Nudge for Ventura Delta updates

[anuj530]

As you may already know, macOS Ventura will be offered as a delta update on macs running 12.3+. On managed machines, it will be offered as a delta after 30 days of Ventura release date.

While testing Nudge on an un-managed mac where I was able to see the delta update, I noticed that when I have attempttoFetchMajorUpgrade key set to false Nudge will show the following in the logs:

_Device requires major upgrade but attemptToFetchMajorUpgrade is False - skipping download
 Unable to find major upgrade application, exiting Nudge_

If I set attempttoFetchMajorUpgrade key to true, Nudge downloads the full app installer. I also noticed that Under the software update preference pane, offered update also changed from Delta to full app installer as soon as Nudge started downloading the installer. This is not ideal because standard user accounts on macs would not be able to perform this upgrade since the full app installer requires admin rights to install.

Basically, on MDM-managed macs, after 30 days, devices running 12.3 to 12.6 will treat the Ventura update as a minor update.

Nudge needs to be able to present users with just the software update pane without actually expecting an app installer bundle to open for a major upgrade. OR Nudge needs to be able to download the delta update as it can do with minor updates.

[kevinmcox]

I'd clarify that once we get through this one-time-only initial 30 day delay of the delta-upgrades:

"macOS 12.3+ will treat the Ventura upgrade the same a minor update with no app needing to be downloaded."

[pro4tlzz]

https://github.com/macadmins/nudge/blob/main/Nudge/Utilities/SoftwareUpdate.swift#L56

This is because Nudge calls softwareupdate with the --fetch-full-installer option when looking for a major upgrade. I missed this during my testing.

I think in this case add another code path to check the required OS >= 13 and call softwareupdate with the delta option instead, although I'm not sure on the actual verb for that.

Maybe there is a way we can detect softwareupdate is capable of offering delta updates.

[colorenz]

Hi for jamf users there can be a workarround. You can use the actionButtonPath to run jamf self service policy and with that policy you can open software update from the System Settings :D

@dan-snelson has posted a working config.
https://macadmins.slack.com/archives/C02KPHZ7MDX/p1666831304360389?thread_ts=1666817887.774279&cid=C02KPHZ7MDX

@pro4tlzz maybe its good if we can also use disableSoftwareUpdateWorkflow to disable all Major softwareupdate workflows. So Nudge will not try to run it and only prompt the User.

[anuj530]

@colorenz sure we can do that, but the whole point of delta updates is we dont have to push out 12GB installers

[colorenz]

With that workflow you can use it also for the delta Updates. In you jamf policy you run that command to open System preferences.

open 'x-apple.systempreferences:com.apple.preferences.softwareupdate'

[Lotusshaney]

Infact if you don’t want to open Jamf you can just use the path to the Softwareupdate.prefpane as the url.

/System/Library/PreferencePanes/Softwareupdate.prefpane I believe. I tested it today and it works all the way back to at least 11.x

[anuj530]

@colorenz @Lotusshaney thats a great workaround idea! let me give that a shot today! Thank you!

[donmontalvo]

With that workflow you can use it also for the delta Updates. In you jamf policy you run that command to open System preferences.

open 'x-apple.systempreferences:com.apple.preferences.softwareupdate'

I love how this method actually brings it to the front, and without any errors! Kudos!

[erikng]

Any suggestions for tackling this within nudge instead of workarounds?

[kevinmcox]

@erikng How complicated would it be to have Nudge use the current OS version to evaluate how to proceed?

If 12.3 or higher use the same workflow for both minor updates and major upgrades.

If 12.2.1 or lower behave like it currently does.

[erikng]

Unsure but doesn't it also depend on how many days it's been since the OS released + if device is mdm enrolled?

[kevinmcox]

The MDM enrollment changing the behavior of delta upgrades was a one-time thing that has now expired, so we don't have to consider that any longer.

[nider]

I encountered this exact issue today where I wanted users to use the Ventura delta update if available, I initially tried to configure Nudge to not attempt to download the major update, but quickly discovered that just caused Nudge to skip showing its UI if it detected the upgrade was a major upgrade.

Thanks to the suggestions here I was able to develop a slightly different workaround, which is to set majorUpgradeAppPath to /System/Library/CoreServices/Software Update.app. This has the affect of both causing Nudge to not attempt to download the full installer as the configured path already exists on disk, and directs the user to (loads) the Software Update settings pane when Update Device is clicked.

With this I achieved exactly the behaviour I was looking for.

Edit: of course I discover after I posted this, that I re-invented the wheel with many other people discovering or suggesting the same.

[kevinmcox]

I wrote up the two primary workaround methods shared by the community in case it'll be helpful to anyone else coming across this issue before it is resolved: https://www.kevinmcox.com/2023/01/configuring-nudge-for-macos-delta-upgrades/