Allow non admin to update macos

Here we go again @Timea ! From what I learnt from previous updates, you can initiate major updates strictly as an administrator or from an MDM.

I guess for silicon macs one does not need to be an admin to initiate minor updates, you just need volume ownership. They mention it under Volume ownership https://support.apple.com/en-in/guide/deployment/dep24dbdcf9e/web 3rd para. You can initiate updates as a standard user. The prompt for password for software update needs the password of standard account with volume ownership.

You could assign the standard user with a secure token upon creation of the account to give it volume ownership. But you are going to need to restart manually or provide admin privileges to force restart the device automatically after downloading updates.

Major updates (OS upgrades) need to be initiated by an admin or from an mdm portal since mdm initiates updates as an admin. If you want to use custom scripts to initiate upgrades you could refer to this doc.
https://www.hexnode.com/mobile-device-management/help/script-to-update-os-in-macos-devices/#script-to-upgrade-os

Hi there,

Thank you for being a part of the Hexnode Connect community!

As discussed in this thread, the new silicon macs indeed need admin credentials to initiate major upgrades while minor upgrades can be carried out with a standard user account having volume ownership. Users can create standard accounts with secure tokens assigned by admin user for this case from the Hexnode portal. You can use Hexnodes custom scripts to initiate updates and upgrades remotely from the portal.

Reach out to us if you meet any hiccups in the process.

Regards,
Ethan Miller
Hexnode UEM