Deployment Models
There is one deployment model for macOS: Intune. This page describes what that model produces, what it carries, and where it deliberately stops.
One target, two application types
The package format decides the Intune application type. Nothing else does, and the choice is not offered as a setting — Easy2Patch reads the file and uses the matching type.
.dmg
macOSDmgApp
Disk image containing one or more .app bundles.
.pkg
macOSPkgApp
Installer package. Unmanaged PKG apps additionally support pre-install and post-install scripts.
What travels inside the application object
Display name
Product title, plus the mode suffix
The name the application carries in Intune.
Publisher / developer
Package publisher, falling back to the product vendor
Shown in Company Portal.
File name
The DMG / PKG file name
Identifies the uploaded content.
Primary bundle ID
The package
The main application bundle Intune looks for.
Primary bundle version
The package
The version Intune compares against, when version detection is in use.
Included apps
The package
Every .app bundle the package installs, as bundle ID plus bundle version. This list is the detection rule.
Minimum supported operating system
Product setting
Below this macOS version the application is not applicable to the device.
Ignore version detection
The send mode
See Application and Update Modes.
Icon
Product icon
Shown in Company Portal.
Information / privacy URL
Product support and additional URL
Links shown to the end user.
Pre-install / post-install script
Product setting, PKG only
See below.
Detection is not a script
On Windows, Easy2Patch writes a detection script that runs on the device and reports whether the product is installed. On macOS there is no such script and no place to put one. Detection is performed by Intune from the included apps list: the bundle IDs the package installs, and — depending on the mode — their bundle versions.
This is why the included apps list matters more on macOS than any other field. If it is empty or wrong, Intune has no way to tell an installed Mac from an uninstalled one.
Pre-install and post-install scripts (PKG only)
A macOSPkgApp may carry a pre-install script and a post-install script. A macOSDmgApp may not — Intune rejects the request if those fields are sent with a DMG, so the corresponding editor fields are locked while the product's file type is DMG. The text you already typed is kept; it becomes available again if the product is switched to PKG.
The two scripts are not equally reliable. If the pre-install script returns a non-zero exit code, the installation does not take place at all. If the post-install script fails, the failure is not reported — the application still appears as installed. Put anything you need to trust in the pre-install script.
Scripts require a recent Intune management agent on the device; see Package Requirements.
Where the model stops
The following exist for Windows products and have no macOS counterpart. They are not hidden, disabled or defaulted — they are absent from the macOS product editor entirely:
Silent install / uninstall command line. The management agent installs the package; the administrator does not choose a command line.
Return codes. There is no command line, therefore no exit code to map.
Detection method and detection script. Replaced by the included apps list.
Requirement rules. Applicability on macOS is expressed by the minimum supported operating system, nothing else.
Content folder and distribution point. Content goes straight to Intune.
Task sequence support. There is no OS-deployment task sequence on macOS.
Related pages
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