[Casper] Software Update - laptop labs, progress indicator

Thu Apr 2 09:24:03 PDT 2009

No it is not possible from what I understand.  If it is powered on but
the lid shut it kills all network connections.  I know it kills my ssh
sessions when a user closes their lid.  I have had it done to me quite
often.  I will get them on chat, tell them that I am ssh in and will fix
their issue with out them knowing it.  I say ok the command is running
but needs time to complete, they close their lid and move along, and my
session was murdered. 

___________________________
Thomas Larkin
TIS Department
KCKPS USD500
tlarki at kckps.org
blackberry:  913-449-7589
office:  913-627-0351

>>> Clinton Blackmore <clinton.blackmore at westwind.ab.ca> 04/02/09 11:19
AM >>>

Wait a second--Is it possible for a laptop, closed and in a cart, to run
scripts and such?  If so, will it go back to sleep when it is done, and
is heat an issue?  (The carts are ventilated, mind you.) 

Also, is it possible to throttle software update?  If I wanted my
clients to download the updates while the computers are in use (and not
hammer the network too hard), is there any way to do that (preferably on
the client side)? 

Cheers, 

Clinton 

On 2-Apr-09, at 10:09 AM, Miles Leacy wrote: 

Sitting in a cart powered off or asleep seems to be the main problem
here.  You can use MCX (via scripting or WGM) to schedule a
boot/reboot/wake time.  If you schedule this during off-hours, and then
have a software update policy following closely behind, this should
solve the issue, assuming the machines are connected to your network
while in the cart. 

At one school I worked with, we had a closet built with a secure lock,
ventilation, power and ethernet.  The laptops went into this closet over
the weekend where they could sit on the network and receive any
maintenance or updates. 

----------
Miles A. Leacy IV

 Certified System Administrator
 Certified Trainer
Certified Casper Administrator
----------
voice: 1-347-277-7321
miles.leacy at themacadmin.com
www.themacadmin.com

2009/4/2 Thomas Larkin 
<tlarki at kckps.org> 

There is also a softwareupdate binary from the command line.  You could
create a policy to run or do it via ARD admin 

$ 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 help 

If you have a SUS set up you can say run all approved updates from the
SUS and such. 

___________________________
Thomas Larkin
TIS Department
KCKPS USD500
tlarki at kckps.org
blackberry:  913-449-7589
office:  913-627-0351

>>> Matthew Butch <matt at pennmanor.net> 04/02/09 9:52 AM >>> 

What we have been doing is just pulling them off the cart, running
Casper Remote on them and telling them to "Install all available
updates". Its a pain, but it seems to be the best way to do it. 

For the progress bar, we have a Unix command to run Software Update as
sudo which allows non-admins to install them. This is set as a Self
Service policy (the last tab allows running commands). The command is: 

sudo /System/Library/CoreServices/Software\
Update.app/Contents/MacOS/Software\ Update 

It gives them a nice UI to run them. We've had good feedback about it,
and it saves us from forcing them. 

-Matt 

On Apr 2, 2009, at 10:22 AM, Clinton Blackmore wrote: 

Greetings.

How do you handle software updates on laptop labs?  We have carts of  
laptops in our schools, and, if they are not being used by a student,  
they are charging in the cart.  That doesn't provide for a nice way to  
update them after hours without pulling each machine out of theAlso, when you use the GUI tools to do software update, the machine  
logs out and you get a nice progress indicator showing that updates  
are installing.  Is there any way to do that from the command line?   
(Yes, I know one can install updates, and Casper handles it nicely,  
but can I get the progress bar?  We had some machines set to update,  
and then found they had kernel panicked.  We wondered if a user  
noticed the machine became sluggish and forced it off.)  More  
generally, how do you convey to users that updates are in progress?

Cheers,
Clinton Blackmore

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Matthew Butch 

Technology Support Analyst 

Penn Manor School District 

717-872-9500 x 2385 

http://www.pennmanor.net 

Apple Certified Macintosh Technician 

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