OS Patching: UT Macintosh Security Updates and Reboot Policy

This article describes our routine policy for updates. In the event of a critical security vulnerability being announced, updates and reboots may be pushed more aggressively. The Information Security Office (ISO) policies require us to regularly apply security updates to all University-owned computers. Our goal is to make this process as unobtrusive as possible while balancing convenience with security.

You may need to restart your computer to apply these updates. Please regularly save your work to minimize the impact of this process.  

Mac users will see a UT-branded popup instructing them to apply software updates. This popup will continue to appear until the computer is updated.

Nudge will be updated 24 hours following release from Apple. 

• Day 1 - MacOS patch is released by Apple
• Day 2 - (24 hours/1 business day) - MacOS will receive a new Nudge configuration for macOS; patch is available to end users for installation
• Day 3 – 5 – Users will see four popups a day with the option to defer the installation.
• Day 6 - The popup becomes persistent with no option to defer.

 Macs running any OS version will see software update prompts that look something like this (Nudge also supports Dark mode):

• To start the update, click the Update Now button to start the process, or if you have not passed the deadline you have the option to delay the install by clicking the Defer/Not Now drop down and selecting Later to dismiss the notification. You'll be prompted again in a few hours.
  
  
• Click Update Now to begin:  

If you see a macOS Upgrade Banner, do not click it!  Instead look underneath the banner and click the More Info button:

Make sure all updates are selected and click Update Now to begin.

      Click Agree for the updated License Agreement 

    Enter your password and click OK

Your computer will reboot during the install process so Please save all your work before starting this process.