auto updatecatalinasoftware-updatesystem-prefs
Every night my MacBook turns off and updates.
I've switched off every System Preference I can find but still, if I go to sleep and come back, it's either trying to restart on account of the Software Update and an app which has an unsaved state is blocking it, or it's off.
What can I do to disable any and every Software Update attempt?
I have just disabled checking for updates automatically from System Preferences:
I install updates manually from App Store or with sudo softwareupdate -ia.
I tried adding this command to the root's crontab (and not restarting after updates):
0 14 * * * /usr/sbin/softwareupdate -ia
I didn't have any issues at first, but after the 10.8.3 update, Safari started crashing on launch until I restarted. After that I changed -ia to -da so the command just downloads updates. softwareupdate does not include updates for App Store applications though.
This is kind of a yes/no question. No, most people can't or won't be bothered to turn them off. Yes - you can turn off all network access or block the update servers.
The iOS 9 itself does not have a toggle you can flip and the software is designed to let you know the update is available. I'll leave my opinion aside whether Apple designed this correctly, but from a security standpoint. If you are on iOS 9 - upgrading to patch levels doesn't break existing apps and solves known security, performance, energy efficiency and bug issues, so declining a 9.0.x or 9.x update is far harder to justify than just not upgrading to 9.0 in the first place.
The best technical way to block iOS 9 updates is hosted on JAMF Nation discussions:
This involves blocking two URLs on your firewall (could be useful if you're using a Wi-Fi only iPad at home):
appldnld.apple.com
mesu.apple.com
You'll want to have control over your network, have an MDM and the energy to configure your devices to avoid updates. Basically, preventing this is a short term battle and I know it makes sense to try it from time to time or if your organization needs to buy time - but it's a pain since the design is to push updates on each device that connects to the internet.
Best Answer
If you open the App Store and under the App Store menu item click on preferences. This opens a panel where you can change or turn off updates. This is for High Sierra. It may be different in Catalina but I thought it was worth the effort to check.