Why does Mac OS X Software Update not work when machine uses Active Directory?
- by Lyndsey Ferguson
My company's IT department is mostly a Windows run operation and in order to become more secure, they are altering the way that the Macintosh computers login to our internal network so that they use Active Directory like their Windows counterparts.
I have been given Administrative permission on my Mac and I am able to do most of what I used to be able to do in terms of authentication of software installations.
However, there is a problem: the "Software Update" feature doesn't work. What happens is that when I try to get the Mac to perform its Software Updates from the Apple menu, the normal window appears listing what has to be updated; I am able to select what to update and click the "Update" button, but then nothing happens.
It doesn't ask for authentication like it used to, the computer doesn't perform any download or installation (it does sometimes ask me to agree to license agreements for iTunes).
I can download the updates individually and install them without any issues, but the auto-update fails. I'd rather use the Software Update menu item like I used to: it is much more convenient.
Any suggestions on how I can fix this?
EDIT Nov 19th, 2009, 10:09 EST: I have posted this question to the Apple Mac OS X Snow Leopard support forum.
EDIT Nov 19th, 2009, 12:39 EST:Yes, the Terminal command "sudo softwareupdate --install --all" does work flawlessly. I want to avoid that as my co-workers are generally not comfortable on the Mac.
I also tried Chealion's suggestion to delete "~/Library/Preferences/com.apple.SoftwareUpdate.plist" and "/Library/Preferences/com.apple.SoftwareUpdate.plist", Software Update still fails.
However, I did get diagnostic messages in the Console (below). I've deleted the MS Office Package Receipts and examined the suhelperd (Software Update Helper Daemon?); it appears that suhelperd is crashing and that explains why it doesn't work. I've submitted a bug report to Apple (radar://7408619).
Here are the Console diagnostic messages:
11/19/09 12:36:44 PM com.apple.suhelperd[66829] terminate called after throwing an instance of 'NSException'
11/19/09 12:36:47 PM com.apple.launchd[1] (com.apple.suhelperd[66829]) Job appears to have crashed: Abort trap
11/19/09 12:36:48 PM com.apple.ReportCrash.Root[66830] 2009-11-19 12:36:48.275 ReportCrash[66830:2703] Saved crash report for suhelperd[66829] version ??? (???) to /Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/suhelperd_2009-11-19-123648_localhost.crash
11/19/09 12:36:54 PM com.apple.launchd[1] (com.apple.suhelperd) Throttling respawn: Will start in 1 seconds
11/19/09 12:36:55 PM com.apple.suhelperd[66836] terminate called after throwing an instance of 'NSException'
11/19/09 12:36:55 PM com.apple.launchd[1] (com.apple.suhelperd[66836]) Job appears to have crashed: Abort trap
11/19/09 12:36:56 PM com.apple.ReportCrash.Root[66830] 2009-11-19 12:36:56.017 ReportCrash[66830:2f03] Saved crash report for suhelperd[66836] version ??? (???) to /Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/suhelperd_2009-11-19-123655_localhost.crash
11/19/09 12:36:58 PM Software Update[66826] PackageKit: *** Missing bundle identifier: /Library/Receipts/Office2008_en_automator.pkg
11/19/09 12:36:58 PM Software Update[66826] PackageKit: *** Missing bundle identifier: /Library/Receipts/Office2008_en_automator_workflow.pkg
11/19/09 12:36:58 PM Software Update[66826] PackageKit: *** Missing bundle identifier: /Library/Receipts/Office2008_en_autoupdate.pkg
11/19/09 12:36:58 PM Software Update[66826] PackageKit: *** Missing bundle identifier: /Library/Receipts/Office2008_en_clipart.pkg
11/19/09 12:36:58 PM Software Update[66826] PackageKit: *** Missing bundle identifier: /Library/Receipts/Office2008_en_core.pkg
11/19/09 12:36:58 PM Software Update[66826] PackageKit: *** Missing bundle identifier: /Library/Receipts/Office2008_en_dock.pkg
11/19/09 12:36:58 PM Software Update[66826] PackageKit: *** Missing bundle identifier: /Library/Receipts/Office2008_en_entourage.pkg
11/19/09 12:36:58 PM Software Update[66826] PackageKit: *** Missing bundle identifier: /Library/Receipts/Office2008_en_entourage_help_std.pkg
11/19/09 12:36:58 PM Software Update[66826] PackageKit: *** Missing bundle identifier: /Library/Receipts/Office2008_en_equationeditor.pkg
11/19/09 12:36:58 PM Software Update[66826] PackageKit: *** Missing bundle identifier: /Library/Receipts/Office2008_en_errorreporting.pkg
11/19/09 12:36:58 PM Software Update[66826] PackageKit: *** Missing bundle identifier: /Library/Receipts/Office2008_en_excel.pkg
11/19/09 12:36:58 PM Software Update[66826] PackageKit: *** Missing bundle identifier: /Library/Receipts/Office2008_en_excel_help_std.pkg
11/19/09 12:36:58 PM Software Update[66826] PackageKit: *** Missing bundle identifier: /Library/Receipts/Office2008_en_fonts.pkg
11/19/09 12:36:58 PM Software Update[66826] PackageKit: *** Missing bundle identifier: /Library/Receipts/Office2008_en_graph.pkg
11/19/09 12:36:58 PM Software Update[66826] PackageKit: *** Missing bundle identifier: /Library/Receipts/Office2008_en_helpviewer.pkg
11/19/09 12:36:58 PM Software Update[66826] PackageKit: *** Missing bundle identifier: /Library/Receipts/Office2008_en_launch.pkg
11/19/09 12:36:58 PM Software Update[66826] PackageKit: *** Missing bundle identifier: /Library/Receipts/Office2008_en_ooxml.pkg
11/19/09 12:36:58 PM Software Update[66826] PackageKit: *** Missing bundle identifier: /Library/Receipts/Office2008_en_orgchart.pkg
11/19/09 12:36:58 PM Software Update[66826] PackageKit: *** Missing bundle identifier: /Library/Receipts/Office2008_en_powerpoint.pkg
11/19/09 12:36:58 PM Software Update[66826] PackageKit: *** Missing bundle identifier: /Library/Receipts/Office2008_en_powerpoint_help_std.pkg
11/19/09 12:36:58 PM Software Update[66826] PackageKit: *** Missing bundle identifier: /Library/Receipts/Office2008_en_proofing_brazilian.pkg
11/19/09 12:36:58 PM Software Update[66826] PackageKit: *** Missing bundle identifier: /Library/Receipts/Office2008_en_proofing_danish.pkg
11/19/09 12:36:58 PM Software Update[66826] PackageKit: *** Missing bundle identifier: /Library/Receipts/Office2008_en_proofing_dutch.pkg
11/19/09 12:36:58 PM Software Update[66826] PackageKit: *** Missing bundle identifier: /Library/Receipts/Office2008_en_proofing_english.pkg
11/19/09 12:36:58 PM Software Update[66826] PackageKit: *** Missing bundle identifier: /Library/Receipts/Office2008_en_proofing_finnish.pkg
11/19/09 12:36:58 PM Software Update[66826] PackageKit: *** Missing bundle identifier: /Library/Receipts/Office2008_en_proofing_french.pkg
11/19/09 12:36:58 PM Software Update[66826] PackageKit: *** Missing bundle identifier: /Library/Receipts/Office2008_en_proofing_german.pkg
11/19/09 12:36:58 PM Software Update[66826] PackageKit: *** Missing bundle identifier: /Library/Receipts/Office2008_en_proofing_italian.pkg
11/19/09 12:36:58 PM Software Update[66826] PackageKit: *** Missing bundle identifier: /Library/Receipts/Office2008_en_proofing_japanese.pkg
11/19/09 12:36:58 PM Software Update[66826] PackageKit: *** Missing bundle identifier: /Library/Receipts/Office2008_en_proofing_norwegian.pkg
11/19/09 12:36:58 PM Software Update[66826] PackageKit: *** Missing bundle identifier: /Library/Receipts/Office2008_en_proofing_portuguese.pkg
11/19/09 12:36:58 PM Software Update[66826] PackageKit: *** Missing bundle identifier: /Library/Receipts/Office2008_en_proofing_spanish.pkg
11/19/09 12:36:58 PM Software Update[66826] PackageKit: *** Missing bundle identifier: /Library/Receipts/Office2008_en_proofing_swedish.pkg
11/19/09 12:36:58 PM Software Update[66826] PackageKit: *** Missing bundle identifier: /Library/Receipts/Office2008_en_required.pkg
11/19/09 12:36:58 PM Software Update[66826] PackageKit: *** Missing bundle identifier: /Library/Receipts/Office2008_en_silverlight.pkg
11/19/09 12:36:58 PM Software Update[66826] PackageKit: *** Missing bundle identifier: /Library/Receipts/Office2008_en_sounds.pkg
11/19/09 12:36:58 PM Software Update[66826] PackageKit: *** Missing bundle identifier: /Library/Receipts/Office2008_en_word.pkg
11/19/09 12:36:58 PM Software Update[66826] PackageKit: *** Missing bundle identifier: /Library/Receipts/Office2008_en_word_help_std.pkg
11/19/09 12:37:26 PM com.apple.suhelperd[66839] terminate called after throwing an instance of 'NSException'
11/19/09 12:37:26 PM com.apple.launchd[1] (com.apple.suhelperd[66839]) Job appears to have crashed: Abort trap
11/19/09 12:37:26 PM com.apple.ReportCrash.Root[66830] 2009-11-19 12:37:26.929 ReportCrash[66830:2b07] Saved crash report for suhelperd[66839] version ??? (???) to /Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/suhelperd_2009-11-19-123726_localhost.crash
And here is the suhelperd crash report:
Process: suhelperd [66839]
Path: /System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/SoftwareUpdate.framework/Versions/A/Resources/suhelperd
Identifier: suhelperd
Version: ??? (???)
Code Type: X86-64 (Native)
Parent Process: launchd [1]
Date/Time: 2009-11-19 12:37:26.473 -0500
OS Version: Mac OS X 10.6.2 (10C540)
Report Version: 6
Exception Type: EXC_CRASH (SIGABRT)
Exception Codes: 0x0000000000000000, 0x0000000000000000
Crashed Thread: 0 Dispatch queue: com.apple.main-thread
Application Specific Information:
abort() called
*** Terminating app due to uncaught exception 'NSRangeException', reason: '*** -[NSCFArray objectAtIndex:]: index (0) beyond bounds (0)'
*** Call stack at first throw:
(
0 CoreFoundation 0x00007fff859a9444 __exceptionPreprocess + 180
1 libobjc.A.dylib 0x00007fff8787e0f3 objc_exception_throw + 45
2 CoreFoundation 0x00007fff859a9267 +[NSException raise:format:arguments:] + 103
3 CoreFoundation 0x00007fff859a91f4 +[NSException raise:format:] + 148
4 Foundation 0x00007fff855da080 _NSArrayRaiseBoundException + 122
5 Foundation 0x00007fff8553cb81 -[NSCFArray objectAtIndex:] + 75
6 Admin 0x00007fff8107920e +[User(UserPrivate) _userWithInfo:attributes:] + 71
7 Admin 0x00007fff81080d6b +[User findUserByID:searchParent:] + 404
8 suhelperd 0x0000000100001274 0x0 + 4294972020
9 suhelperd 0x0000000100002240 0x0 + 4294976064
10 suhelperd 0x00000001000053b1 0x0 + 4294988721
11 suhelperd 0x00000001000044b3 0x0 + 4294984883
12 suhelperd 0x0000000100004154 0x0 + 4294984020
13 libSystem.B.dylib 0x00007fff83eb60d8 mach_msg_server + 357
14 suhelperd 0x00000001000036eb 0x0 + 4294981355
15 suhelperd 0x0000000100002a1f 0x0 + 4294978079
16 suhelperd 0x0000000100001080 0x0 + 4294971520
)
Thread 0 Crashed: Dispatch queue: com.apple.main-thread
0 libSystem.B.dylib 0x00007fff83e86fe6 __kill + 10
1 libSystem.B.dylib 0x00007fff83f27e32 abort + 83
2 libstdc++.6.dylib 0x00007fff873cf5d2 __tcf_0 + 0
3 libobjc.A.dylib 0x00007fff87881d29 _objc_terminate + 100
4 libstdc++.6.dylib 0x00007fff873cdae1 __cxxabiv1::__terminate(void (*)()) + 11
5 libstdc++.6.dylib 0x00007fff873cdb16 __cxxabiv1::__unexpected(void (*)()) + 0
6 libstdc++.6.dylib 0x00007fff873cdbfc __gxx_exception_cleanup(_Unwind_Reason_Code, _Unwind_Exception*) + 0
7 libobjc.A.dylib 0x00007fff8787e192 object_getIvar + 0
8 com.apple.CoreFoundation 0x00007fff859a9267 +[NSException raise:format:arguments:] + 103
9 com.apple.CoreFoundation 0x00007fff859a91f4 +[NSException raise:format:] + 148
10 com.apple.Foundation 0x00007fff855da080 _NSArrayRaiseBoundException + 122
11 com.apple.Foundation 0x00007fff8553cb81 -[NSCFArray objectAtIndex:] + 75
12 com.apple.framework.Admin 0x00007fff8107920e +[User(UserPrivate) _userWithInfo:attributes:] + 71
13 com.apple.framework.Admin 0x00007fff81080d6b +[User findUserByID:searchParent:] + 404
14 suhelperd 0x0000000100001274 0x100000000 + 4724
15 suhelperd 0x0000000100002240 0x100000000 + 8768
16 suhelperd 0x00000001000053b1 0x100000000 + 21425
17 suhelperd 0x00000001000044b3 0x100000000 + 17587
18 suhelperd 0x0000000100004154 0x100000000 + 16724
19 libSystem.B.dylib 0x00007fff83eb60d8 mach_msg_server + 357
20 suhelperd 0x00000001000036eb 0x100000000 + 14059
21 suhelperd 0x0000000100002a1f 0x100000000 + 10783
22 suhelperd 0x0000000100001080 0x100000000 + 4224
Thread 1: Dispatch queue: com.apple.libdispatch-manager
0 libSystem.B.dylib 0x00007fff83e51bba kevent + 10
1 libSystem.B.dylib 0x00007fff83e53a85 _dispatch_mgr_invoke + 154
2 libSystem.B.dylib 0x00007fff83e5375c _dispatch_queue_invoke + 185
3 libSystem.B.dylib 0x00007fff83e53286 _dispatch_worker_thread2 + 244
4 libSystem.B.dylib 0x00007fff83e52bb8 _pthread_wqthread + 353
5 libSystem.B.dylib 0x00007fff83e52a55 start_wqthread + 13
Thread 2:
0 libSystem.B.dylib 0x00007fff83e529da __workq_kernreturn + 10
1 libSystem.B.dylib 0x00007fff83e52dec _pthread_wqthread + 917
2 libSystem.B.dylib 0x00007fff83e52a55 start_wqthread + 13
Thread 0 crashed with X86 Thread State (64-bit):
rax: 0x0000000000000000 rbx: 0x00007fff707d7298 rcx: 0x00007fff5fbff868 rdx: 0x0000000000000000
rdi: 0x0000000000010517 rsi: 0x0000000000000006 rbp: 0x00007fff5fbff880 rsp: 0x00007fff5fbff868
r8: 0x00007fff707da9e0 r9: 0x0000000000000063 r10: 0x00007fff83e83026 r11: 0x0000000000000202
r12: 0x00007fff85a2dca1 r13: 0x0000000000000000 r14: 0x00007fff70bea228 r15: 0x00007fff5fbffb10
rip: 0x00007fff83e86fe6 rfl: 0x0000000000000202 cr2: 0x00007fff70e3afd0