Endpoint Services, Munki, Managed Software Center
Overview
Managed Software Center is the end-user application for the Munki Endpoint Management system. This application provides IT Pros with a way to notify users that there are updates to be installed or removed as well as providing visual progress feedback for these processes. Users can also run this app to trigger a check for available updates. Additionally, it serves as an App Store-like source for on-demand/optional software installs and removals.
[Please note: the screenshots shown below are for Munki 5.1. Munki 5.2, released in November 2020, introduces Managed Software Center design updates that more closely match recent versions of the macOS App Store. Once the campus has completed the transition to Munki 5.2, EPS will update these screenshots.]
Systems
- Computers running macOS 10.11 or higher and utilizing the Munki Mac Endpoint Management system
Affected Customers
- University of Illinois users and IT Pros leveraging Technology Services Endpoint Services' Munki Mac Endpoint Management
Actions
- Installing and Launching Managed Software Center
- Installing Updates with Managed Software Center
- Installing Software via the Self-Service Catalog
- User Notifications
Installing and Launching Managed Software Center
Managed Software Center is installed automatically when the Munki client software is installed on a computer. Managed Software Center is installed in the Applications folder by default. Users can launch the application from there.
Installing Updates with Managed Software Center
Upon starting Managed Software Center, it will connect to the Munki Mac Endpoint Management server, see what software is available for that computer and download any pending updates. Once Managed Software Center has downloaded any available updates, it will display the pending updates to the user. Users can then install the updates by clicking the UPDATE or UPDATE ALL button (depending on how many updates are pending). Users may also re-check for available updates by clicking the CHECK AGAIN button. Managed Software Center will also automatically check for available updates in the background (by default once every 1-2 hours) but will not display anything to users unless there are pending updates.
Installing Software via the Self-Service Catalog
Managed Software Center also acts as a self-service software catalog from which users can install additional software on-demand. Users are NOT required to be administrators on their computers to use the software catalog.
To get to the software catalog, select the Software tab on the navigation bar at the top of the Managed Software Center window.
Managed Software Center will then display all of the software that has been made available for the computer by the local IT department. Please refer to our article on manifests for more information on which applications are displayed in Managed Software Center. Users also have the ability to search for specific software and they can click a software's name to view additional information about a particular piece of software. Once a user has identified a piece of software they would like to install, they would click the INSTALL button located next to the software listing to trigger an install.
User Notifications
Managed Software Center attempts to notify users in a number of ways. If a user has the Managed Software Center icon in their dock, a red number will appear indicating how many pending updates are available. For computers running 10.13 (High Sierra) and later, Managed Software Center will also place notifications in the macOS Notification Center.
Some updates may have a "Force Install After Date" key set. Pkginfo files with this key set will forcefully logout and/or restart a machine in order to install a package requiring such. For these updates, users will see red text in the pending updates window stating the force install date and time.
