Ever since I installed Leopard 3 months ago, I have to manually run Software Update. I am running as a non-Admin, but it seems like it should still Auto Update. Any ideas why its not?
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Autoupdate does not work (Leopard)
- Thread starter techmonkey
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I thought that was the correct behavior (even in Tiger)? That standard users may not automatically run software update....
Check the Software Update preference pane in System Preferences. Make sure it is set to Daily. Wait a day or two, leave your computer on, and check to see if "Last check" changes.
Doesnt make any sense that the auto update only works for Admins. What if you never use the Admin account? The reason I dont use an Admin account daily is for security reasons. Whenever I install something or other system change, I get asked for the admin user/pass. I like this feature, but I think the auto update should work. Seems like a design oversight, since I can run Update manually.
It's time to remember what Admin is short for... i.e. Administrator. I.E. the person who performs updates and maintenance on the computer. I.E. that's why you have an admin account and a standard account in the first place.
Think about if Standard You and Admin You were actually two different people. Admin You would not want Standard You automatically installing updates. More to the point, Standard You would not have Admin You's password. So even if the updater was allowed to automatically run, it would only get Standard You to the point of taunting him/her with a list of updates he/she was not able to install.
It's time to remember what Admin is short for... i.e. Administrator. I.E. the person who performs updates and maintenance on the computer. I.E. that's why you have an admin account and a standard account in the first place.
Think about if Standard You and Admin You were actually two different people. Admin You would not want Standard You automatically installing updates. More to the point, Standard You would not have Admin You's password. So even if the updater was allowed to automatically run, it would only get Standard You to the point of taunting him/her with a list of updates he/she was not able to install.
You are not understanding my point. If a standard account can manually run the Update (which will ask for the admin when installing updates of course), then why not automatically run the Update on a scheduled basis. Its better for the standard user to see the system needs to be updated so they can say "Hey, I need to update my computer. I better contact the admin." The way it runs now, the standard user would never know about updates unless Update is run manually. Like I said before, I think its good practice to not run as an Admin. I never have to login to my Admin account. I guess I can write a script to run the Update every week versus me manually doing so. Should be automatic though... Windows does this... (flame away)
I understand your point... I just don't agree with it. I guess though, in fairness, the option should at least be greyed out, if it is not already, for Standard users, so that it is clear that it is not available.
And also an option for Auto Update for standard users
Besides creating a script to do this automatically every week, anyone have any other suggestions to make this automated?
The way I see it is in a moderated environment, the network/infrastructure administrator might not want certain updates to be performed.
Thus only allowing admins or someone with admin rights to perform the auto updates. Just a thought from the windows world I used to live in.
Thus only allowing admins or someone with admin rights to perform the auto updates. Just a thought from the windows world I used to live in.
I understand that 100%. The company I work for has Auto Update off for all users and they push out their own updates (this is a Windows environment). In the Mac world though, most users are home users. I just think there should be some notification stating there are updates available.
Oh I'm not disagreeing one bit. If anything, maybe an Administrator option under "Update" in Sys Prefs to allow auto update for 'standard' users would be a good thing for those Macs that aren't in any controlled environment.
I see what the poster above is getting at. Seems a bit inconsistent to allow standard users to update the system software but not allow them to select automatic updates. I'd say Apple should either completely disallow system updates for standard users, or allow them to the do the updates in the way most convenient for them.
Solution
I don't think that Apple will ever fix this, so a while ago I wrote a little applescript (in fact it's embedded into a launchd plist file, so you only have to care about one file), that checks once per day if there are any software updates available. If so, they are displayed in a nice looking Growl notification, if Growl is installed (highly recommended!), or in a standard system dialog. This works for any user. I'm using it for over a year now without any problems and decided to make it available to everybody. You can download it here.
Regards,
Sven
I don't think that Apple will ever fix this, so a while ago I wrote a little applescript (in fact it's embedded into a launchd plist file, so you only have to care about one file), that checks once per day if there are any software updates available. If so, they are displayed in a nice looking Growl notification, if Growl is installed (highly recommended!), or in a standard system dialog. This works for any user. I'm using it for over a year now without any problems and decided to make it available to everybody. You can download it here.
Regards,
Sven
Thanks Sven. I wrote a short script that runs AutoUpdate, but it bothers you with a dialog even if no updates are available.
I will check out your script. Thanks.