Munki (software)

Last updated
Munki
Developer(s) Walt Disney Animation Studios
Initial releaseSeptember 1, 2014;9 years ago (2014-09-01)
Repository github.com/munki/munki
Written in Python
Operating system Mac OS X
Type Configuration management, DevOps, Infrastructure as Code
License Apache License 2.0
Website www.munki.org

Munki is a collection of open-source tools which manage software installation and configuration when used together with a web server-based repository of packages and package metadata. It is typically used by system administrators who need to manage software installations on large numbers of macOS computers, typically in enterprise and education environments. [1] [2] [3]

Contents

Overview

On the server side, Munki can use any web server. You can use any available modern web server on any platform. Modern because some software packages can be over 2GB in size and older web servers have problems serving files of that size. Munki does not require the installation of specific software on the web server, but write permissions for directories and files on the web server are required.

Munki can install software delivered as standard Apple packages - the same kind of packages, that when double-clicked, open in Apple's Installer.app. Munki can also install software from disk images. In many cases, Munki can also remove the software it has installed. Munki can update software it did not install itself. Munki can be configured to install Apple Software Updates. This allows users without admin rights to be able to install available Apple updates. See here for more information.

Munki Version Compatibility
Munki ReleasemacOS Support
Munki 3macOS version 10.7 "Mountain Lion" and above
Munki 2macOS version 10.6 "Snow Leopard" through macOS version 10.13 "High Sierra"
Munki 1macOS version 10.5 "Leopard" through macOS version 10.9 "Mavericks"

Components

Most of the data munki needs to function is stored on a web server. Munki uses three types of data:

Manifests and catalogs are stored on the web server as standard Apple plist files in text format. pkginfo files are also plist-formatted files. If you've administered Mac OS X machines, you've almost certainly encountered plist files. They are a well-understood way to store structured data in a text format.

See also

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References

  1. Felker, Mikhael (30 January 2013). "Open Source Tools to Manage Macs in the Enterprise". Tom's IT Pro.
  2. Neagle, Greg. "MacEnterprise: Managing Software Installs with Munki". MacTech.
  3. Smith, William (2015). Enterprise Mac Administrator's Guide. pp. 449–450. ISBN   9781484217061. OCLC   930703381.