Check and install updates

Each of the four buttons to check for updates does something significantly different:

Trigger background check tells macOS to check in the background for security and other urgent software updates only. This button is not available in El Capitan.

List all pending updates asks Apple’s servers what updates of all kinds, including security updates, are currently available for your Mac.

Install all pending updates asks Apple’s servers to provide your Mac with all pending updates, including security updates, and installs them immediately.

Install update named: asks Apple’s servers to provide your Mac with only the update package which you have named in the adjacent box, and to install it immediately.

In each case, the results are written into the large scrolling text box to the right of the upper three buttons.

⚠️ When you have installed an update, LockRattler does not automatically check all the installed versions again. To do that, click on the Refresh button or press the ⏎ Return key. This lets you confirm that updates have been successfully installed.

When you click on the Trigger background check button, LockRattler runs the following command:

sudo softwareupdate --background-critical

This first requires you to authenticate as an admin user in order to run. It then instructs your Mac to perform a check for security and other critical software updates in the background. If it finds any such updates available for your Mac, they will be silently downloaded and installed over the next few minutes.

⚠️ If you have turned off automatic checks for software updates, this may not work. Because of a bug when trying to run this on El Capitan, this button is not available when running on El Capitan.

ℹ️ This action is most suitable if you don’t want to install any other updates, only security and other critical software updates, but doesn’t force them to be downloaded and installed immediately.

When you click on the List all pending updates button, LockRattler runs the following command:

softwareupdate -l --include-config-data

or, in El Capitan,

softwareupdate -l

This should not require you to authenticate, even in El Capitan, and asks Apple’s servers to provide a list of any and all outstanding software updates, including ‘silent’ security updates, available for your Mac. It doesn’t attempt to download or install any of them, but simply lists all those available in the scrolling text box. This should work even when automatic updates are disabled.

ℹ️ This action is most suitable when you just want to see which updates are available, but don’t want to install them yet. It is also ideal when you just want to install one or two packages: obtain the list of pending updates, select one which you wish to install, copy it, and paste that text into the box next to the Install update named: button.

When you click on the Install all pending updates button, LockRattler runs the following command:

softwareupdate -ia --include-config-data

or, in El Capitan,

sudo softwareupdate -ia

If you are running El Capitan, you will need to authenticate before this command is run, but that is not required in Sierra or High Sierra. This tries to connect to Apple’s servers, and discover whether there are any outstanding software updates, including ‘silent’ security updates, for your Mac. If there are, they will then be automatically downloaded and installed for you. The text box displays the result from that command in full.

⚠️ This automatically installs all updates, whether you want them or not. When large updates are available, it may take several hours to complete, during which LockRattler will display a ‘busy spinner’ to indicate that it is still busy. You may wish to list pending updates first to see what is available first.

ℹ️ This action is most suitable if you want to have all updates installed immediately, and saves you from having to open the App Store app to download and install them.

When you click on the Install update named: button, LockRattler runs the following command:

softwareupdate -i --include-config-data packagename

or, in El Capitan,

sudo softwareupdate -i packagename

where packagename is the name of an installation package which is available for installation, entered in the adjacent text box. If you are running El Capitan, you will need to authenticate before this command is run, but that is not required in Sierra or High Sierra. This tries to connect to Apple’s servers, and to download and install the package which you have named. The output text box displays the result from that command in full.

⚠️ This automatically only installs the named update. If that is very large, it may take several hours to complete, during which LockRattler will display a ‘busy spinner’ to indicate that it is still busy.

ℹ️ This action is most suitable if you don’t want to install all the updates which are available. It’s best to list those available using the List all pending updates button first, to select and copy the package name from that listing, and to paste it into the text box before clicking the button. If the text box is empty, clicking on this button does nothing.

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