Even though it is mid-November and the US Thanksgiving week is looming next week, we got a lot of great posts and articles in the news summary.
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We are finding out about some interesting Monterey features and bugs, Apple announced self service repair, new security threats, lots of automation, and MacAdmins are (re-)discovering JavaScript for Automation (including myself).
If that wasn’t enough to try to keep up with, Jamf dropped all the JNUC 2021 session on to YouTube! Many of these sessions are very informative, even when you don’t use a Jamf product. If you want to catch up on different conferences, or schedule your conference participation for 2022, I have updated my conferences page with all the known dates and links to each conference’s session archive.
macOS 12.1 and iOS 15.2 went into the third round of betas. We also got iOS 15.1.1 (and siblings).
To all US American readers: Happy Thanksgiving!
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News and Opinion
- Jamf CEO welcomes Apple Business Essentials – Jonny Evans, Computerworld
- If Apple keeps letting its software slip, the next big thing won’t matter – Dan Moren, Macworld
- Apple announces Self Service Repair – Apple Press Release
- Kandji pulls in $100M Series C on $800M valuation, up 10x since last year – Ron Miller, TechCrunch
- Free Apple support – Daniel Stenberg
macOS 12 Monterey and iOS 15
- Understanding snapshot data in Disk Utility – Howard Oakley
- The secret of the macOS Monterey network quality tool – DanPetrov (via Dan Moren)
- Disk Utility still can’t check and repair APFS volumes and containers – Howard Oakley
- Monterey’s memory leak and how to avoid it – Howard Oakley
MacAdmins on Twitter
- cdros: “ICYMI Mac Evaluation Utility 4: Now available for IT teams on AppleSeed for IT“
- Tom Bridge: “This kind of software is infuriating. it’s unethical as an IT Admin to install on your users machines. If you get asked to install it, you should quit instead.” (Link)
- Kyle Crawford: “I mean more generally I’d like a batteries-included scripting language built-in like python or ruby. I didn’t expect it would be JavaScript.”
- Jason Anthony Guy: “Apple developers… did you know that Feedback Assistant is available on non-beta systems? Hidden, but accessible. Read the “Installing the App” section on the Apple Bug Reporting page to learn how to get to it. Bonus! Access it via
applefeedback://“ - Daniel Jalkut: “I have been using zsh and scp for a long time, but my mind was moderately blown this evening when I realized I could tab-complete REMOTE filenames. Try it:
scp whoever@wherever:<tab>(Have to have a ssh key relationship with the server, obviously)”
Security and Privacy
- Infect If Needed, A Deeper Dive Into Targeted Backdoor macOS.Macma – Phil Stokes, SentinelOne
- New Mac malware raises more questions about Apple’s security patching – Thomas Reed, Malwarebytes Labs
- Backdoor macOS.Macma Spies On Activists But Can’t Hide From Behavioral Detection – Phil Stokes, SentinelOne
Support and HowTos
- Remove the re-enter password requirement with “Passthrough Authentication” in Jamf Connect Login 2.5/2.6+ – Frederick Abeloos
- Load fibre drivers at startup – Eric Hemmeter
- Apple Classroom: Configuration Not Valid – Rebecca Latimer
- Enabling MFA for Jamf Pro With Azure AD – Jacob Burley
- Awesome Mac Admins Tools list update – Emily Kausalik
- Discovering macOS Settings with PlistWatch – Phillip Edwards, Okta Developer
- Reinstall a clean macOS with one button – Bill Smith, Jamf Blog
Scripting and Automation
- MEM/Intune automatic Intune pkg wrapping in macOS – Michael Rieder
- adrianscheff/useful-sed: Useful sed scripts & patterns.
- How to Parse JSON on the macOS Command Line Without External Tools Using JavaScript for Automation – Matthew Warren
- Project Adios: Update Jamf Extension Attributs – Michael Rieder
- Script to find application architectures on your Mac – Alan Siu
- Getting Started with Shortcuts for Mac and the Stream Deck – John Voorhees, MacStories
- The unexpected return of JavaScript for Automation – Scripting OS X
- Using JXA in Jamf Pro Scripts and Extension Attributes – Matthew Warren
Apple Support
- Use Apple products on enterprise networks (updated with some ABE servers)
- Test Wi-Fi networks with Apple Network Responsiveness
- About the Apple Business Essentials app
Updates and Releases
To Watch
- Smart Card Utility Reader Setup – Towcanoes Software, YouTube
- Jamf Nation User Conference 2021 – YouTube
To Listen
- Security & Privacy – Evaluating Encrypted DNS – Mac Admins Podcast
- Managed Services discussion with Luis Giraldo — Command-Control-Power
Support
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