[Casper] Software Update - laptop labs, progress indicator

Thu Apr 2 10:10:20 PDT 2009

One thing you can do is:

(optional) create a policy to download the updates  (run the command  
"softwareupdate --download --all")
create a policy with a custom trigger to install the updates.
Trigger the custom policy from ssh or remote desktop.

I actually just started on a screencast on how to do just that, and am  
toying with putting it on the net.  But it is pretty simple:

When you create your policy, where it says "triggered by" choose  
"other (Manually specify the run at action in this field) -->" and in  
the specified field, put in your trigger, ex. "software_update"  You  
may want to set your policy to ongoing (so it'll run whenever you  
trigger it) and the scope to all computers (there is no harm if you  
never trigger it on a machine you don't want it to run on).

Then, with ssh, you would do:

sudo /usr/sbin/jamf policy -trigger software_update

or use the appropriate trigger for the last parameter.

 From Apple Remote Desktop, you would select your target computer,  
tell it you have a unix command to run, tell it to run as root, and  
use the same command (but without the sudo).  It is handy to add it to  
the Templates (the drop-down in the upper-right-hand corner in ARD  
when specifying a unix command).

Hmm...  One of the machines I've updated today (from a policy) has  
kernel panicked.  Maybe I can't attribute the earlier panics to user  
error.  When I talked to JAMF about it, they'd not heard of the issue,  
and they also mentioned that you should avoid the "any" trigger unless  
you really need to use it.

Cheers,
Clinton

On 2-Apr-09, at 10:40 AM, Jeff Strauss wrote:

> Will bandwidth throttling via your own SUS carry through if Casper  
> policies are applying updates?
> I’m dealing with the same issue as Clinton; I have more than 500  
> laptops strewn throughout campus in carts, and they’re all using  
> 54Mbps wireless, so updating (and general connectivity) can  
> sometimes be a pain. I was thinking of deploying Self Service to all  
> the machines and adding it as an allowed application via WGM only to  
> computer groups that I want to have updated, so at least updates can  
> be scattered and somewhat managed on a computer group to computer  
> group  basis. I’d add a loginwindow message letting students know  
> there are updates available and to run Self Service when they log  
> in. I don’t know if that’s the best solution; I’m still  
> wrestling with it in my brain.
>
> Otherwise, you could set updates to run at startup or via the  
> “any” trigger, but my experience with that has been mixed. I’ve  
> tried to run updates at startup and users will get upset that it  
> takes forever to log on, and I’ve tried it at “any,” which  
> seemed to work better, but can still impact performance and the user  
> will get weary if they don’t know they’re receiving an update. I  
> think my experience also has to do with the fact that all the  
> machines are wireless, and connectivity becomes heavily impacted  
> when there are more than a few dozen machines pulling down large  
> files from the server simultaneously.
>
> - Jeff
>
>
> On 4/2/09 9:33 AM, "Clinton Blackmore" <clinton.blackmore at westwind.ab.ca 
> > wrote:
>
> In that case, how do you throttle it on the server side?  We are  
> using internet SUSes (although we really want to get a cascading SUS  
> setup, so we can set on one server which updates need to go out, and  
> which ones should be avoided.)
>
> I don't suppose anyone has a way to multicast software updates?
>
> Why the sudden interest in software updates?  Well, we normally go  
> with the policy that computers that are on our network will be  
> updated when they are imaged each year, and beyond that, few things  
> are critical enough to warrant it.  Unfortunately, we believe that  
> upgrading all of our clients will resolve some issues we've been  
> having, and, so, we are updating.  [BTW, has anyone seen a good  
> writeup on the AFP bug that 10.5.6 is supposed to address?]
>
> Clinton
>
>
> On 2-Apr-09, at 10:25 AM, Miles Leacy wrote:
>
> On Thu, Apr 2, 2009 at 12:19 PM, Clinton Blackmore <clinton.blackmore at westwind.ab.ca 
> > wrote:
>
> 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.)
>
>
> I haven't done this in a while, so I don't recall.  It's definitely  
> something worth testing.
>
>
>
> 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)?
>
>
> I don't know and, in fact, I think you can't throttle from the  
> client side.  You can throttle from the server side if you're  
> running your own internal SUS.  I recommend an internal SUS to  
> anyone who manages Macs.  It's relatively simple to set up, and it  
> lets you control if and when updates get applied, which is important  
> because Apple updates can sometimes break customizations and/or  
> software that doesn't follow Apple's development rules (such as  
> Microsoft and Adobe titles).
>
>
>
>
>
>
> Jeffrey A. Strauss
> Department of Educational Technology
> Systems Administrator
> Loyola High School of Los Angeles
> 1901 Venice Blvd.
> Los Angeles, Ca 90006
> (213) 381-5121 x265
>
>  Apple Certified Support Professional
>  Apple Certified Technical Coordinator
>
> Please consider the environment before printing this e-mail.
>

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