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The JumpCloud® Solutions Architecture (SA) team is dedicated to finding new ways to improve automation and efficiency in Directory-as-a-Service®. A new offering from the SA team for JumpCloud customers is available as a set of commands that enable silent background downloads for a selection of widely used apps for macOS® systems. Let’s dive into these macOS DMG install commands.
What They Do
For reference, a DMG file is similar to inserting a USB drive containing the download file for your app of choice. Like with a USB drive, the application is simply downloaded from the DMG, which is then ejected and deleted after the download is completed. With these commands, the entire process is automated, running silently in the background without need for manual implementation.
Using these DMG commands in the JumpCloud PowerShell Module or via the Admin Console, admins can remotely download and install applications to end user macOS systems. The SA team has pre-configured commands for Slack, Firefox, and Google® Chrome. There is also a generic template DMG installer that admins can manually configure to include other applications as needed. You can find the commands at this GitHub repo.
Why macOS DMG Install Commands are Important
The concept behind these commands is to optimize automation for onboarding and other purposes. By using the commands in the Admin Console, JumpCloud admins can choose to install applications that are necessary organization-wide to the entirety of their system fleet or to just a group of systems. That way, instead of either doing the process manually, or leaving it up to end users, admins can ensure efficiency and security.
For instance, if an end user was to download applications on their own, they might require admin privileges, depending on your organization. If said user was compromised for any reason, this could create a major security breach in your security posture. Additionally, untrustworthy download links could potentially open up that user’s system, and ultimately the entire organization, to malware or other compromises.
The main use case for the macOS DMG installer commands is onboarding (speaking of, check out another one of our SA team’s valuable solutions: zero-touch deployment for Macs®). The beauty of these DMG install commands is that they completely eliminate the need for 1:1 time spent between admins and Mac systems for new users. Instead, admins can install necessary applications across an entire stack of new Macbooks with just one click.
Learn More
If you would like to learn more about using these macOS DMG install commands in JumpCloud, please check out our Knowledge Base article on the topic. You can also reach out to us with any additional questions or comments.
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