While you are all watching the progress bars downloading macOS Mojave, I have submitted updates to two of my books!
(Remember to archive the macOS Mojave installer app before updating!)
The service-formerly-known-as-iBooks is now called “Apple Books” or just “Books” across all Apple platforms. Whatever the name, my books are available there.
Both “Packaging” and “macOS Installation” have received updates with several new passages regarding macOS Mojave and other fixes and rewrites.
For “Packaging” I have also started the process of re-visiting all the examples. You never stop learning and I have certainly learned a lot in the last two years. Some of the scripting and writing styles I used when I started writing the book nearly three years ago now seem odd to me. This rewrite is a major process and so far I got to chapter 2. This remains a work in progress and expect more updates here soon. (All updates, as usual will remain free for those who have purchased the book.)
“macOS Installation” got less changes and updates than I expected for the Mojave update. We have been testing Mojave internally and the strategies for deploying High Sierra still work for Mojave. With the new APFS support for all drive hardware admins should be able to simplify deployment workflows. Nevertheless, I am sure that much more will be revealed over the next few weeks, now that the NDA is lifted and when the first update(s) drop(s). I will keep updating this book also.
The content of my third book “Property Lists, Preferences and Profiles” (PR3) has not really been affected but the Mojave release. I am also working on an update for this book with some new content added. When it happens you will learn about it here.
Changes for “Packaging” 1.9:
(You can find a complete version history in the book.)
- many minor typo fixes and rewrites
- added note on removed pkgutil options
- changed the sample script in the Payload-Free Packages section to enable SSH instead of ARD because of changes in macOS Mojave security
- added a second simple package example to Building Packages
- expanded the description on how to build the Boring Desktop pkg in Building Packages
- updated script code across various scripts to match my coding standards which have changed since I started writing this book
- updated the Github repository to include completed sample code to match the state of the project at the end of each section (so far for Chapter 2, this is ongoing work)
- added a description for the undocumented –preserve-xattr option in Building Packages (Credit to Greg Neagle and Carl Ashley for finding and documenting)
Changes for “macOS Installation” v3:
- Mojave updates:
- added a note on the absence of the –converttoapfs option in the Mojave installer application
- added new single user mode restrictions to the Secure Boot and Startup Security Utility sections
- updated the UAMDM section with new Mojave payloads
- added a description of the new –preservecontainer option for startosinstall in Erase Installation
- added explanation of InstallEnterpriseApplication to the section about InstallApplication (10.13.6 and Mojave)
- added a section of the relevant new Mojave features
- added a description of Hardware Specific Systems and Installers
- added a description of Configuration Profiles
- expanded and clarified the Mobile Device Management description
- added a workaround for the bug in SIU which prevents image creation with custom installer packages in Adding Custom Packages (Thanks to this MacAdmins Slack post.)