The third update to my book “macOS Installation for Apple Administrators” is available.
If you have already purchased the book, you can get the update in the Apple Books application on your iOS device or Mac.
While I was putting this book together, macOS High Sierra was very much a moving target and I had to update and change sections frequently, sometimes while they were being written. Thankfully, the changes to macOS deployment and installation have calmed down somewhat since then. While Mojave and the new Mac hardware have brought some changes, they are not as disruptive as High Sierra, UAMDM and the iMac Pro were.
Originally, I made a commitment to update the book up to the macOS Mojave release. This is the book’s first post-Mojave update. I am planning at least one more update to cover any changes the Mojave “Spring Update” might bring.
Once we know more about macOS 10.15 after WWDC, I will decide on the book’s further future. As I have outlined in my 2018 review/2019 outlook post, I don’t expect dramatic changes this year, so it will probably make sense to keep the book going for the lifetime of 10.15.
It is quite likely that the deployment workflows outlined in “macOS Installation” will serve MacAdmins well for the foreseeable future.
This update received quite a bit of new content. I have rewritten and expanded many sections. The book is now eleven pages longer than the third version and sixteen pages longer than the first release. I have added many more links to external pages, tools, posts and support articles where they are available.
The update is free when you have already purchased the book. Unfortunately, the “updates” area seems to have gotten lost in the Apple Books app re-deisgn. You can just follow the link to the Apple Book store and the app should tell you that an update is available.
If you don’t have it yet, buy it now and get all future updates for free!
Here is a detailed list of most of the changes, which you can also find in the ‘Version History’ section of the book itself. (The version history in the book is linked to the actual changed section for easier reference.)
- added description of the new –downloadassets option when creating external installer drives
- updated description the –preservecontainer option in Erase Installation
- updated descriptions of Secure Boot in various locations to reflect the Mac models introduced in October 2018
- added an overview table for which current Mac models have Secure Boot and their minimum OS Versions
- added links to the support pages for more versions of macOS in Older macOS Versions
- moved and extended the section on Hardware Specific Systems and Installers
- added downgrading limitation to Erase Installation
- added description of fdesetup list to the FileVault section
- added description of Twocanoe’s MacDeployStick to Sideloading Packages
- added Manual Enrollment by IT to Manual Enrollment
- added EraseInstall application to Restoring macOS
- added link to support article with supporting servers to Device Enrollment Program
- several typos, changes and clarifications