Neil Martin’s 3 articles part 1, part 2, & part 3, focused on getting Pro Tools and its associated extras into a state whereby it could be deployed en-mass, specifically with the software management tool, Munki. Neil takes up the story….

Packaging the Pro Tools application bundle for deployment tools other than Munki.

The way I dealt with the Pro Tools Application bundle meant that only Munki could deploy it and other software management tools couldn’t. I thought it would be a useful addition to show how to use our old friend, Packages in order to build an installer package with the Pro Tools application and post-install script included. You’ll see that it takes a bit more effort than the ‘Munki method’.

The package you’ll build can be installed with other tools, including Apple Remote Desktop, JAMF Composer, or anything else that can handle a standard installer package. It’ll also work with Munki. For those of you using something else, there’s no need to feel left out anymore.

Prerequisites:

Packages, a tool that makes Installer Packages:

• A plain text editor to write/edit scripts with, I recommend TextWrangler which is free 
• The Pro Tools Installer DMG (tested with version 11.1.2 – other versions may yield different results if Avid change things – you have been warned!)
• The latest iLok License Manager installer
• A Mac for testing your installation on before you put it into production is recommended.

Let’s get to work..

In Packages, create a new Raw Package as we did for the AIR Creative Collection.

Be sure to name it Pro Tools 11. Don’t be tempted to name it with the minor version information, i.e. ‘11.1.2’ as this might cause problems for your software management system when it comes to dealing with future updates to Pro Tools.

In the Settings tab, make sure you set the Identifier and Version fields appropriately:

• The identifier should be ‘com.avid.pkg.ProTools11’
• The version should be the same as the version of Pro Tools you’re packaging – in this case, ‘11.1.2’.

This is important, as your software management system will likely use these pieces of information to keep track of the installation of Pro Tools on your Macs. These fields are used to write a ‘receipt’ to a Mac after installation, so that your management system knows that the package has been installed and which version it is. When you package a new version after Avid release an update, and set the Version field to reflect the change, the software management system should install it on Macs that have the previous version. Munki, at least, behaves this way.

Next, head over to the Payload tab, where we’ll tell our package what to install and where to install it.

Select the Applications folder under the Contents section and click the Set button to make it the default destination (you should see a red crosshair appear):

Next, hit the + button and find the Pro Tools application bundle which will be inside the mounted installer DMG you downloaded earlier:

Add it, leaving the Reference Style setting as Absolute Path, and don’t tick the Permissions box:

Once added, you’ll see it listed under the Applications folder.

Next, we have to put the same post-install script that was used with Munki in Part 2 of this series into the package. Go copy and paste it into TextWrangler and save it as ‘post-install.sh’ in the package’s project folder, which should be in your home folder by default.

To add it to the package, staying in the Payload tab, click the Scripts tab in the bottom-right corner and set it as a Post-installation script by clicking the Set… button, locating and adding the script file you just saved.

Now it’s time to build your package in the same way as we did for the AIR Creative Collection before. If you’re successful, the Build Log will look like this:

You’ll find the newly build package inside the project’s build folder:

Now go forth and deploy it with your tool of choice. Remember to deploy the iLok License Manager package first, and don’t forget any additional components you need, such as the HD Driver, if required. 

Update

on 2015-02-11 09:59 by Mike Thornton

We have posted an update following the release of Pro Tools 11.3. If you are deplying 11.3 then please check out the update.