I was explaining Munki (and autopkg) to some colleagues when I hit on the idea of the MacDevOps manifesto.

Munki and friends (apps used to augment and extend Munki) are helpful automation tools. Setting up automation systems take time and must be maintained and grown but they pay big dividends.  Freeing us to do Dev work or other tasks they automate and iterate and repeat and build our systems in the way we want.

No more 100 machines built in a hundred different ways (unless we want to). But now we can check at a glance in MunkiReport to verify that indeed the latest Adobe Flash patch is installed. That may make our lives better. Especially if we need to satisfy corporate IT or our bosses that we are up to date and patched as required.

The MacDevOps Manifesto Part 1: Munki and friends

Munki is at its core free software created by Greg Neagle at Disney Animation and used worldwide in many different ways but essentially to distribute apps and run scripts on client workstations. There are many ways to customize it and if fits many different workflows. The MacDevOps:YVR conference I ran last June turned out to be a Munki love-in and showed me the many awesome and varied ways organizations are using it.

With AutoPkg, another free Mac open source project, Munki can get the latest updates to any software that it has recipes for and by extension install them on clients immediately. This fits the workflow of having Flash, Java and web browsers (Chrome or FireFox) updated as soon as possible for security patches. Exploits on the Mac are coming from these entry points and if you need to use these apps or plugins then having the latest versions helps. For this feature alone I use Munki. In a few months you will see that Munki with AutoPkg has downloaded dozens of versions of each app and keeping up with this takes time away from other tasks. Automation of simple tasks frees up our time so we can focus on other things. That is MacDevOps.

I also use Munki for installation of any app that is needed everywhere. If I have to download or install one app for one client workstation I put it in Munki and it is ready for installation anywhere with a simple click by the user in a self service portal or automatically by choosing managed installs. Of course if there is an app you don’t want installed (flash or Skype or messenger, etc) add it to Munki and mark it as managed uninstall. Done.

Scripts and files and config Profiles (replacement for mcx, managed preference settings for OS X) can be imported and used to configure workstations to make deployment easy and flexible. Put everything in Munki and then you don’t have to use golden master builds anymore. Buy a new Mac and install the Munki client. Done.

Add to this Munki Report which gives an excellent dashboard for what is installed and a total inventory of your client Macs. Very useful info which will let you know if you 15 different versions of flash or Photoshop or any app you choose to look for.

Last but least I always install Watchman Monitoring which reports to a secure cloud (web portal) to automatically monitor for bad drives, Ram, backups not running etc. It’s a great 50ft overview of all your installs and it can alert you immediately when a machine is having issues that you need to deal with (drives 90% full or Xsan volume not mounted, etc).

I find this combination of Munki and Watchman great for helping me manage my clients and I want to share these ideas about MacDevOps inspired ways of automating systems with everyone. Jump in and get involved with all these projects. You’ll be writing recipes for AutoPkg and sharing cool Munki tips and tricks with all your friends. And maybe like me you will start writing plugins for Watchman to monitor your favourite apps (I’m working on Archiware P5 backup and archive monitoring scripts).

Good luck to everyone and hope to see you at the next MacDevOps:YVR conference in June 2016. If you can’t make it go to your nearest Mac Dev / IT conference or start your own meet up somewhere local.