10.4: Manually add a Tiger Software Update Server

May 19, '06 07:30:02AM

Contributed by: daschu

I've been using my computer on a network where there is a Software Update Server (SUS) available, but since my computer is not managed by Tech Support, I've been unable to use it. I recently found the secret location of the preference that Workgroup Manager saves the SUS location in; it's in /Library -> Managed Preferences -> short_username -> com.apple.SoftwareUpdate.plist.

Copy the following code into a plain text document and save it as com.apple.SoftwareUpdate.plist in the above mentioned location. Make sure to edit the string of CatalogURL to your specific SUS URL:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<!DOCTYPE plist PUBLIC "-//Apple Computer//DTD PLIST 1.0//EN" "http://www.apple.com/DTDs/PropertyList-1.0.dtd">
<plist version="1.0">
<dict>
  <key>CatalogURL</key>
  <string>http://PUT THE URL OF YOUR SUS HERE/</string>
  <key>WebKitDefaultFontSize</key>
  <integer>11</integer>
  <key>WebKitStandardFont</key>
  <string>Lucida Grande</string>
</dict>
</plist>

I suppose that if someone wanted to mirror the Official Apple SUS on a much faster connection, this hint would be beneficial to just about anyone.

Before anyone tells me what I didn't "know" ... I know that I don't personally need access to a server to have the Server Admin Tools installed on my machine, and that I can use them to manage the preferences of my local machine, specifically the SUS option.

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