Category: Scripting and Packaging

managedsoftwareupdate has several methods you can use to identify your Macs to your Munki server. While the hierarchy is documented on the Munki wiki, the ComputerName field (accessible in System Preferences –> Sharing), is not one of them. Since our inventory system is tied to the computer name, we wanted Munki to use that as the identifier for manifests, too.

I wrote a small LaunchDaemon and script to write the ComputerName field to Munki’s ClientIdentifier field (which overrides the hierarchy mentioned above) each time it’s changed. This allows IT to rename Macs and manifests as needed, but also audit unauthorized computer name changes through MunkiReport.

The code is available on my GitHub repository.

Like most things, Boot Scheduler was written to scratch an itch: students were powering off lab computers, which could stay off for weeks or months at a time (particularly in the smaller labs). These Macs would stop checking in to Munki, would be horribly out of date, and would behave unpredictably once powered on again – the AD binding could become broken, or they might reboot unexpectedly to apply security patches.

We discussed using the built-in pmset tool to power on all Mac labs daily, but we have a long winter break – we don’t want these Macs turning on and wasting energy without anyone around to use them. Since pmset has no concept of calendar dates beyond days of the week, we had to develop something custom.

My hope is that if you’re facing similar issues, Boot Scheduler can help you. You can grab it from my GitHub repository – be sure to check out the README for installation and customization instructions.