Rename 'softwareupdate' to install prior updates

Jul 18, '02 07:55:51AM

Contributed by: phillryu

Once the recent updater security fix (as of 7/12/02) is installed, the system install program refuses to install the 10.1.3 , 10.1.4 or 10.1.5 updates, reporting that the drive does not meet the requirement. As I had to reinstall my system from scratch this weekend for some reason, I was stuck at 10.1.2 and couldn't install any later updates, with mounting frustration for a few hours.

After examining the script inside the system updates, I found that this is a result of the security fix having created a "softwareupdate" program in /usr/sbin/. The system updates for 10.1.3 and greater detects its presence and then would refuse to proceed. A way around this limitation it is to rename softwareupdate momentarily to something else (say "lala") in the terminal program via:

 % sudo mv /usr/sbin/softwareupdate /usr/sbin/lala
and then run the installer. Afterward, don't forget to switch it back, so that you can use 'softwareupdate' from the command line, as described in this hint.

[Editor's note: It was my understanding that previous updates were being updated to reflect the new secure update mechanism. At some point in the near future, they should be able to install without renaming the 'softwareupdate' application.]

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