Enable automatic macOS and App Store updates on macOS Catalina with a profile

A while back, I wrote a post on enabling automatic software updates on OS X Yosemite through macOS Mojave. As part of the post, I mentioned that it wasn’t possible to manage the options for automatic macOS and App Store updates using a profile. The reasons were the following:

• The App Store update options were managed by the com.apple.commerce preference domain, which isn’t manageable with a profile
• The AutomaticallyInstallMacOSUpdates setting in the com.apple.SoftwareUpdate preference domain should be manageable with a profile, but for unknown reasons, it couldn’t be.

As of macOS Catalina, I’m happy to say that this has changed. For more details, please see below the jump.

The changes are the following:

• The AutomaticallyInstallMacOSUpdates setting in the com.apple.SoftwareUpdate preference domain is now manageable with a profile.
• A new AutomaticallyInstallAppUpdates setting has been added to the com.apple.SoftwareUpdate preference domain and it is manageable with a profile.

With this in mind, the following profile can be installed on macOS Catalina to enable the following options:

• Automatic background check for macOS software updates
• Automatic download of macOS software updates
• Automatic download and installation of XProtect, MRT and Gatekeeper updates
• Automatic download and installation of automatic security updates
• Automatic installation of macOS updates
• Automatic installation of App Store updates

 

A sample profile is available below and also on GitHub at the following address:

https://github.com/rtrouton/profiles/tree/master/EnableAutomaticDownloadandInstallationofAppleSoftwareUpdates

	<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
	<!DOCTYPE plist PUBLIC "-//Apple//DTD PLIST 1.0//EN" "http://www.apple.com/DTDs/PropertyList-1.0.dtd"&gt;
	<plist version="1">
	<dict>
	<key>PayloadUUID</key>
	<string>3C307E14-8CDD-4EB8-A696-AC967397CE40</string>
	<key>PayloadType</key>
	<string>Configuration</string>
	<key>PayloadOrganization</key>
	<string>Company Name</string>
	<key>PayloadIdentifier</key>
	<string>0250B0DD-84C3-4DA4-91B3-6FA7824F54CD</string>
	<key>PayloadDisplayName</key>
	<string>Apple Software Update Settings</string>
	<key>PayloadDescription</key>
	<string>Configures the macOS software update settings to enable all automatic update options.</string>
	<key>PayloadVersion</key>
	<integer>1</integer>
	<key>PayloadEnabled</key>
	<true/>
	<key>PayloadRemovalDisallowed</key>
	<true/>
	<key>PayloadScope</key>
	<string>System</string>
	<key>PayloadContent</key>
	<array>
	<dict>
	<key>PayloadUUID</key>
	<string>A1936EA9-62CC-407B-94B0-1AD14BD513BE</string>
	<key>PayloadType</key>
	<string>com.apple.SoftwareUpdate</string>
	<key>PayloadOrganization</key>
	<string>Company Name</string>
	<key>PayloadIdentifier</key>
	<string>com.apple.SoftwareUpdate.A1936EA9-62CC-407B-94B0-1AD14BD513BE</string>
	<key>PayloadDisplayName</key>
	<string>Software Update</string>
	<key>PayloadDescription</key>
	<string/>
	<key>PayloadVersion</key>
	<integer>1</integer>
	<key>PayloadEnabled</key>
	<true/>
	<key>ConfigDataInstall</key>
	<true/>
	<key>CriticalUpdateInstall</key>
	<true/>
	<key>AutomaticCheckEnabled</key>
	<true/>
	<key>restrict-software-update-require-admin-to-install</key>
	<false/>
	<key>AutomaticDownload</key>
	<true/>
	<key>AutomaticallyInstallAppUpdates</key>
	<true/>
	<key>AutomaticallyInstallMacOSUpdates</key>
	<true/>
	<key>CatalogURL</key>
	<string/>
	<key>AllowPreReleaseInstallation</key>
	<true/>
	</dict>
	</array>
	</dict>
	</plist>

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EnableAutomaticDownloadandInstallationofAppleSoftwareUpdates.mobileconfig

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