MacOS – Is it possible to automate changing some security settings in Catalina

automationmacosmdmpreferencesSecurity

I realize the user would have to enter their password, but beyond that step could the process of adding a program to Accessibility, Full Disk Access and Screen Recording be automated in some way? Programs like Teamviewer and Splashtop (to name two that I know of personally), require the user to make these changes before I can provide remote support. This is a bit much to ask of people for whom minimizing a window is a challenge.

BTW, the Macs in this situation are not part of an organization; they are individually owned Macs that could be anywhere in the USA.

Best Answer

Yes. Set up a MDM and you can easily make configuration profiles so your peers or people you support don’t have to manage their Macs as much.

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MacOS – Adding Apps to “Security & Privacy” Settings (Automatically)

Just found it. The settings are in one of these two files:

System-wide settings: /Library/Application Support/com.apple.TCC/TCC.db
Per user settings: ~/Library/Application Support/com.apple.TCC/TCC.db

They are SQLite databases of the following form:

sqlite> .schema access
CREATE TABLE access (service TEXT NOT NULL, client TEXT NOT NULL, client_type INTEGER NOT NULL, allowed INTEGER NOT NULL, prompt_count INTEGER NOT NULL, CONSTRAINT key PRIMARY KEY (service, client, client_type));

Example (MS Office and Address Book setting):

sqlite> select * from access;
kTCCServiceAddressBook|com.microsoft.Word|0|1|0
kTCCServiceAddressBook|com.microsoft.Excel|0|1|0
kTCCServiceAddressBook|com.microsoft.Powerpoint|0|1|0

For other services, just pick the correct service name (such as kTCCServiceAccessibility) and the application bundle ID and add it to the appropriate database.

How to automate changing the settings when you connect the mouse

You can use Keyboard Maestro:

Repeat script with 'is disconnected'.
You may need to change the USB device name.
AppleScript from shell script: Toggle Natural scrolling from command line with reload

Best Answer

Related Solutions

MacOS – Adding Apps to “Security & Privacy” Settings (Automatically)

How to automate changing the settings when you connect the mouse

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