Content caching declarative configuration for Apple devices
Use the Content caching configuration to set up and control the content cache on a Mac. Content caching stores a local copy of content that Apple devices download, such as software updates and apps, so other devices on the network can retrieve it faster and reduce internet data use.
The Content caching configuration supports the following:
Minimum supported operating system versions and channels: macOS 27 device.
Requires supervision: Yes.
Supported enrollment methods: Device Enrollment, Automated Device Enrollment.
Content caching settings
Setting | Description | Required | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Allow cache delete | If turned on, the operating system purges content from the cache automatically when free storage space runs low. Turn this off to maximize the effectiveness of content caching. | No | |||||||||
Allow personal caching | If turned on, the operating system caches user’s iCloud content. Changes to this value don’t have an immediate effect. Clients may take some time to react to changes. | At least one of the Allow personal caching or Allow shared caching keys need to be turned on. | |||||||||
Allow shared caching | If turned on, the operating system caches shared content, such as apps and software updates. Changes to this value don’t have an immediate effect. Clients may take some time to react to changes. | At least one of the Allow personal caching or Allow shared caching keys need to be turned on. | |||||||||
Auto activation | If turned on, the operating system automatically activates the content cache when possible and prevents disabling it. If content caching is turned off by a restriction, Auto activation is also turned off. Removing a configuration that used auto activation to turn on content caching doesn’t deactivate the content cache. | No | |||||||||
Auto enable tethered caching | If turned on, the operating system turns on internet connection sharing when possible and prevents turning it off. Deny tethered caching overrides this setting. | Tethered caching requires content caching. | |||||||||
Cache limit | The maximum number of bytes of storage space to use for the content cache. Set to | No | |||||||||
Data path | The path to the directory used to store cached content. Changing this setting manually doesn’t automatically move cached content from the old location to the new one. To move content automatically, use the Content Caching pane in System Settings > General > Sharing. The value needs to be (or end with) /Library/Application Support/Apple/AssetCache/Data. The operating system creates a directory and its intermediates for the given data path if it doesn’t already exist. The directory is owned by | No | |||||||||
Deny activation | Turns off content caching. It overrides the Auto activation key. Use this key to disable the content caching service. | No | |||||||||
Deny tethered caching | Turns off tethered caching. | No | |||||||||
Declarative status interval | The time interval in seconds the operating system uses to send a status report to the device management service. The reporting interval can’t be less than | No | |||||||||
Display alerts | If turned on, content caching displays exceptional conditions (alerts) as system notifications. | No | |||||||||
Keep awake | If turned on, the operating system prevents the computer from sleeping as long as content caching is on. If you want content caching to be available as much as possible, you should turn on this setting. | No | |||||||||
Listen ranges | A list of dictionaries that describe a range of client IP addresses to serve. Each item specifies type, first, and last. | No | |||||||||
Listen ranges only | If turned on, the content cache provides content to the clients in the listen ranges. | No | |||||||||
Listen with peers and parents | If turned on, the content cache provides content to the clients in the union of the listen ranges, peer listen ranges, and parents. | No | |||||||||
Local subnets only | If turned on, the content cache offers content to clients only on the same local subnet. The content cache offers no content to clients on other networks reachable by the content cache. If local subnets only is turned on, the operating system ignores listen ranges. | No | |||||||||
Log client identity | If turned on, the Content Cache logs the IP address and port number of the clients that request content. | No | |||||||||
Management reporting interval | The reporting interval in seconds the operating system uses when Management status target is present. The reporting interval can’t be less than | No | |||||||||
Management security config | If the management status target is an HTTPS URL, the operating system uses this field to determine how the connection is secured. | No | |||||||||
Management status certificate reference | The identifier of an asset declaration that contains the certificate the operating system uses to verify the security of the status reporting HTTPS connection. | No | |||||||||
Management status target | The target URL the operating system uses to send management statistics using an HTTP PUT request with a json dictionary as the payload. If the URL is an HTTPS URL, the management security config defines how the operating system secures the connection. The operating system sends the management statistics report to the target URL at an interval set by the management reporting interval value. | No | |||||||||
Parents | A list of the local IP addresses of other content caches that this cache should download from or upload to, instead of downloading from or uploading to Apple directly. The operating system ignores invalid addresses and addresses of Mac computers that aren’t content caches. It also skips parent caches that become unavailable. If all parent content caches become unavailable, the content cache downloads from—or uploads to—Apple directly, until a parent content cache becomes available again. | No | |||||||||
Parent selection policy | The policy to implement when choosing among more than one configured parent content cache. With every policy, the operating system skips parent caches that are temporarily unavailable. | No | |||||||||
Peer filter ranges | A list of dictionaries describing a range of peer IP addresses that the content cache uses to filter its list of peers to query for content. The content cache only queries peers in peer filter ranges. When peer filter ranges is an empty list, the content cache doesn’t query any peers. | No | |||||||||
Peer listen ranges | A list of dictionaries describing a range of peer IP addresses the content cache responds to. When peer listen ranges is an empty list, the content cache responds with an error to all cache queries. | No | |||||||||
Peer local subnets only | If turned on, the content cache only peers with other content caches on the same subnet, rather than with content caches that use the same public IP address as the device. When Peer local subnets only is turned on, it overrides the configuration of peer filter ranges and peer listen ranges. If the network changes, the local network peering restrictions update appropriately. If turned off, the content cache defers to peer filter ranges and peer listen ranges for configuring the peering restrictions. | No | |||||||||
Personal cache limit | The maximum number of bytes of storage space to use for iCloud content. The content cache limits the maximum value to the cache limit value. Set to | No | |||||||||
Port | The TCP port number on which the content cache accepts requests for uploads or downloads. Set to | No | |||||||||
Public ranges | A list of dictionaries describing a range of public IP addresses that are used for matching clients to content caches. | No | |||||||||
Note: Not all configurations and their settings are available in all device management services. Each device management service developer implements these settings differently. To learn which settings are available for your devices, consult your developer’s device management service documentation.