Mac OS X Server v10.6: Hosting Software Updates for OS X Lion or Lion Server

Summary

Use the instructions in this article to host updates on Mac OS X Server v10.6 for computers running OS X Lion or Lion Server.

Products Affected

Lion Server

  1. Update your server to Mac OS X Server v10.6.8.
  2. Stop the Software Update service if it is running.
  3. Quit Server Admin if it is active.
  4. Update /etc/swupd/swupd.plist to begin hosting OS X Lion software updates. (See details below.)
  5. Update /etc/swupd/swupd.conf to allow OS X Lion computers to receive updates. (See details below.)
  6. Open Server Admin and start the Software Update service.
  7. Use the instructions in Mac OS X Server v10.6: Using the Software Update service with multiple Mac OS X client versions to point your OS X Lion clients to this server.

In step 4, you will need root access to update the file /etc/swupd/swupd.plist. To be safe, make a backup copy of the file before editing it. Add the string in bold below to the otherCatalogs array:

    <key>otherCatalogs</key>
    <array>
        <string>index-leopard.merged-1.sucatalog</string>
        <string>index-leopard-snowleopard.merged-1.sucatalog</string>
        <string>index-lion-snowleopard-leopard.merged-1.sucatalog</string>
    </array>

Note: You can edit the file using a text or property list editor, or use the single command below to make the change.

sudo /usr/libexec/PlistBuddy -c 'add :otherCatalogs:2 string index-lion-snowleopard-leopard.merged-1.sucatalog' /etc/swupd/swupd.plist


In step 5, you will need root access to update the file /etc/swupd/swupd.conf. To be safe, make a backup copy of the file before editing it. Locate the following line near the end of the file:

    RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} Darwin/11

Edit the following line to read:

    RewriteRule ^/index\.sucatalog$ /index-lion-snowleopard-leopard.merged-1.sucatalog

 

Additional Information

Hosting updates for multiple OS versions requires additional storage space on your server. If you plan to host updates for Mac OS X v10.5, 10.6, and OS X Lion, you should allow 80 to 100 GB of disk space for storing updates.

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