outset VS dockutil

and Outset

That sounds good! Is this the project?

Some of my machines are shared (like a lab environment) and I use outset to run a script on every login that resets the dock to the expected state. There are conditionals in there that check to see if the app is installed before trying to place the icon on the dock, so you don't end up with the ? icon.

Another option is to have Dockmaster create a package instead of a profile and install it at each user's first login with Outset. This gives the user the flexibility to modify the dock.

If it's templates in a shared folder, just reinstall the whole thing nightly (or after each user) with MDM or use outset to reinstall it locally at login.

Anything that isn't able to be achieved via config profiles, will need to scripted (see Outset https://github.com/chilcote/outset which is super useful for this). Take a look at https://macadmins.software/tools/ 'MailToOutlook 2.0') for your default email item.

Possibly outset can be of service?

There is no equivalent on macos, but you could install your shared files somewhere like /opt/company/shared and use outset to copy them into each users home the next time they log in.

I would suggest dockutil

You could try using dockutil unless you really want to do it yourself.

#!/bin/bash Sleep 240 # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # version 2.0 # Written by: Mischa van der Bent # # Permission is granted to use this code in any way you want. # Credit would be nice, but not obligatory. # Provided "as is", without warranty of any kind, express or implied. # # DESCRIPTION # This script configures users docks using docktutil # source dockutil https://github.com/kcrawford/dockutil/ # # REQUIREMENTS # dockutil Version 3.0.0 or higher installed to /usr/local/bin/ # Compatible with macOS 11.x and higher # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # export PATH=/usr/bin:/bin:/usr/sbin:/sbin # COLLECT IMPORTANT USER INFORMATION # Get the currently logged in user currentUser=$( echo "show State:/Users/ConsoleUser" | scutil | awk '/Name :/ { print $3 }' ) # Get uid logged in user uid=$(id -u "${currentUser}") # Current User home folder - do it this way in case the folder isn't in /Users userHome=$(dscl . -read /users/${currentUser} NFSHomeDirectory | cut -d " " -f 2) # Path to plist plist="${userHome}/Library/Preferences/com.apple.dock.plist" # Convenience function to run a command as the current user # usage: runAsUser command arguments... runAsUser() { if [[ "${currentUser}" != "loginwindow" ]]; then launchctl asuser "$uid" sudo -u "${currentUser}" "$@" else echo "no user logged in" exit 1 fi } # Check if dockutil is installed if [[ -x "/usr/local/bin/dockutil" ]]; then dockutil="/usr/local/bin/dockutil" else echo "dockutil not installed in /usr/local/bin, exiting" exit 1 fi # Version dockutil dockutilVersion=$(${dockutil} --version) echo "Dockutil version = ${dockutilVersion}" # Create a clean Dock # runAsUser "${dockutil}" --remove all --no-restart ${plist} # echo "clean-out the Dock" # Full path to Applications to add to the Dock apps=( "/System/Applications/System Preferences.app" "/System/Applications/Notes.app" "/System/Applications/Reminders.app" "/System/Applications/Photos.app" "/System/Applications/Launchpad.app" "/System/Applications/Launchpad.app" "/Applications/Self-Service.app" "/Applications/zoom.us.app" "/Applications/OneDrive.app" "/Applications/Microsoft Teams.app" "/Applications/Google Chrome.app" "/Applications/Firefox.app" "/Applications/Microsoft Edge.app" ) # Loop through Apps and check if App is installed, If Installed at App to the Dock. for app in "${apps[@]}"; do if [[ -e ${app} ]]; then runAsUser "${dockutil}" --add "$app" --position beginning --no-restart ${plist}; else echo "${app} not installed" fi done # Add Application Folder to the Dock runAsUser "${dockutil}" --add /Applications --view grid --display folder --sort name --no-restart ${plist} # Add logged in users Downloads folder to the Dock runAsUser "${dockutil}" --add ${userHome}/Downloads --view list --display stack --sort dateadded --no-restart ${plist} # Disable show recent # runAsUser defaults write com.apple.dock show-recents -bool FALSE # echo "Hide show recent from the Dock" # sleep 3 # Kill dock to use new settings killall -KILL Dock echo "Restarted the Dock" echo "Finished creating default Dock" exit 0

Install dockutil and script dockutil commands.

You'll probably have better luck over on /r/macsysadmin, but dockutil might be a good place to start. https://github.com/kcrawford/dockutil

For anyone asking I think the op is just replacing the plist and killing the dock, having a think about it myself you could also use a shell script with https://github.com/kcrawford/dockutil

dockutil is your friend.

Suggest you use Dockutil

There is a package called dockutil that allows you to send a command to update the user's dock. You can specify location relative to other icons, and lots of command line options to string together. The trick is getting it to run at the right time.