Endpoint Services, Workspace ONE, Munki Notification Center Preferences
Systems
Munki Mac Endpoint Management
Workspace ONE Unified Endpoint Management (UEM)
Affected Customers
University of Illinois IT Pros leveraging Technology Services Munki Mac Endpoint Management
macOS Application Notification Preferences
Beginning with macOS 10.15, an application’s ability to create Notification Center alerts, banners, badges, sounds, etc... must be explicitly allowed by the end user. This includes Munki’s Managed Software Center, as seen in the following per-user prompt the first time Munki runs on macOS 10.15 and up:
Consequences
When the end user selects ‘Allow’, they may select among various notification types and might choose a less-effective approach leading to overlooked software updates.
If the user selects ‘Don’t allow’, Munki won’t present ANY update notifications.
Unless end users are in the habit of logging out with the Mac awake and on the wired network (leaving Munki free to apply updates at the login window), the device may fall behind with software updates.
Managing Munki's Notification Preferences With Workspace ONE
The only automated way to allow Munki to notify the user is with the use of a profile installed via an MDM solution such as Workspace ONE. The EPS team has created a custom Workspace ONE profile to enforce the following Notification Center settings for Munki's Managed Software Center:
With this profile installed, any logged-in user will receive effective alert-type notifications when Munki updates are available.
Note that this profile does not change the existing Munki schedule, so devices using Munki Time Window will continue to adhere to the desired schedule.
To request use of this global profile, or to request provisioning if your unit is not leveraging Workspace ONE for Mac management, please submit an Endpoint Services support request.