{"id":23287,"date":"2023-05-08T09:52:01","date_gmt":"2023-05-08T04:22:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.hexnode.com\/blogs\/?p=23287"},"modified":"2023-05-08T10:33:16","modified_gmt":"2023-05-08T05:03:16","slug":"using-pre-post-app-installation-scripts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hexnode.com\/blogs\/using-pre-post-app-installation-scripts\/","title":{"rendered":"Using pre\/post app installation scripts"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cAn error occurred while installing the application.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe application can\u2019t be opened.\u201d<\/p>\n

These words are one of the worst nightmares of all IT admins. Enough to drive someone into a state of confusion, thinking about what they missed. In addition, every app will have its own set of requirements to run correctly. Making sure all these prerequisites are satisfied fulfilled in all devices can be a daunting task. Being an IT admin is not easy?. \u2018Pat pat\u2019 to you folks.<\/p>\n

Alright, let’s say you managed to install the application. Is the job done? I\u2019m afraid not. You might have to ensure all the necessary features are turned on before launching the app. Seems like too much work? Getting an application to work correctly shouldn\u2019t be this hard, right? So, what is the solution?<\/p>\n

(Read in Al Pacino\u2019s voice)<\/em> Say hello to my little friend- pre and post app install scripts.<\/p>\n

Scripting made simple<\/h2>\n

Since my \u201ccatchy\u201d intro is over, let’s look at what precisely are these pre and post app installation scripts and why we might need them.<\/p>\n \t\t

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\r\n \t\t\t\t\tA script is a series of commands written in a scripting language that details the operations you want to perform on your computer devices and automatically executes it on the devices without any manual intervention. IT admins will have to manually administrate these tasks one by one on each device. Hence, IT admins majorly turn to scripts to execute specific routines and time-consuming operations. \t\t\t\t<\/p>\r\n \t\t\t \t\t\t\r\n \t\t<\/div>\r\n \t\t\n

Pre\/post app installation scripts is a new feature for macOS devices, available now in the Hexnode portal. This feature allows you to customize your enterprise app installation process. For example, you can add custom-made scripts as pre-install scripts and post-install scripts while pushing an application management policy into the devices. Pre-install scripts run before the app installation, and post-install scripts run once the installation process is complete.<\/p>\n

Knowing more about pre\/post app install scripts<\/h2>\n

Pre-install scripts<\/h3>\n

Pre-install scripts perform an action before installation occurs. For example, IT admins can use it to set up all the necessary prerequisites before executing the dmg\/pkg file that installs the application. If the pre-install script fails to execute, it will cease the installation process and send an error message to the server.<\/p>\n

Before installing your applications, you might have to perform cleanup tasks such as clearing all the cached data. Let\u2019s see how you can automate this process by executing a bash script for cleaning cache data as a pre-install script.<\/p>\n

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#!\/bin\/bash\r\n\r\nUSER=`stat -f%Su \/dev\/console` \r\n\r\n#System Caches\r\nsudo mv \/private\/var\/log\/privoxy \/private\/var\/privoxy > \/dev\/null 2>&1\r\nsudo \/bin\/rm -rf \/private\/var\/log\/* > \/dev\/null 2>&1\r\nsudo mv \/private\/var\/privoxy \/private\/var\/log\/privoxy > \/dev\/null 2>&1\r\n\r\n#System Caches\r\nsudo \/bin\/rm -rf \/Users\/$USER\/Library\/Logs\/* > \/dev\/null 2>&1 & sudo \/bin\/rm -rf \/Library\/Logs\/DiagnosticReports\/*.* > \/dev\/null 2>&1 & sudo \/bin\/rm -rf \/private\/var\/tmp\/com.apple.messages > \/dev\/null 2>&1 & sudo \/bin\/rm -rf \/Users\/$USER\/Library\/Caches\/* > \/dev\/null 2>&1 & sudo \/bin\/rm -rf \/private\/var\/db\/diagnostics\/*\/* > \/dev\/null 2>&1 & sudo \/bin\/rm -rf \/Library\/Logs\/DiagnosticReports\/ProxiedDevice-Bridge\/*.ips > \/dev\/null 2>&1 & sudo \/bin\/rm -rf \/Users\/$USER\/Library\/Application\\ Support\/CrashReporter\/* > \/dev\/null 2>&1 & sudo \/bin\/rm -rf \/private\/tmp\/gzexe* > \/dev\/null 2>&1\r\n\r\n#Safari Caches\r\nsudo \/bin\/rm -rf \/Users\/$USER\/Library\/Containers\/com.apple.Safari\/Data\/Library\/Caches\/* > \/dev\/null 2>&1 & sudo \/bin\/rm -rf \/private\/var\/folders\/ry\/*\/*\/com.apple.Safari\/com.apple.Safari\/com.apple.metal\/*\/libraries.data > \/dev\/null 2>&1 & sudo \/bin\/rm -rf \/private\/var\/folders\/ry\/*\/*\/com.apple.Safari\/com.apple.Safari\/com.apple.metal\/*\/libraries.maps > \/dev\/null 2>&1 & sudo \/bin\/rm -rf \/Users\/$USER\/Library\/Containers\/io.te0.WebView\/Data\/Library\/Caches\/WebKit > \/dev\/null 2>&1 & sudo \/bin\/rm -rf \/Users\/$USER\/Library\/Safari\/History.db* > \/dev\/null 2>&1 & sudo \/bin\/rm -rf \/Users\/$USER\/Library\/Safari\/RecentlyClosedTabs.plist > \/dev\/null 2>&1 & sudo \/bin\/rm -rf \/Users\/$USER\/Library\/Safari\/CloudHistoryRemoteConfiguration.plist > \/dev\/null 2>&1\r\n\r\n#Chrome Caches\r\nChromePath=\"\/Applications\/Google Chrome.app\"\r\nif [[ -d $ChromePath ]]; then\r\nsudo \/bin\/rm -rf \/Users\/$USER\/Library\/Application\\ Support\/Google\/Chrome\/*\/GPUCache\/* > \/dev\/null 2>&1 & sudo \/bin\/rm -rf \/Users\/$USER\/Library\/Application\\ Support\/Google\/Chrome\/*\/Storage\/ext\/*\/def\/GPUCache\/* > \/dev\/null 2>&1 & sudo \/bin\/rm -rf \/Users\/$USER\/Library\/Application\\ Support\/Google\/Chrome\/*\/*-journal > \/dev\/null 2>&1 & sudo \/bin\/rm -rf \/Users\/$USER\/Library\/Application\\ Support\/Google\/Chrome\/*\/databases\/*-journal > \/dev\/null 2>&1 & sudo \/bin\/rm -rf \/Users\/$USER\/Library\/Application\\ Support\/Google\/Chrome\/*\/Visited\\ Links > \/dev\/null 2>&1 & sudo \/bin\/rm -rf \/Users\/$USER\/Library\/Application\\ Support\/Google\/Chrome\/*\/Top\\ Sites > \/dev\/null 2>&1 & sudo \/bin\/rm -rf \/Users\/$USER\/Library\/Application\\ Support\/Google\/Chrome\/*\/History\\ Provider\\ Cache > \/dev\/null 2>&1 & sudo \/bin\/rm -rf \/Users\/$USER\/Library\/Application\\ Support\/Google\/Chrome\/*\/Current\\ Tabs > \/dev\/null 2>&1 & sudo \/bin\/rm -rf \/Users\/$USER\/Library\/Application\\ Support\/Google\/Chrome\/*\/Network\\ Action\\ Predictor > \/dev\/null 2>&1 & sudo \/bin\/rm -rf \/Users\/$USER\/Library\/Application\\ Support\/Google\/Chrome\/*\/*.ldb > \/dev\/null 2>&1 & sudo \/bin\/rm -rf \/Users\/$USER\/Library\/Application\\ Support\/Google\/Chrome\/*\/*.log > \/dev\/null 2>&1 & sudo \/bin\/rm -rf \/Users\/$USER\/Library\/Application\\ Support\/Google\/Chrome\/*\/Extension\\ State\/* > \/dev\/null 2>&1 & sudo \/bin\/rm -rf \/Users\/$USER\/Library\/Application\\ Support\/Google\/Chrome\/*\/Session\\ Storage\/* > \/dev\/null 2>&1 & sudo \/bin\/rm -rf \/Users\/$USER\/Library\/Application\\ Support\/Google\/Chrome\/*\/Current\\ Session > \/dev\/null 2>&1 & sudo \/bin\/rm -rf \/Users\/$USER\/Library\/Application\\ Support\/Google\/Chrome\/*\/Storage\/ext\/* > \/dev\/null 2>&1 & sudo \/bin\/rm -rf \/Users\/$USER\/Library\/Application\\ Support\/Google\/Chrome\/*\/*\/Cache > \/dev\/null 2>&1\r\nfi\r\n\r\n#Clean Download History\r\nsudo sqlite3 ~\/Library\/Preferences\/com.apple.LaunchServices.QuarantineEventsV* 'delete from LSQuarantineEvent' > \/dev\/null 2>&1\r\n\r\n#Clean Terminal History\r\nsudo \/bin\/rm -rf \/Users\/$USER\/.bash_sessions\/* > \/dev\/null 2>&1 & sudo \/bin\/rm -rf \/Users\/$USER\/.bash_history > \/dev\/null 2>&1 & sudo \/bin\/rm -rf \/Users\/$USER\/.zsh_sessions\/* > \/dev\/null 2>&1 & sudo \/bin\/rm -rf \/Users\/$USER\/.zsh_history > \/dev\/null 2>&1\r\n\r\n#Applications Caches\r\nfor x in $(ls ~\/Library\/Containers\/) \r\ndo \r\n    echo \"Cleaning ~\/Library\/Containers\/$x\/Data\/Library\/Caches\/\"\r\n    rm -rf ~\/Library\/Containers\/$x\/Data\/Library\/Caches\/*\r\ndone\r\n\r\necho done<\/pre>\n<\/div>\n
When added as the pre-install script, this bash script clears the system cache, browser cache, user cache, download history, and terminal history before app installation.<\/p>\n
You can also use pre-install scripts to do other cleanup tasks, such as removing licensing and clearing database files. Apart from this, you can use pre-install scripts to run configuration files to configure applications automatically during installation. When installation occurs, the installer finds the configuration files already placed to facilitate this process.<\/p>\n
Post-install scripts<\/h3>\n
The Post-install script runs after the execution of the dmg\/pkg\/mpkg file. You can use it for applying configurations after the software completes the installation. Tasks that would typically be prompted for the user to resolve before running the app can be automated by using these scripts.<\/p>\n
Consider the situation where the user has to launch the app you just installed every time they turn on their devices. Having these apps automatically opened as soon as the user logs in will be convenient. Again, you can deploy a script for this as the post-install script to your device fleet.<\/p>\n
\n
#!\/bin\/bash\r\ntouch '\/Library\/LaunchAgents\/com.app_name.plist'\r\ncat > \/Library\/LaunchAgents\/com.app_name.plist <<EOF\r\n\r\n<?xml version=\"1.0\" encoding=\"UTF-8\"?>\r\n<!DOCTYPE plist PUBLIC \"-\/\/Apple\/\/DTD PLIST 1.0\/\/EN\" \"http:\/\/www.apple.com\/DTDs\/PropertyList-1.0.dtd\">\r\n<plist version=\"1.0\">\r\n<dict>\r\n\t<key>KeepAlive<\/key>\r\n\t<false\/>\r\n\t<key>Label<\/key>\r\n\t<string>com.app_name.plist<\/string>\r\n\t<key>Program<\/key>\r\n\t<string>\/System\/Applications\/app_name.app\/Contents\/MacOS\/app_name<\/string>\r\n\t<key>RunAtLoad<\/key>\r\n\t<true\/>\r\n<\/dict>\r\n<\/plist><\/pre>\n<\/div>\n
Replace app_name<\/em> in the script with the name of the application you require to launch automatically and specify the full path of the executable file for the application under the key. This script will create a launch agent for the specified app in \/Library\/LaunchAgents<\/strong> and run for every user account upon logging in.<\/p>\n
You can also set up custom app configurations, Wi-Fi settings, VPN settings, and so on by post-install scripting.<\/p>\n
Audit scripts<\/h3>\n
An audit script checks the installation status of the enterprise app. The script can check for required files, settings, apps and more to find all possible errors. The audit script would check for the presence of an app at the specified location. If it is not present, the script will prompt Hexnode to reinstall it.
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<\/div>
The ultimate guide to Mac shell scripting<\/h4>
Learn how to create and run a macOS shell script, and review the common shell commands.<\/p><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/a><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/p>\n
Configuring pre\/post app installation scripts<\/h2>\n
Configuring pre-install, post-install and audit scripts using Hexnode won\u2019t take much time if you have your apps and scripts in hand. Feel free to check out Hexnode\u2019s sample script repository<\/a> if you need help creating your scripts.<\/p>\n    \t\t
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Pre-requisites<\/h4>\n