Apple @ Work 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.

When Apple released macOS 14.4 back in March, they pulled the plug on support for several commands, including the important launchctl kickstart. This change broke support for Addigy’s MDM Watchdog, a tool designed to keep MDM and software update processes working as expected, but there good news ahead for those struggling with macOS software updates.

About Apple @ Work: Bradley Chambers managed an enterprise IT network from 2009 to 2021. Through his experience deploying and managing firewalls, switches, a mobile device management system, enterprise grade Wi-Fi, 1000s of Macs, and 1000s of iPads, Bradley will highlight ways in which Apple IT managers deploy Apple devices, build networks to support them, train users, stories from the trenches of IT management, and ways Apple could improve its products for IT departments.

While your end users won’t likely notice it, if your team uses on-device scripts to restart services, you’ll likely run into concerns with it working. Apple’s alternative suggestion, the kill command, isn’t working as well as launchctl kickstart leading to a user needing to do a full device restart as a workaround for service restart attempts.

This will affect tools like MDM Watchdog, which was designed to fix some of the flaws in Apple’s software update services. The watchdog’s strategy was to detect, diagnose, and resolve these hiccups, primarily through service restarts. However, macOS 14.4’s changes mean the watchdog’s key moves for restarting the MDM Client and software update processes are no longer working

What does this mean for users? On the surface, not much — the MDM Watchdog operates behind the scenes, so its struggles won’t bother users with error messages. The real issue lies in potential delays or misses in system updates deployed via MDM, as the watchdog can’t perform its usual restart magic. Apple suggests a device restart as a potential fix to kick things back into gear.

What’s the workaround for software update issues? Apple’s pointing towards its Declarative Device Management (DDM) Updates as the more reliable route for macOS 14.4 and beyond. As DDM continues to be adopted by device management vendors, it’s the solution for robust patching across your entire macOS fleet.

Apple @ Work 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.

Apple @ Work 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.

When Apple released macOS 14.4 back in March, they pulled the plug on support for several commands, including the important launchctl kickstart. This change broke support for Addigy’s MDM Watchdog, a tool designed to keep MDM and software update processes working as expected, but there good news ahead for those struggling with macOS software updates.

About Apple @ Work: Bradley Chambers managed an enterprise IT network from 2009 to 2021. Through his experience deploying and managing firewalls, switches, a mobile device management system, enterprise grade Wi-Fi, 1000s of Macs, and 1000s of iPads, Bradley will highlight ways in which Apple IT managers deploy Apple devices, build networks to support them, train users, stories from the trenches of IT management, and ways Apple could improve its products for IT departments.

While your end users won’t likely notice it, if your team uses on-device scripts to restart services, you’ll likely run into concerns with it working. Apple’s alternative suggestion, the kill command, isn’t working as well as launchctl kickstart leading to a user needing to do a full device restart as a workaround for service restart attempts.

This will affect tools like MDM Watchdog, which was designed to fix some of the flaws in Apple’s software update services. The watchdog’s strategy was to detect, diagnose, and resolve these hiccups, primarily through service restarts. However, macOS 14.4’s changes mean the watchdog’s key moves for restarting the MDM Client and software update processes are no longer working

What does this mean for users? On the surface, not much — the MDM Watchdog operates behind the scenes, so its struggles won’t bother users with error messages. The real issue lies in potential delays or misses in system updates deployed via MDM, as the watchdog can’t perform its usual restart magic. Apple suggests a device restart as a potential fix to kick things back into gear.

What’s the workaround for software update issues? Apple’s pointing towards its Declarative Device Management (DDM) Updates as the more reliable route for macOS 14.4 and beyond. As DDM continues to be adopted by device management vendors, it’s the solution for robust patching across your entire macOS fleet.

Apple @ Work 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.