macOS Download Prep Utility Fails to Execute

You may encounter an issue where the Barracuda RMM macOS Prep Utility fails to execute on macOS 10.12.1 (Sierra) and higher.

The reason for this issue is a change created by a security and privacy enhancement delivered in new versions of the macOS, called App Translocation or Gatekeeper Path Randomization, which causes any application that is not distributed through the App Store to run from a randomized path.

The result of this change is that the macOS Prep Utility doesn’t discover the config file “osx-prep-config.xml”, resulting in the app failing.

Another reason for this issue is that executables inside the macOS Prep Utility lost “execute” permission after download.

To run the macOS Prep Utility  successfully, follow the steps below:

1. Download the macOS Prep Utility from Service Center (See Deploying Onsite Manager within a Domain in the latest version of the Barracuda RMM Help).
2. Open a Terminal and run the following commands:
   

   sudo xattr -rd com.apple.quarantine {fullPathToOSX-Prep-Utility_UnzippedFolder}
sudo chmod +x {fullPathToOSX-Prep-Utility_UnzippedFolder}/OS\ X\ Prep\ Util.app/Contents/Library/LaunchServices/com.lpi.script-launcher
sudo chmod +x {fullPathToOSX-Prep-Utility_UnzippedFolder}/OS\ X\ Prep\ Util.app/Contents/MacOS/OS\ X\ Prep\ Util

   
   where “ {fullPathToOsx-Prep-Utility_UnzippedFolder} ” is the full path to the directory where prep utility is unzipped.

   Barracuda RMM Support Note

   By default, the utility is saved in /Users/{UserName}/Downloads, where “{UserName}” is the username. For example, if the current user name is "administrator" and the utility is downloaded into the default location "/Users/administrator/Downloads/", the commands are:

   sudo xattr -rd com.apple.quarantine /Users/administrator/Downloads/macOS\ Prep\ Utility

   sudo chmod +x /Users/administrator/Downloads/macOS\ Prep\ Utility/OS\ X\ Prep\ Util.app/Contents/Library/LaunchServices/com.lpi.script-launcher

   sudo chmod +x /Users/administrator/Downloads/macOS\ Prep\ Utility/OS\ X\ Prep\ Util.app/Contents/MacOS/OS\ X\ Prep\ Util

3. When prompted, type your password.
4. Using Finder, navigate to the location where you saved the utility.
5. Double-click the utility to run it.