Apple released the third round of betas for macOS 14.5, iOS 17.5 and siblings this week. They also announced an event on May 7, where if the artwork is any indication, there will be iPad related news. (The event has an unusual start time: 16:00CEST, 9am EDT, 7am PDT)
Sponsor
This issue of MacAdmins.news is exclusively brought to you by Mosyle, the only Apple Unified Platform.
Mosyle is the only solution that integrates in a single professional-grade platform all the solutions necessary to seamlessly and automatically deploy, manage & protect Apple devices at work . Over 45,000 organizations trust Mosyle to make millions of Apple devices work-ready with no effort and at an affordable cost. Request your EXTENDED TRIAL today and understand why Mosyle is everything you need to work with Apple .
šø Focus
Goodbye, Charles Edge
The Mac Admin community paid their tribute to Charles Edge, who died unexpectedly last Friday. I already shared my thoughts earlier, and have attempted to gather some of the outpouring of memories and thoughts from the community below. There has been so much more, for example in the #macadmpodcast channel on the Mac Admins Slack and many other channels.
Please remember, everyone processes the shock and grief of this news differently. You do not have to be alone, though (unless you want or need to). There have been many impromptu meetings (online and in person) already and there will be more.
Going forward, I will join in with Tom's and Dr. K's wonderful advice:
hug a friend, share some knowledge with the community, learn a new technology, lift up a colleague, or do the things he was legendary for doing
Play some D&D, do some 3D printing, run a casual 10kā¦
and, most of all, share your enthusiasm! ā¤ļø
- Charles Stephen Edge Jr āĀ Chip Pearson (LinkedIn)
- In Memoriam: Charles Edge ā Mac Admins Podcast
- Thank You For Everything, Charles ā Tom Bridge
- Losing a giant āĀ Rich Trouton
- Goodbye, Charles Edge ā Armin Briegel
- In Memory of Charles Edge: A Conversation Revisited ā Command-Control-Power
- Charles Edge, RIP āĀ Michael Tsai
- RIP Charles Edge, 1975-2024 āĀ 7 minute miles
- Charles Edge Dies āĀ John Gruber
- Brian J Best (YouTube)
- Bart Reardon (LinkedIn)
- Author and Mac Admin Charles Edge has died ā Jason Snell
- Cheers, Charles Edge āĀ John Mahlman
- Hereās to Charles Edge ā Fraser Hess
- Take Control Author Charles Edge Dies ā Adam Engst
- Goodbye, Charles ā Jim Zajkowski
š° News and Opinion
Ex-NSA hacker and ex-Apple researcher launch startup to protect Apple devices
Read about DoubleYou, Patrick Wardle's and Mikhail Sosonkin's new Mac centric security startup
Logitechās Mouse Software Now Includes ChatGPT Support, Adds Janky āai_overlay_tmpā Directory to Usersā Home Folders
I cannot tell how little I want THE SOFTWARE FOR MY MOUSE to include features tied to ChatGPT
š Security and Privacy
GitHub comments abused to push malware via Microsoft repo URLs
A GitHub flaw, or possibly a design decision, is being abused by threat actors to distribute malware using URLs associated with Microsoft repositories, making the files appear trustworthy.
Apple declares war on Adload malware
This weekās security data update to XProtect is unique in the magnitude of its changes. In a single update, the Yara detection rules used by macOS to check for malware have grown by 20% with the addition of 74 new rules, all of them aimed at a single target, Adload.
šØ Support and Tutorials
If your company isn't using Nudge, it's time to change that
Equally concerning is having your fleet out of compliance with their organizationās IT policies for macOS updates. Hundreds of organizations use Nudge to keep their Macs up to date, and itās one of the most underrated macOS admin tools available.
FIDO2 forĀ Desktop MFAĀ for macOS
In the next phase Okta Device Access enables end users to complete their challenge with a FIDO2 security key to login to their macOS devices.
APFS: Command tools
This article [ā¦] concentrates on Appleās command tools [for APFS], starting with its checking and repair.
Even more changes to Microsoft AutoUpdate preferences
a member in the MacAdmins Slack spotted a new Microsoft document that contains even more changes to MAU preferences.
Single Sign-On Extension and Platform SSO for macOS and iOS
If you are considering writing a single sign-on extension (SSOE) or a Platform SSOE, you have come to the right place. Find articles, tutorials, and help to understand how these technologies work.
To Improve IT Efficiency, Consider New KPIs
In the end thereās no single way to effectively measure the efficiency of an IT team.
š¤ Scripting and Automation
SOFA: A MacAdmin's Simple Organized Feed for Apple Software Updates
Wonderful page and JSON feed that gathers and organizes a ton of management and security related information in a single place. More information on the GitHub repo with some sample use case scripts.
Low-Code Alternatives to Jamf Routines
This post introduces the new service, discusses some of its shortcomings, and explores two low-code alternatives that allow more customization and control.
Mosyle Custom Attribute to determine if a homebrew Update I pending
Mastodon: At work we have a lot of folk that use Homebrew. It's a PITA to manage as any MacAdmin knows. I made a Mosyle custom attribute that just determines if the core installation is out of date
Minor Functionality Update for UpdateTitleEditor.py
Today I pushed a minor change to [the AutoPkg processor] UpdateTitleEditor, in an attempt to make recipes incorporating it more flexible.
zaren/rash: Remote Apple Shell Helper
RASH ("Remote Apple Shell Helper") is a Bash script [ā¦] designed to execute a shell command on a specified group of machines.
ā»ļø Updates and Releases
Microsoft Intune Remote Help adds full control for Mac
a major enhancement to Microsoft Intune Remote Help's capabilities: full control support for macOS devices
šŗ Watch
Autofill with RFID card on iOS
So now instead of entering your username and password, you can tap a RFID card!
š§ Listen
The Cloud is Cloudy: Why On-Premise Backup Might Be Your Sunshine
Ultimately, choosing a Backup Solution depends on factors like the number of users, the amount of data, budget, technical expertise, and desired level of control.
SaaS isolation in the browser
Kamal Srinivasan from Parallels about their new Parallels Browser Isolation product.
Picking fights and gaining rights, with Justin Brookman
we speak with Justin Brookman, director of technology policy at Consumer Reports, about some of the most recent, major consumer wins in the tech world, what it took to achieve those wins, and what levers consumers can pull on today to have their voices heard.