Security Basics: Re: automatic update on Mac OS X

["Damon McMahon" <inst_karma () hotmail com>]

Zac,

You might wish to check out the

softwareupdate

command line tool available in MacOS X. Unfortunately there doesn't seem to 
be a man page, so I've included the output from my iBook to give you an idea 
of how it works:
% sudo softwareupdate
Password:
Software Update Tool
Copyright 2002 Apple Computer, Inc.

Software Update found the following new or updated software:

 - AirPortSW-3.1.1
       AirPort Software (3.1.1), 7940K - restart required
 - Bluetooth-1.2.1
       Bluetooth Software (1.2.1), 4370K - restart required
 - iMovie-3.0.3
       iMovie (3.0.3), 86830K
 - iPod201-2.0.1
       iPod Software (2.0.1), 16000K
 - iPod130-1.3
       iPod Software (1.3), 5830K

To install an update, run this tool with the item name as an argument.
       e.g. 'softwareupdate <item> ...'
%

You should be able to write a shell script (I would use awk(1), but I guess 
perl would handle it just as well] and schedule it with cron(8) to provide a 
degree of automation - I'm not sure what would happen for the updates where 
a restart is required, however.
Best of luck.

> From :          "Zachary Mutrux" <zmutrux () compumentor org>
> To :    "Security-Basics" <security-basics () securityfocus com>
> Subject :       automatic update on Mac OS X
> Date :          Fri, 29 Aug 2003 09:17:08 -0700
> MIME-Version: 1.0
> Message-ID: <IPECIABPNKGFPBEPDLAEIEMACBAA.zmutrux () compumentor org>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"
> Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit
> MIME-Version: 1.0
> Message-ID: <IPECIABPNKGFPBEPDLAEIEMACBAA.zmutrux () compumentor org>
>
> Is there a way to automate the download and installation of updates in Mac
> OS X? In Mac OS 9, the Software Update Control Panel included a checkbox
> labeled "Ask me before installing new software". If you unchecked the box,
> patches would be automatically installed. That checkbox doesn't exist in 
> Mac
> OS X.
>
> I have done some searching on google, but didn't come up with a way to
> automate patch application. I'm just wondering if anyone knows how to do
> this. An AppleScript, maybe? Scheduled as a cron job?
_________________________________________________________________
Hotmail is now available on Australian mobile phones. Go to  
http://ninemsn.com.au/mobilecentral/signup.asp

---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Attend Black Hat Briefings & Training Federal, September 29-30 (Training), 
October 1-2 (Briefings) in Tysons Corner, VA; the world's premier 
technical IT security event.  Modeled after the famous Black Hat event in 
Las Vegas! 6 tracks, 12 training sessions, top speakers and sponsors.  
Symantec is the Diamond sponsor.  Early-bird registration ends September 6.Visit us: www.blackhat.com
----------------------------------------------------------------------------