Self Service OS updates

[Andrew_Bryant]

What method are people using these days to either force push an update (for a lab for example) or allow users to update their OS from Self Service.

This process use to be very simple to do but with multiple Apple changes over the last few OS versions I haven't been able to get it to work properly.

Any help is appreciated, thank you!

[jamf-42]

force update via JAMF beta software update / DDM

Update via Self Service is no longer an option, other than opening the Software update pane in Software Settings and geting them to click 'update' 

[sdagley]

I'll 2nd what @jamf-42 said about using Declarative Device Management (DDM) to schedule updates, but that's a macOS Sonoma feature. If your environment isn't all on macOS Sonoma then I'd recommend erase-install (ignore the name, the erase is optional): https://github.com/grahampugh/erase-install

[RaxiaDK]

Self service I use Super / S.U.P.E.R.M.A.N

[AJPinto]

We are also using DDM via Jamf Software Updates. There are currently no methods that Self-service can hook into in order to install software updates on Apple Silicon Macs without user interaction, so we have shifted entirely to MDM/DDM commands.

As an effort to have user engagement, we use Jamf helper to notify users when OS updates are available. It runs from a policy daily and will toss the Jamf Helper policy if the script sees OS updates and exit without doing anything if there are no updates.

[jtrant]

I use SUPER for both prompted and user-initiated update runs via Self Service. As @AJPinto mentioned, user interaction is required for Apple Silicon devices, but the tool will cache the user's password for use in subsequent update runs.

[Andrew_Bryant]

So just to confirm, it sounds like the old way (multiple OS ago) of allowing users to update their OS via Self Service policies is no longer possible? I haven't done anything with the Software updates section yet, does this allow users to complete updates on their own without admin rights? 

I am not familiar with SUPER, will have to look into it.

Thank everyone for their time!

[McAwesome]

Users shouldn't need admin rights to update their machines via System Settings.  As of macOS 12.3, that includes for major macOS upgrades.

[RaxiaDK]

they dont need admin rights, that need volume owner, on old os, in the text it say, admin rights is needed, but volume owner work no problem

[DDC]

I've been using erase-install as a manual Self Service item for standard users to upgrade macOS without IT. It works for Intel based machines and ARM (which does require the user to be a volume owner and enter their username/password).

I also push erase-install to our Intel based labs using a policy for upgrades over a weekend. The Jamf Software Update beta is something I use for our laptop fleets, I do find it not as reliable as the erase-install script.