Mar 24, 2020 To update Microsoft Defender ATP for Mac, a program named Microsoft AutoUpdate (MAU) is used. By default, MAU automatically checks for updates daily, but you can change that to weekly, monthly, or manually. If you decide to deploy updates by using your software distribution tools, you should configure MAU to manually check for software updates.

Applies to:Office for Mac, Office 2019 for Mac, Office 2016 for Mac

Microsoft AutoUpdate (MAU) version 3.18 and later includes the msupdate command-line tool. This can be used to start the update process for Microsoft applications produced for Mac, such as Office. The tool is primarily designed for IT administrators so that they have more precise control over when updates are applied. You can download the latest version of MAU from this link.

msupdate works by sending Apple Events to the MAU daemon. On macOS 10.14 Mojave and later, you may see a privacy prompt when running msupdate for the first time. If you are using an enterprise management tool such as Jamf Pro, you should deploy a Privacy Preferences Policy Control (PPPC) payload to pre-approve access. Samples of such a payload can be downloaded from here.

Use the following steps to start using the tool:

1. Open the Terminal application
2. Enter cd /Library/Application Support/Microsoft/MAU2.0/Microsoft AutoUpdate.app/Contents/MacOS
3. Run ./msupdate --help

The following options are displayed:

Examples of how to use msupdate

• Display the current configuration parameters for AutoUpdate:./msupdate --config
• Display the current configuration parameters in machine-readable format:./msupdate --config --format plist
• List all available updates:./msupdate --list
• Download and install all available updates:./msupdate --install
• Download and install the latest updates for Word, Excel, and PowerPoint:./msupdate --install --apps MSWD2019 XCEL2019 PPT32019
• Download and install a version-specific update for Outlook:./msupdate --install --apps OPIM2019 --version 16.17.180090901

Application identifiers

The following table lists the applications for Mac supported by AutoUpdate. The identifier is used when specifying the --apps parameter. When specifying multiple applications on the command-line, separate identifiers with a space.

¹ These identifiers are used for Office 2019 for Mac, either a retail or a volume licensed version, and for Office for Mac (from an Office 365 plan) running on macOS version 10.12 (Sierra) or higher.

² These identifiers are used for Office 2016 for Mac, either a retail or a volume licensed version, and for Office for Mac (from an Office 365 plan) running on macOS version 10.11 (El Capitan) or earlier.

Note

• If an update is pending for MAU itself, that update must be applied before any applications can be updated.
• Identifiers are not case-sensitive when run interactively from the command-line, but use the character casing from the table above when running from a management tool such as Jamf Pro.

Related topics

• Update history and release notes for Office for Mac

Applies to:

Microsoft regularly publishes software updates to improve performance, security, and to deliver new features.

To update Microsoft Defender ATP for Mac, a program named Microsoft AutoUpdate (MAU) is used. By default, MAU automatically checks for updates daily, but you can change that to weekly, monthly, or manually.

If you decide to deploy updates by using your software distribution tools, you should configure MAU to manually check for software updates. You can deploy preferences to configure how and when MAU checks for updates for the Macs in your organization.

Use msupdate

MAU includes a command-line tool, called msupdate, that is designed for IT administrators so that they have more precise control over when updates are applied. Instructions for how to use this tool can be found in Update Office for Mac by using msupdate.

In MAU, the application identifier for Microsoft Defender ATP for Mac is WDAV00. To download and install the latest updates for Microsoft Defender ATP for Mac, execute the following command from a Terminal window:

Set preferences for Microsoft AutoUpdate

This section describes the most common preferences that can be used to configure MAU. These settings can be deployed as a configuration profile through the management console that your enterprise is using. An example of a configuration profile is shown in the following sections.

Set the channel name

The channel determines the type and frequency of updates that are offered through MAU. Devices in InsiderFast (corresponding to the Insider Fast channel) can try out new features before devices in External (corresponding to the Insider Slow channel) and Production.

The Production channel contains the most stable version of the product.

Tip

In order to preview new features and provide early feedback, it is recommended that you configure some devices in your enterprise to InsiderFast or External.

Warning

This setting changes the channel for all applications that are updated through Microsoft AutoUpdate. To change the channel only for Microsoft Defender ATP for Mac, execute the following command after replacing [channel-name] with the desired channel:

Set update check frequency

Change how often MAU searches for updates.

Change how MAU interacts with updates

Change how MAU searches for updates.

Change whether the 'Check for Updates' button is enabled

Change whether local users will be able to click the 'Check for Updates' option in the Microsoft AutoUpdate user interface.

Disable Insider checkbox

Set to true to make the 'Join the Office Insider Program...' checkbox unavailable / greyed out to users.

Limit the telemetry that is sent from MAU

Set to false to send minimal heartbeat data, no application usage, and no environment details.

Example configuration profile

The following configuration profile is used to:

• Place the device in the Insider Fast channel
• Automatically download and install updates
• Enable the 'Check for updates' button in the user interface
• Allow users on the device to enroll into the Insider channels

JAMF

Intune

To configure MAU, you can deploy this configuration profile from the management tool that your enterprise is using:

• From JAMF, upload this configuration profile and set the Preference Domain to com.microsoft.autoupdate2.
• From Intune, upload this configuration profile and set the custom configuration profile name to com.microsoft.autoupdate2.

Microsoft Autoupdate For Mac

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