Adobe Admin Console Packages – 3.0

Standard

Only 3 months ago, we announced Adobe Admin Console Packages – 2.0. Well, there have since been some changes which have required a rewrite and as new version, hence 3.0.

The primary changes are:

  • The Adobe installers are now installed locally, with the locally installed application being queried to get the required metadata.
  • Due to the above, the script AdobeAdminConsolePackagesImporter.py, now needs to be run under sudo.
  • Additionally, two new flags have been added to AdobeAdminConsolePackagesImporter.py:
    • –extract-icons: Extracts the applications icon to the recipes %RECIPE_CACHE_DIR%
    • –uninstall: Uninstalls the applications from the Mac running AdobeAdminConsolePackagesImporter.py, one the have been processed for the required metadata.
  • With macOS 15 no longer supporting bundle packages, bundle package support has been removed.
  • Recipes for 2021 and 2022 titles have been removed.

For more details on the why, see below. Otherwise head over to the ReadMe.

Continue reading

MacAD.UK 2024 – TCC, PPPC, PPPCP… OMGWTFBBQ

Standard

During macad.uk 2024, I presented on PPPC.. with the 1st few minutes dedicated to me clarifying that I’m not from London.

See below for a link to the video, the GitHub repo with all of the links and lastly a link to the macad.uk 2024 playlist on YouTube (which at the time of writing, is being added to every Tuesday).

Continue reading

Adobe Admin Console Packages – 2.0

Standard

In June 2023, Adobe announced on that flat packages were available via the Adobe Admin Console. However, at the time these were limited to templates which would include one or more titles chosen by Adobe. Prior to this all macOS packages created by the Adobe Admin Console were bundle packages.

Fast forward to April 2024, and Adobe announced that the Adobe Admin Console now defaults to creating flat packages for macOS and the content of these packages are defined by the admin within the Adobe Admin Console.

Why does this matter? Well, bundle packages were deprecated in macOS 14.4 and if you’re testing macOS Sequoia (and you really should be), you’ll find that bundle packages are no longer supported.

A new version of our Adobe Admin Console Packages recipes and processor have been released, which add flat package support, moves the uninstall step to a script and if you import a bundle package it will set the maximum OS to 14.99. For full details, please see the readme.

If you want to know more about our Adobe Admin Console Packages recipes, please see the prior post here.

Because 40

Standard

A couple of weeks ago, was the 40th “birthday” of the Apple Macintosh. Well, today it’s my turn!

Entering my 40th year brings some a couple of milestones.

First up, I started supporting Apple devices when 18/19.. which means that I’ve now supported Apple devices for over half my life!

From working with Apple devices, I’ve been fortunate to visit many places and have met many great people. From those, there is a decent number of which I’ve know for the majority of my time supporting Apple devices and have become firm friends.

And even 20+ years on i’m still enjoying digging into issues and figuring things out, and had one such issue as recent as last week (I intend to blog about it shortly). Being so far into a career and still enjoying it is something to be thankful for.

The other milestone will be on: October 14th 2024. This will be 20 years to the day of my motorbike accident. An accident which almost meant I’d not have made it to 40 and one that has left me disabled since. This isn’t mentioned as a sober thing, (you have to have the bad to appreciate the good), just more that it’s another transformative event with an anniversary this year and that from October 14th 2024 I’ll have been disabled for over half my life.

Anyways, as you’re reading this you’re part of the reason I do what I do. So, thank you and hope to see you soon 🙂

JNUC2023: Extracting data from Jamf Pro: Hints, Tips and Tricks

Standard

During JNUC2023, not only was I invited to speak on a panel but I also delivered a talk, titled: Extracting data from Jamf Pro: Hints, Tips and Tricks.

See below for a link to the video, the GitHub repo with all of the links as well as PDF of the slides, and lastly a link to the JNUC2023 playlist.

Continue reading

JNUC 2023: Connect, Collaborate and Communicate with Jamf Communities!

Standard

I’ll always remember this past year’s JNUC as a special one.

Not only was I was given the opportunity to speak about my history with the Jamf community, (which is something I’ve posted about here before and can often be heard chatting about), but it was also my first JNUC as a Jamf.

See below for a link to the video and a link to the JNUC2023 playlist.

Continue reading

Issue accessing certain websites after installing the iOS 16.5.1 (a), iPadOS 16.5.1 (a), and macOS 13.4.1 (a) Rapid Security Responses

Standard

Yesterday, Apple released Rapid Security Responses (RSR’s) for iOS 16.5.1, iPadOS 16.5.1, and macOS 13.4.1.

However, not long after it’s released people started to see issues accessing certain websites via Safari.

In response to this, Apple posted the above shown KB. This KB advises Rapid Security Responses iOS 16.5.1 (b), iPadOS 16.5.1 (b), and macOS 13.4.1 (b) will be available soon to address this issue, and how to remove the RSR’s.

See below for some more details on the issue affecting the iOS 16.5.1, iPadOS 16.5.1, and macOS 13.4.1 RSR’s, how to remove and detect.

Continue reading

MacAD.UK 2023 – What’s new in macOS Ventura for Mac admins

Standard

At macad.uk 2023 I revisited a talk I gave in November at a dataJAR Tech Series event.

See below for a link to the video, the GitHub repo with all of the links and lastly a link to the macad.uk 2023 playlist on YouTube.

Continue reading

MacAD.UK Panel 2023

Standard

At this years macad.uk, I was invited to join the MacAdmins.org Podcast on stage for a live podcast.

I accepted, partly due to wanting to keep myself ahead of Joel.. and also as I was 3 ciders in (thanks to VMware for the open bar).

A link to this episode can be found below, and some of the conversation hasn’t aged too well.. with recent announcements made at WWDC.

Continue reading

Apple platform deployment – Accessing the latest version when your locale is neither en-ca or en-us

Standard

TL;DR – To get the latest version of Apple platform deployment which has been updated as per the above when your locale is neither en-ca or en-us, go to: https://support.apple.com/en-ca/guide/deployment/welcome/web

More details on this below.

Continue reading