Lesson 4. Update macOS

Adding new capabilities is the very reason “software” exists. It’s expected that you will add new applications to increase the capabilities of your Mac and, as products are refined, add new software updates as well. In this lesson, you will configure and use the macOS software update technology, which is an automatic method to keep all your Apple-sourced software up to date. You will also explore an alternative to automatic software updates: manually downloading and installing software update packages.

Both automatic and manual software updates require an Internet connection to download update installers. The automatic software update mechanism checks only for updates of currently installed Apple-sourced software, including software bundled with macOS and any software purchased from the Mac App Store.

For most users, Mac App Store software updates require appropriate Apple ID authentication. If you have not previously signed in to the Mac App Store from the computer you’re working on, you will be required to authenticate with an Apple ID. If a Mac App Store item was installed with a different Apple ID and you wish to update the item, you must authenticate with the Apple ID used to purchase the original item.

By default, important macOS updates (for example, security updates) are automatically downloaded and installed. Other macOS and Mac App Store updates are automatically downloaded in the background but not installed. When updates are ready to be installed, notifications let you know by displaying “Updates Available” in a banner.

From the banner you can click Install or Later. If you click Install, macOS immediately installs the updates and restarts the Mac if necessary. If you click Later, you can select an option to update the software at a more convenient time. This is useful because some system updates prevent you from using the Mac while the installation completes, and they may require a restart. The last item in the banner menu, “Turn On Auto Update,” allows you to enable automatic updates for Mac App Store items. This option is not enabled by default in macOS Sierra.

Again, by default in macOS Sierra, Mac App Store updates don’t automatically install. You may receive an additional banner notification to “Turn on Auto Updates?”

Clicking the Turn On button from this notification enables automatic installation for Mac App Store items. As stated previously, by default, important system and security software are always updated.

After deferring updates, when you are ready to install updates or want to manually check for new updates, you can do so at any time using the following methods:

In the About This Mac window, click the Software Update button.

In the Mac App Store preferences, found in the System Preferences application, click the Check Now button.

In the toolbar of the Mac App Store, click the Updates button.

The Updates list is split into three sections:

At the very top are macOS software updates. This section contains only updates for macOS itself or updates for Apple software installed outside of the Mac App Store. Thus, updating these system items does not require that the user be signed in to the Mac App Store. (This is similar to the software update mechanism available in earlier versions of macOS.) To simplify the view, multiple software updates in this top section are hidden. You can see all the updates and their descriptions by clicking the More link next to the Update button in the top section.

In the middle are individual Mac App Store updates. Items purchased from the Mac App Store, aside from macOS itself, always appear as separate update items. In this screenshot, both Xcode and Microsoft Remote Desktop require updates. Again, you can see more information about any individual software update by clicking the More link in the description. If the Install macOS Sierra application is still on the system, you may also notice that an update appears for this application within the Mac App Store updates. The purpose is to update any older macOS installer with the latest version.

At the very bottom are previously installed updates. This section lists only updates installed by this user from the Mac App Store within the last 30 days. It does not list updates installed outside of the Mac App Store or by other users. You can view a complete list of installations by using System Information, as covered later in this lesson.

To install a single update, simply click the corresponding Update button, or click the Update All button to install all available updates. If none of the updates requires a restart for installation, the software automatically installs without any further interaction.

However, if any of the updates requires a restart after the install process, you are given the option to restart or again defer the installation. If the update items have already been downloaded, a notification displays.

If any of the update items haven’t been downloaded, a different dialog appears so that you can confirm you want to download the items and then restart.

In either case, when you select a restart option, the system verifies the downloaded updates, logs out the current user, installs the updates, restarts the system, and then automatically logs back in to the user account that initiated the updates. In the case of an update that requires a restart, through much of the update process the computer will be unusable by the user.

You can, of course, choose the Not Now button, but you will eventually have to restart to take advantage of the new software. Alternatively, if updates requiring a restart are already downloaded, you can choose an automatic installation option from the Later pop-up menu in the restart notification (shown previously) or from the pop-up menu to the right of the Update All button in the Mac App Store. As you can see in the following screenshot of the Later pop-up menu in the Mac App Store, you can choose to automatically defer the software installation and system restart to a time when it’s more convenient.

Older Mac computers upgraded to macOS Sierra that also have a previous version of iMovie, GarageBand, and the iWork suite of applications can upgrade, for free, to the latest Mac App Store versions. The software update process automatically detects these updates, but you have to authenticate with an Apple ID to accept the licenses for the new versions. For more information about updating these applications, see Apple Support article HT201064, “Update iMovie, Pages, Numbers, Keynote, and Apple Remote Desktop apps that came with your Mac.”

From the App Store preferences, you can enable or disable the following Mac App Store and automatic software update options:

Automatically check for updates—When this option is enabled, the system checks for updates once a day. Note that “check” means that only a small amount of Internet bandwidth is needed to determine whether updates are needed.

Download newly available updates in the background—In this case, the update system may need to use a large amount of bandwidth to download updates. It’s not uncommon for macOS system updates to weigh in at over 1 GB. Also, because this option will automatically download updates for applications purchased from the Mac App Store, systems with more applications will likely use more bandwidth.

Install app updates—This option is not enabled by default, but as covered previously, the system prompts you to enable this option via a notification. Once it’s enabled, you are notified after new Mac App Store items are automatically updated or if you need to quit the application to apply the update. Importantly, automatic Mac App Store updates do not require a system restart.

Install macOS updates—This option is not enabled by default, but as covered previously, you can also enable this option via a notification. Once it is enabled, you will be notified after new macOS system items are automatically updated, as long as they don’t require a restart. Again, any macOS updates that require a system restart allow you to restart immediately or wait until later.

Install system data files and security updates—If Apple deems these updates important enough that they should always be installed, it’s a best practice to leave this option enabled. Keep in mind, though, that some system and security updates require that the system be restarted.

Automatically download applications purchased on other Macs—This feature is disabled by default. If this feature is enabled, when you are signed in to the Mac App Store with an Apple ID, new installations made from another Mac using the same Apple ID will automatically install on this Mac as well. This is handy for those who use multiple Mac systems.

Password Settings—These settings likewise apply only if a user is signed in to the Mac App Store with an Apple ID. Adjusting these settings will reduce the number of times users have to authenticate their Apple ID when making multiple purchases and free purchases.

In App Store preferences, you can also click the Check Now/Show Updates button to manually open the Updates section of the Mac App Store.

A prime example of a complicated software installation is any system software update. In some cases, it may be more convenient to manually install an update, as opposed to using automatic software update via the Mac App Store. For example, perhaps you need to install a particularly large software update for a system with limited Internet bandwidth. It may be better to manually download the update to a portable flash disk at a location with more bandwidth, and then use the flash disk to apply the update to the Mac that needs it. An experienced macOS support specialist will always have an external disk with the most common large updates handy for just such an occasion.

Double-clicking one of these software installer packages opens the Installer application and begins the installation process. Much like the macOS installation process, the Installer application guides you through the steps necessary to install or update software. This may include agreeing to software licenses, selecting a destination, selecting package options, and authenticating as an administrator user.

Unlike the Mac App Store, the Installer application requires administrator access to install many items. This security mechanism is in place because anyone is allowed to make and distribute traditional macOS installer packages, including those who may have nefarious goals. Another mechanism in macOS, known as Gatekeeper, also provides an additional level of protection against unknown installation packages and software. You can find out more about application installations and Gatekeeper in Lesson 16, “Install Applications.”

The second method allows you to inspect the contents of an installer package before installation. After opening an installer package in the Installer application and passing the initial welcome and license screens, you can preview the list of files to be installed by choosing File > Show Files or pressing Command-I.

Apple has endeavored to increase the security and reliability of software installation packages by supporting signed packages. These packages contain special code used to validate the authenticity and completeness of the software during installation. This makes it nearly impossible for malicious parties to insert illegitimate files in trusted installation packages. You can recognize a signed installer package by the small lock icon in the far right of the installer window title bar. Clicking this icon displays details about the signed package, including its certificate status.

As you may have seen, the update screen in the Mac App Store shows recently installed updates. However, this list of updates doesn’t show the complete history of all installations, but only recent installations from the Mac App Store, and only for the currently logged-in user account.

Fortunately, the System Information application features a complete installation history report. To view this history, open /Applications/Utilities/System Information, and then select the Installations item in the left column. This interface shows all software installed via the Mac App Store or the Installer application, including both new and update installations from either Apple or third parties. You can see the name, version, acquisition source, and date installed.

If your instructor has chosen to download any software updates and distribute them as part of the student materials, you can follow these steps to install them. Your instructor will tell you whether you need to do this.

2 For each software update in this folder (note: your instructor may additionally specify an order in which they should be installed), do the following:

Open the disk image file. After a short time, a new volume mounts. It contains the update package.

Open the update package. The installer opens and walks you through the installation process.

Continue through the installer prompts, and agree to the license agreement if required.

When prompted, authenticate as Local Admin again (password: ladminpw, or whatever you chose when you created the account). Installing software updates manually requires administrator privileges.

When each update has installed, click Close or Restart as appropriate.

3 Repeat these steps until all the updates have been installed.

4 If you did not restart, eject the disk image or disk images before proceeding. You can do this by Control-clicking in the background of the image’s window and choosing Eject from the shortcut menu or by using the Eject button next to the disk image’s name in the Finder sidebar.

If you want to keep a copy of an update or want to install additional software (such as printer drivers) available for download from the Apple Support site, this exercise shows you how to download and install updates manually.

2 Navigate to https://support.apple.com/downloads/.

This page shows the featured updates Apple has made available for download. If you do not see the update you want, you can either click one of the categories under “Browse Downloads by Product” or use the Search Downloads field to find the update you need.

The following screenshots use the Savin Printer Drivers package as an example, but you can choose any update for which your computer is eligible.

3 When you find the update you want to install, click its Download button.

4 Wait for the download to complete. Note that a progress indicator in the Safari Downloads button, near the top right of the window, shows the status of the download.

5 Click the Downloads (down-arrow icon) button near the top right of the window.

6 Click the View (magnifying glass icon) button next to the update you downloaded.

Your Downloads folder opens in the Finder, and the disk image containing the update is selected.

The disk image mounts, and you will see the installer package it contains.

2 Open the installer package.

The installer opens and walks you through the installation process.

3 Continue through the installer prompts, and agree to the license agreement if required.

4 When prompted, authenticate as Local Admin (password: ladminpw, or whatever you chose when you created the account).

Manual software updates usually require administrator privileges to install.

5 After the update installs, click Close or Restart as appropriate.

6 If you are prompted to move the installer to the trash and if you do not want to reuse the package on another Mac, click “Move to trash.”

7 If you did not restart, eject the disk image before proceeding. You can do this by Control-clicking in the background of the image’s window and choosing Eject from the shortcut menu or by using the Eject button next to the disk image’s name in the Finder sidebar.

In this exercise, you will use the automatic update feature of the Mac App Store to check for, download, and install updates for macOS. You will also see how to view installed software and updates.

2 Select the App Store preference pane.

Notice that by default the system automatically downloads new updates in the background and then notifies you when they are ready.

Near the middle of the preference pane, there is a line that either shows the last time updates were checked (and has a Check Now button) or indicates updates are available (and has a Show Updates button).

3 Click the Check Now or Show Updates button.

The App Store application opens, and its Updates tab is selected. Note that you can also open the App Store application directly from the Apple menu.

2 If you see a message that says “No Updates Available,” your computer is up to date. Skip the rest of this section and proceed to “Check Installed Updates.”

3 Click the small triangle next to the Update All button. A pop-up menu appears, with options to install updates later.

4 Click elsewhere to dismiss the pop-up menu.

5 Decide which updates you want to install on your computer.

6 If there is more than one update, you can click More to see a detailed list. Click the Update buttons for the updates you want to install, or click Update All if you want all available updates.

7 If any of the updates are subject to license agreements, you are prompted to agree to them. Read the agreements, and if they are acceptable, click Agree.

8 If you are prompted to restart your computer, click Restart or Download & Restart.

9 If a dialog appears asking if you want to automatically update macOS, click Not Now to keep your current update preference.

10 If the update restarted your computer, log back in to the Local Admin account. If you are prompted to sign in with your Apple ID, select “Don’t sign in,” click Continue, and then click Skip in the confirmation dialog.

11 Reopen the App Store application and check for additional updates. Some updates must be installed in sequence, so you may have to repeat the update process several times.

12 When all updates have been installed, quit the App Store and System Preferences.

System Information opens and displays its report.

2 In the Software section of the sidebar, select Installations.

A list of installed software and updates appears, including the updates you just installed. You can select specific updates from the list to get more information about them.

3 Quit System Information.