Today is Mac day, as this is my third post on them!
So when looking at the Fixlets that are relevant and / or available for our Macs, there seem to be some that are missing / out of date / old - however you want to phrase is. Each one has older fixlet content so we assume the newer version should be covered by BigFix. Each one is being offerend though Apple Software Update. Is anyone else seeing this behavior?
Just a quick note, after a call to support (not sure if that is what triggered it as the tech gave us the answer of “possibly never” as to when the patches would be released) and a days time passed - we now have iTunes 9 and Quicktime 7.6.4.
Yay! Perhaps the others will show up soon. Please…
I’m not seeing any 10.6 updates yet. I’ll be checking a fresh 10.5 install and all the updates that BigFix has. I’ll report back with any updates that are missing.
Currently, BigFix supports the security patch updates for supported platforms (OS X 10.2 - 10.5 client). These updates are released through the Apple Security Update page (http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1222).
Airport Update: Not released as a security update
Remote Desktop Client 3.3.1: Not released as a security update (last Remote Desktop security update was 3.2.2 back in Sept. 2008)
iTunes 9: Fixlet 40909003, released 10 Sept. 2009
iTunes 9.0.1: Fixlet 40909019, released 22 Sept. 2009
Quicktime 7.6.4: Fixlets 40909007 & 40909009, released 10 Sep 2009
Since Apple did not release iTunes 9 as a security update, the fixlet for iTunes 9 was generated after client requests. These type of client requests are evaluated on a case by case basis to determine if additional content will be created.
Support for OS X 10.6 is pending the completion of compatibility testing which we expect to be completed in the near future but, until we finish our testing, no updates for Snow Leopard will be available.
Could I request that fixlets are created for all updates that are made available on a standard out-of-the-box Mac? This would include updates for iLife and other updates that are not considered “security updates”.
Also, even though I’can do it in a few minutes, Firefox updates would be nice too. I understand that BigFix is mainly used on Windows machines, but it seems like there are so many more fixlets for windows than Mac OS X. It makes Mac administrators have to do a lot more work than windows admins, at least that’s what I’m seeing.
Thank you for further clarifying the status of OS X content.
My only comment here would be that once we see a fixlet for a particular product, we tend to expect that future fixlets will be forthcoming as they are released from the manufacturer. Realizing that may not be the case, a formal communication method listing the non-security related updates and there potential status to become future fixlets would benefit BigFix and their customers.
Having to have customers post on the forums or call in to request content makes it look, to us anyhow, like BigFix is not keeping up with the content they deliver. Realizing that is not the case, a web page or something similar devoted to such information may help everyone. Thoughts?
We also second the vote for additional OS X content like Firefox and other Apple apps. Of course we vote for that on Windows too
{quote:title=jspanitz}We also second the vote for additional OS X content like Firefox and other Apple apps. Of course we vote for that on Windows too
John
We’ve got Firefox and Apple apps covered under the Patches for Windows Updates site.{quote}
Thanks Liuhoting.
I see that you have a lot of firefox and apple updates like quicktime and itunes under the “Updates for windows applications” site. I also see that these updates are for windows machines. Is this what you were stating or is there supposed to be updates for OS X, maybe on a different site? The “Patches for Windows” site does not seem to have any OS X relevant fixlets in it.
I’d like to have a "Updates for OS X applications site, if possible.
EDIT:
I also had a thought about the non-security updates. The OS X system can do updates from the command line using the softwareupdate command. The command can install certain updates with a simple addition of the update name to the command. This may be the easiest way to create the updates if downloading them to the BES server isn’t important. I would probably use this on desktops, but not laptops. The man page does a good job at the description, so I won’t go into it.
{quote:title=jspanitz}We also second the vote for additional OS X content like Firefox and other Apple apps. Of course we vote for that on Windows too
John
We’ve got Firefox and Apple apps covered under the Patches for Windows Updates site.{quote}
Sorry, I was referring to “additional content” generically for windows - meaning additional other vendors / apps / configs. As for the Apple site, quite a few Apple apps are covered under the Patches for Windows site and we do use those!
“Additional Content” - More “Enterprise” configuration content. Things like detecting, configuring and removing Safari, Opera and Chrome. Disabling / Removing autoupdate setting and tasks from apps, etc. This would apply to windows, linux and os x whenever possible.
Thanks for all the feedback. We are investigating what we can do to add to our overall ability to distribute applications and updates across the operating systems we support.
Please…