro5,3
MacBookPro5,4
MacBookPro5,5
MacBookPro6,1
MacBookPro6,2
MacBookPro7,1
MacBookPro8,1
MacBookPro8,2
MacBookPro8,3
Macmini1,1
Macmini2,1
Macmini3,1
Macmini4,1
Macmini5,1
Macmini5,2
Macmini5,3
MacPro1,1
MacPro2,1
MacPro3,1
MacPro4,1
Xserve1,1
Xserve2,1
Xserve3,1
EOF

if [[ -e "$outputFile" ]]
then
    if grep -R "$modelIdentifier" "$outputFile"
    then
        echo "$dateString SupportsMojaveNOT" > "$folderPath"/SupportsMojaveNOT.txt
    else
        echo "$dateString SupportsMojave" > "$folderPath"/SupportsMojave.txt
    fi
else
    echo "$outputFile does not exist."
    exit 1
fi

rm "$outputFile"

exit 0

[sbirdsley]

Anyone have anything like this for Catalina yet?

[cbrewer]

All Macs that run Mojave can run Catalina - except for MacPro5,1.

[MLBZ521]

@sbirdsley I've added preliminary support for Catalina in my extension attribute.

https://github.com/MLBZ521/MacAdmin/blob/master/Jamf%20Pro/Extension%20Attributes/jamf_ea_LatestOSSu...

[remus]

@MLBZ521 After creating the extension attribute from the script you provided, how does one use that in JAMF to get the results?

[MLBZ521]

@remus Every extension attribute becomes an available criteria item in Advanced Searches and Smart Groups. So you can build logic around the EA through those.

Does that answer your question?

[dan-snelson]

Thanks, @MLBZ521!

[remus]

@MLBZ521 Thank you for taking the time to explain it to me!
Still trying to get my head around Extension Attributes… I want for example a list of the Macs that cannot run Catalina.

What do I use for Value in this case? If I use what the script outputs in the terminal… for example Catalina in the Value field I get Macs from 2017. That cannot be right.

[MLBZ521]

@remus

For Macs that are not compatible with Catalina, you'll need to use two criteria:

1. <EA> is not Catalina
2. <EA> is not ^(?!s*$).+

Criteria 1 gets devices that have reported they are not compatible with Catalina.
Criteria 2 gets devices that have not submitted inventory with the value of it is compatible or not.

Criteria 2 is likely why you're seeing 2017 devices in your search. Until a device submits inventory, the EA will be blank. The EA script has to run on the local device after it is added into Jamf Pro for the value to be reported. EA scripts do not run within Jamf, but instead, are ran on the local device. So my method is different from others in here due to the desired functionality. cbrewer's Smart Group method would be the approach I would take if I wanted the logic ran in Jamf Pro, however, it would require a one Smart Group per OS Version and......I don't want any more Smart Groups than I have to currently. We use Sites and have way to many Smart Groups as is.

This EA will report compatibility, including reasons why it may not be compatible, such as device doesn't have enough available resources (drive space), if the Graphics Card doesn't support Metal 2, or if the current OS is limiting the maximum OS level that the device could upgrade too (aka, get the latest compatible OS, you'd have a two step OS upgrade process).

[sbirdsley]

Thanks @MLBZ521

[stevewood]

@MLBZ521

Since you really only need this to run one time on an endpoint, I would suggest converting this to a Policy that stores the value in a plist on the system. Then you can use an EA that reads the value in from the plist. Much less heavy on the system during an inventory update since EAs run every time a recon happens.

#!/bin/sh

plist_path='/some/path/to/yourplist.plist'
plist_value=$( /usr/bin/defaults read ${plist_path} your_key )

if [[ -z ${plist_value} ]]; then

    echo "<result>No Data</result>"

else

    echo "<result>${plist_value}</result>"

fi
exit 0

Obviously you'll need to edit the plist path in that script and set the your_key to whatever key you store the value in in your plist.

We use a plist file to store all sorts of info we need like AD Computer name, AD groups, email address of user, city the machine was provisioned to (we ask this during build), and other data. That way when we run recon we simply pull the values from their respective keys in the plist. Much lighter weight.

Also, by placing No Data in there, you have an easier method to find systems that do not have data yet.

However, nice script and I'll probably put it in play in our environment. I was playing around with a bunch of regex values last night (before searching for this post) and was just going to use that in an advanced search/smart group (still may).

[MLBZ521]

Since you really only need this to run one time on an endpoint

Not technically:

• Each new OS Version will require this to run again
• What if the endpoint OS is 10.7 (which has can only upgrade to Sierra max) and is upgraded to something newer; it could then be compatible with macOS 10.13
• Also, my script checks if the hardware is compatible, so RAM and disk space availability or graphics card changes, the EA value will report accordingly

Some may not care about the last point and some may not have these older OS versions running around in their fleets to care about the stepped upgrade process and that's perfectly fine. I included these to cover all points. Feel free to adjust to your needs.

Obviously, this value probably doesn't change all that often, and I understand that. But the script takes less than half a second to run (in my, possibly not very scientific, testing -- and it may could be improved), so I don't think that's going to affect the inventory/recon time significantly.

I'd rather the machine do this once on inventory than I would want the JSS constantly recalculating the Smart Group each machine every time it submits inventory. Also, depending on how you design the Smart Group criteria, Jamf does not recommend more than 10 criteria per smart group. And...you'd need one smart group per version of macOS, correct?

We have a very heavy usage of "Sites" (which we're working on consolidating) and I have to provide solutions that work for all Sites without relying on my Site Admins knowing how to this. I also want my JPSs' doing as little as possible given the performance issues we have.

It's all preferences for the most part. I'm just providing food for thought. Not saying you're wrong in any sense. I have been considering a plist "store" of information that can be used by different automated processes. So I do like that idea.

[donmontalvo]

@MLBZ521 wrote:

Not technically: Each new OS Version will require this to run again

Would guess a new script and policy would be needed to test for Death Valley (or whatever 10.16 will be called). :)

[stevewood]

@MLBZ521

You make a valid point about systems that are hardware capable but not OS capable. I'll admit that I hadn't looked deep into your script before posting that, so I didn't realize you were using OS version as part of the compatibility check.

I guess I am very hesitant to run scripts that have to make calculations like that as an EA. We are well over 15,000 devices with close to 100 sites, so the thought of something going wrong in an EA gives me shivers.

Even if this needs to run more than once, you could run it as a policy set to Once a Month, or some other repeating schedule. At least then the heavy lifting is done via policy and not via EA.

I'd rather the machine do this once on inventory than I would want the JSS constantly recalculating the Smart Group each machine every time it submits inventory

Won't you still need a Smart Group to capture systems that can run a specific OS? I agree that re-calc is a major problem as you get to scale, but unfortunately some Smart Groups are unavoidable.

The SG that I am working on is only 8 criteria, all using regex, like the one posted above.

But hey, more than one way to skin a feline.

Oh, and we are also working on a consolidation of sites. We do not have site admins, so the sites are simply there as a way to organize our business units. We're utilizing plist info now to do that organization.

[MLBZ521]

That makes sense.

What would be different with this EA vs any other EA? All EAs are performing some type logic on the device.
We don't have that many devices today, about a 1/3 (though we have multiple Jamf instances, which some may consolidate in the future -- and we know of plenty of devices that still are not managed). But we, until recently, had over 120 Sites -- we're down to 99 as of today.

The once a month is an idea. And not a bad one at all. Just depends on how other supporting logic is built around it (could be a month until that updates...though inventory may not be super up to date either, depending on your environment).

Won't you still need a Smart Group to capture systems that can run a specific OS?

Technically, yes. But that's up to the Site Admins today, if they wish to use them. (Most do not so far.) We'll probably build logic off this in the future though from the "full admin-level".

Yeah, the regex method above is great. Unfortunately, Site Admins can't take advantage of the Smart Groups outside of their Site...and then we'd have 100+ Smart Groups doing this work. (Do not want!)

Very true, multiple ways to do things that still can be 100% correct and acceptable.

[teodle]

The EA script for "highest supported OS" looks interesting but how to account for "purgeable" free space? I ran it on a machine with 54 GB free (40 GB purgeable) and of course, the script returns "insufficient resources" because diskutil only sees 14 GB free and the EA script sets a 20 GB threshold.

[DJC]

Does anyone have an example on how they converted this to a policy? I like the info @MLBZ521's script outputs but am with @stevewood in that I don't need this to run daily.

[stevewood]

@DJC

You could convert @MLBZ521 EA into a script that runs via a policy and simply writes out to a plist file. Then use an EA to read in the value from that plist. That's how we handle grabbing software version values that we want in an EA or something, or other data.

So wherever the script has an echo "<result></result>" type tag, you could replace that with defaults write /path/to/some/plist MojaveCompatible <value>.

Then the EA would just read that value in with something like echo "<result>$(defaults read /path/to/some/plist MojaveCompatible)</result>. Test that, of course, because I'm not 100% it will work.

[MLBZ521]

@teodle My script just does a very basic check for available space. Nothing fancy. If you want something more, it would have to be added.

@DJC Do you update inventory daily? (We don't, so it's not run that often.) But as I think I've said before, I'd much rather the client run this logic (which is not very resource intensive) once every inventory than having Jamf Pro run the logic for thousands of systems.

@stevewood's last post isn't a bad idea either. But the policy is still going to be running this logic on the system the same as the EA. Though you could control how often the policy is ran. It mainly depends on how often you believe your systems are changing to require an updated EA value.

[tcandela]

@MLBZ521 hi there. Is that EA that you posted about on 7/5/2018 fully up to date and supports macOS 10.15 Catalina?

here is that link of the EA you provided to list a macs Lastest Support OS Version

This EA script that you posted doesn't seem to work. All the computers are coming up as CATALINA compatible, even 2011 imacs.

thank you

[MLBZ521]

@tcandela I don't see the issue you described in my environment. At least, not with 2011 iMacs. I didn't check other models too much further at the moment though.

I updated it based on the Catalina Preview last summer (Updated on 6/21/2019). Make sure you have v1.6.0 in your environment.

The only thing I did not take into account in the last update was the hardware requirements change (specifically Catalina requires a minimum 4GB RAM); I forgot to go back and do that. I'll probably have to change the logic a bit to properly account for that as I had to do with Mac Pro's and Mojave. I'll look into it as I have time.

[tcandela]

@MLBZ521 i just grabbed Version 1.6.0 and am testing it as is.

Also maybe update some of the # comments in the script to also include 'Catalina'. for example

# First parameter is for Mojave, the second parameter is for High Sierra, and the third for El Capitan, to check compatible HW models.

does the EA get set once a mac goes through a 'check in' or must it be a 'recon'?

all macs in inventory are initially displaying 'Catalina', so i'll wait and see once each computer runs a 'recon'

https://github.com/MLBZ521/macOS.Jamf/blob/24fac31b18ba43f662f5c0bed1a1c6891bac6304/Extension%20Attributes/jamf_ea_LatestOSSupported.sh

[tcandela]

@MLBZ521 also what is the default value given in your 1.6.0 version of your EA script ?

I see how the script code is setup now. You have the following order
--- variable declarations
--- functions (3 of them)
--- main code

But with setting up this script as an EA all my macs are initially being marked as Catalina until a recon runs . Probably should include a default initial <result>macOS</result> something like this to not cause confusion

how does that 'modelcheck' function work?

[MLBZ521]

@tcandela Any time a new EA is added, it's value it going to be blank. EA values are not updated until a device has submitted inventory/recon (if the EA type is a script). If your EA values are still set to Catalina, then that is from the previous inventory submission. Updating the EA configuration does not change the existing values, they won't update until inventory has been submitted.

Yes, my comments confused me as well when I looked at it Saturday. I changed how I passed the parameters to the modelCheck function in one of the last updates to make it easier to update in the future and I didn't update the comments. I meant to go back and update those when I added the hardware requirements change, but forgot... I've fixed those in my draft I started working on, but haven't finished yet.

The logic "starts" in the final if statement in the script currently. When then calls the modelCheck Function.

[tcandela]

@MLBZ521 that's not how it worked for me. They all got initial EA values of 'Catalina'. from the beginning. I brought this up in my earlier comment 3/22/2020 @ 4:01pm

[MLBZ521]

@tcandela That's strange, because an EA of the type script never has a default value. It can't. The value is set only after the script is ran during an inventory. There's no other way to for Jamf Pro to determine the proper value.

What version of Jamf Pro are you running? There's been product issues where EA values were being populated by the values of a previously deleted device, but this was only affecting newly enrolled devices.

My only suggestion would be to delete the EA and create it again from scratch so that all current values are erased. Or you could create a duplicate of the EA and see what happens on the next inventory.

[tcandela]

@MLBZ521 I'll try the clone of the EA, but originally it was all getting populated with Catalina as the EA. Then as recon slowly started trickling in from macs 1 by 1 the EA would then correctly display the correct macOS.

Using Cloud hosted jamf

[MLBZ521]

@tcandela Yeah, that's really weird.

I just created a brand new EA (type script) in my environment, with only two possible values (Yes/No). About 50 have submitted inventory and everything else still has a blank value (we have over 5,000 clients currently).

If that happens again, I would report it to Jamf Support.

[MLBZ521]

@tcandela I just updated the jamf_ea_LatestOSSupported.sh script. I restructured and simplified the logic, commented the code more extensively, and improved the RAM checking logic.

The results should be more uniform now, as well and should always produce what the device is capable with currently, based on the current OS. If it is capable of a newer OS, but requires a stepped upgrade, it will only report the next version in the stepped upgrade path, not the final result, or report any determinations based on the final result.

[tcandela]

@MLBZ521 withe the updated EA script, so if you have a mac with 10.11 and can support 10.15 what will the updated EA show?

I just want it to show straight up the highest macOS the mac can currently run. So in this case 10.15