Package Management
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- Last UpdatedMay 20, 2025
- 4 minute read
You can use Jamf Pro to manage packages you plan to deploy to computers in your environment. Managing packages involves adding the package to your distribution point and to Jamf Pro, and configuring settings for the package.
Before you can deploy packages to remote computers, you must have a distribution point (typically an SMB share) set up in Jamf Pro. For more information, see About Distribution Points.
- Direct upload—
If you have a cloud distribution point configured as your principal distribution point, you can upload the package directly to Jamf Pro. This method adds the package to the principal distribution point and Jamf Pro. You can then add the package to other distribution points if needed. For more information, see Uploading a Package to Jamf Pro.
- Manual upload—If you do not have a cloud distribution point configured as your principal distribution point (e.g., you have a file share distribution point), you must manually upload the package to your distribution point and create a matching package record in Jamf Pro. For more information, see Manually Adding a Package to a Distribution Point and Jamf Pro.
On computers with macOS 10.15 or later that do not have an MDM profile, you must use an HTTP, HTTPS, or cloud distribution point to install packages.
When you add a package to a distribution point and Jamf Pro, you can configure settings for the package, such as choosing a priority for the package installation.
The following table explains the different settings you can configure for packages:
Setting | Description |
|---|---|
Category | You can add the package to a category, an organizational component that allows you to group the package in Jamf Pro. Before you can add a package to a category, you must add the category to Jamf Pro. |
Priority | You can choose a priority for deploying or uninstalling the package. Consider the following when configuring priority:
|
Fill User Templates (FUT) | You can fill user templates with the contents of the home directory in the package's Users folder. This setting applies to DMGs only. |
Fill Existing User Home Directories (FEU) | You can fill existing user home directories with the contents of the home directory in the package’s Users folder. This setting applies to DMGs only. |
Allow Package to be Uninstalled | You can allow the package to be uninstalled. You must have pre-existing index information before you can uninstall the package. |
Require Restart | You can specify whether computers must be restarted after installing the package. |
Operating System requirements | You can specify operating system and architecture type requirements for deploying the package. For example, if you enter "14.3.1", packages are only installed on computers with macOS 14.3.1. |
Install Only if Available in Software Update | You can choose to install the package only if there is an available update. The display name of the package must match the name in the command-line version of the Software Update. This setting applies to PKGs only. |
To upload a package to Jamf Pro using the Jamf Pro interface, your principal distribution point must be a cloud distribution point.
- In Jamf Pro, click Settings in the sidebar.
- In the Computer management section, click Packages .
- Click New.
- Use the General pane to configure basic settings for the package, including the display name and category.
- Drag and drop a package into the File name field or click browse for a file and select a package to upload.
- (Optional) If you are uploading an enrollment package, you can upload a custom manifest file by dragging and dropping or clicking browse for a file in the Manifest file field.
- Click the Options tab and configure additional settings for the package, including the priority.
- (Optional) Click the Limitations tab and configure limitations for the package, including operating system and architecture type requirements.
- Click Save .
A checksum is calculated after the package has been uploaded to Jamf Pro. The checksum ensures authenticity when the package is downloaded. You can use Jamf Pro's computer security settings to specify the conditions under which the checksum is used to validate packages.
- Copy the package to the Packages folder at the root of the file share on the distribution point.
- In Jamf Pro, click Settings in the sidebar.
- In the Computer management section, click Packages .
- Click New.
- Use the General pane to configure basic settings for the package, including the display name, category, and filename.
- Click the Options tab and additional settings for the package, including the priority.
- (Optional) Click the Limitations tab and configure limitations for the package, including operating system and architecture type requirements.
- Click Save.
- In Jamf Pro, click Settings in the sidebar.
- In the Computer management section, click Packages .
- Click the package you want to view the contents of.
- Click Contents.
A table that contains the package contents is displayed.