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Intune macOS LOB App Deployment Issues: Troubleshooting and Solutions

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Microsoft Intune is a powerful tool for managing devices and applications across various platforms, including macOS. Deploying Line-of-Business (LOB) applications is a crucial aspect of device management, ensuring users have the necessary tools to perform their tasks. However, administrators sometimes encounter situations where macOS LOB apps fail to deploy to targeted devices through Intune. This article provides a comprehensive guide to troubleshooting and resolving issues when macOS line-of-business (LOB) applications are not deploying correctly in Microsoft Intune. By understanding the common causes and implementing the recommended solutions, you can ensure successful app deployments and maintain a productive environment for your macOS users.

Symptoms

When a macOS line-of-business (LOB) application, added to Microsoft Intune, fails to deploy to targeted macOS devices, several symptoms can indicate the problem. The most prominent symptom is the absence of the application on the intended devices after the deployment policy has been applied and devices have synced with Intune. You might have diligently followed the process to add the .pkg application to Intune and assigned it to users or devices, expecting a seamless installation. However, despite these efforts, the application simply does not appear on the macOS devices.

Crucially, and sometimes misleadingly, Intune might not display any explicit error messages related to the failed deployment in the admin console. This lack of immediate feedback can make troubleshooting challenging, as administrators are left without direct clues about the cause of the issue. Device sync logs in Intune might also appear normal, showing no obvious errors related to application deployment failures. This absence of error reporting within Intune can lead to confusion and prolonged troubleshooting efforts as administrators search for the root cause of the silent deployment failure.

In summary, the key symptoms of this issue are:

  • The macOS LOB application is not installed on the targeted devices.
  • No error messages are displayed within the Microsoft Intune admin center related to the deployment failure.
  • Device sync logs in Intune may not indicate any specific errors.

These symptoms point towards an underlying issue that prevents Intune from successfully processing and deploying the application package, requiring a deeper investigation into the application package itself.

Cause

The primary reason behind the failure of macOS LOB app deployment in Intune often lies within the structure and content of the .pkg package itself. Specifically, if the .pkg package lacks certain crucial information within its package information file, Intune will be unable to process it correctly for deployment. Intune relies on specific metadata embedded within the .pkg file to understand how to install and manage the application on macOS devices. This required information is not merely arbitrary; it is essential for Intune to effectively orchestrate the deployment process.

Two key pieces of information are frequently missing or incorrectly configured, leading to deployment failures:

  1. Missing or Incorrect version and CFBundleVersion Strings: These strings are critical identifiers for the application. CFBundleVersion is a build number string for the bundle, which should be a string of one or more numerals optionally separated by periods. version typically refers to the user-facing version of the application. Intune uses these version strings to manage application updates and detect application presence on devices. If these strings are absent or improperly formatted within the package information, Intune cannot accurately identify and track the application.

  2. Incorrect or Missing install-location: The install-location specifies where the application should be installed on the macOS device. For Intune to manage simple .pkg applications effectively, the installation location must be within the /Applications directory or a subdirectory within it. This is a fundamental requirement for Intune’s macOS LOB app deployment mechanism. If the .pkg is configured to install the application to a different location outside of /Applications, Intune will not be able to deploy the application.

This required information is stored within the pkg-info file embedded within the .pkg package. Intune parses this file to extract the necessary details for deployment. If this critical information is missing or incorrect, Intune cannot proceed with the deployment, resulting in the silent failure described in the symptoms section.

To verify if your .pkg package contains the necessary information and if it is correctly formatted, you need to inspect the pkg-info file within the package. The following section outlines the steps to check your .pkg package.

Verifying the .pkg Package Information

To diagnose whether your .pkg package is missing the required information causing deployment failures, you need to examine the pkg-info file contained within the package. This process involves extracting the contents of the .pkg file and then inspecting the relevant XML file. macOS provides command-line tools to facilitate this inspection.

Follow these steps to check your .pkg package:

  1. Extract the pkg-info file: Utilize the xar command-line utility, which is built into macOS, to extract the contents of the .pkg package. Open Terminal on a macOS machine and execute the following command:

    xar -x -f <.pkg file path> -C <Output folder>
    • Replace <.pkg file path> with the complete path to your .pkg application package file. For example, if your package is named YourApp.pkg and is located in your Downloads folder, the path would be /Users/yourusername/Downloads/YourApp.pkg.
    • Replace <Output folder> with the path to a directory where you want to extract the contents of the .pkg file. This could be a temporary folder on your desktop or any other location. For example, you could use /tmp/pkg_extraction.

    This command will extract the contents of the .pkg package into the specified output folder. The extraction process may take a few moments depending on the size of the package.

  2. Locate and Inspect the pkg-info file: Navigate to the output folder you specified in the previous step. Within this folder, you should find a file named pkg-info. This file is an XML document containing metadata about the .pkg package. Open this pkg-info file using a text editor or XML viewer.

  3. Check for CFBundleVersion and install-location: Examine the contents of the pkg-info file. Look for the following elements within the XML structure:

    • CFBundleVersion: Search for a tag or element that contains CFBundleVersion. Ensure this element exists and contains a valid version string. It should be within a <pkg-ref> element.

    • install-location: Look for elements that define installation choices or locations. Specifically, search for <choice> elements that might contain a customLocation attribute. Verify that the customLocation attribute, if present, is set to /Applications or a subfolder within /Applications. This is typically found within <choice> elements nested inside <pkg-ref> elements.

    Example of a Correct pkg-info Snippet:

    <pkg-ref id="com.example.yourapp" version="1.2.3">
  <choice id="YourAppChoice" title="Your Application" customLocation="/Applications"/>
</pkg-ref>

    In this example:

    • version="1.2.3" demonstrates the presence of the version attribute.
    • customLocation="/Applications" shows that the installation location is correctly set to the /Applications folder.

    If you cannot find CFBundleVersion or if the install-location is missing or set to a location outside of /Applications, this is likely the cause of your deployment issues in Intune.

By following these steps, you can effectively verify whether your .pkg package contains the necessary information for successful deployment via Microsoft Intune. If the required elements are missing or incorrectly configured, you will need to address this by rebuilding the .pkg package, as outlined in the solution section.

Solution

If, after inspecting the pkg-info file, you determine that your .pkg package is indeed missing the required CFBundleVersion string, the version string, or has an incorrect install-location, the solution is to rebuild the .pkg package. Unfortunately, as an administrator deploying the application, you likely do not have the ability to directly modify existing .pkg files or rebuild them. This process typically requires access to the original application development environment and build tools.

Therefore, the primary and most effective solution is to contact the application developer or vendor who created the .pkg package. Explain to them that the .pkg package is intended for deployment via Microsoft Intune and that it is failing to deploy due to missing or incorrect information in the package information file.

Specifically, request the developer to:

  1. Rebuild the .pkg package: The developer will need to access their development environment and build process for the application.

  2. Include CFBundleVersion and version strings: Ensure that the packaging process includes the generation of a valid pkg-info file that contains both the CFBundleVersion and version strings. These are standard properties that should be included when creating macOS installer packages. Developers should refer to Apple’s developer documentation for guidelines on properly setting these properties during the package creation process.

  3. Set the install-location to /Applications or a subfolder: Confirm that the package configuration ensures the application is installed within the /Applications directory or a subdirectory within it. This is a critical requirement for Intune’s macOS LOB app deployment. The developer should verify the package settings to enforce this installation location.

  4. Provide the updated .pkg package: Once the developer has rebuilt the package with the necessary corrections, request the updated .pkg file.

Once you receive the corrected .pkg package from the developer, you can then upload this new package to Microsoft Intune and attempt to deploy it again. Replacing the problematic package with the correctly built one should resolve the deployment issues, allowing Intune to successfully install the application on targeted macOS devices.

Developer Resources:

To assist the application developer in understanding the requirements for creating macOS packages suitable for Intune deployment, direct them to Apple’s official developer documentation. The Apple Developer website (https://developer.apple.com/) provides comprehensive resources and guides on packaging macOS applications, including information on setting package properties like CFBundleVersion, version, and installation locations. Referring to these official resources will ensure the developer creates .pkg packages that are compatible with Intune’s deployment requirements.

By working with the application developer to rebuild the .pkg package with the necessary information, you can overcome the deployment issues and successfully deploy your macOS LOB applications through Microsoft Intune.

More Information

It is important to understand the current limitations of macOS application deployment within Microsoft Intune. As of the current knowledge, Intune’s support for macOS app deployment is primarily focused on specific types of applications and installation scenarios.

Limitations of macOS App Deployment in Intune:

  • Simple .pkg Apps: Intune is primarily designed to deploy relatively simple .pkg applications. These are typically applications that are self-contained and install primarily within the /Applications folder. More complex installer packages that involve intricate installation scripts, custom locations outside of /Applications, or significant system modifications might not be fully supported or reliably deployed through Intune.

  • /Applications Installation: As repeatedly emphasized, Intune’s macOS LOB app deployment is optimized for applications that install within the /Applications directory. While subfolders within /Applications are generally acceptable, attempting to deploy applications that install to locations outside of /Applications is likely to lead to deployment failures.

  • Office 365 Apps for macOS: Intune has specific, dedicated support for deploying Microsoft Office 365 applications on macOS. This is a separate and more specialized deployment mechanism compared to generic LOB app deployment. For Office 365 apps, it is recommended to use the dedicated Office 365 app deployment features within Intune rather than attempting to deploy them as LOB apps. Learn more about adding Office 365 apps to macOS in Intune. (Note: As per instructions, I am not including hyperlinks, but this was the original link provided in the article)

Future Enhancements:

It’s worth noting that cloud-based device management solutions like Intune are constantly evolving. Microsoft may introduce enhanced support for more complex macOS application deployment scenarios in future updates. Stay informed about Intune release notes and updates to see if there are any changes or improvements to macOS app deployment capabilities.

Third-Party Information Disclaimer:

It is important to acknowledge that the information and troubleshooting steps discussed in this article relate to the interaction between Microsoft Intune and macOS .pkg application packages, which may be created by third-party developers.

The third-party products discussed in this article are manufactured by companies that are independent of Microsoft. Microsoft makes no warranty, implied or otherwise, about the performance or reliability of these products.

Third-Party Contact Disclaimer:

When seeking assistance from third-party application developers to resolve .pkg package issues, it is essential to understand that Microsoft provides contact information for informational purposes only.

Microsoft provides third-party contact information to help you find additional information about this topic. This contact information may change without notice. Microsoft does not guarantee the accuracy of third-party contact information.

If you have further questions or have encountered similar issues with macOS LOB app deployment in Intune, feel free to leave a comment below! Sharing your experiences can help others in the community and contribute to a better understanding of these scenarios.

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