**New, updated version!** 
**Sep 24, 2018 with new examples and Mojave notes**
**(see version history for details)**

The essential introduction for system administrators to using, analyzing and building installation package files (pkg) on macOS.

In this book you will learn:

- How to work with packages, analyze them without installing and install them from the command line and remotely
- How to inspect packages with the tools built into macOS and third party tools
- How to build your own packages, from simple packages to complex - How to use the tools for package creation and customization from macOS and some third-party tools

Working with installation packages is a fundamental skill for any system administrator. Package files are versatile and used in many ways, wether you use Jamf Pro (aka Casper), Munki, Filewave, LanRev, Apple Remote Desktop or a different management system.

This book will introduce you to the installation package file format (pkg). It will give you many examples on various techniques and strategies to build packages which will scale from small workgroups to large enterprise or school level deployments. 
It also discusses larger concepts such as testing, scripting and configuration management.

Table of Contents:

About this Book
Installation
- Installing Packages
- Inspecting Packages
- Inspector Applications
- Testing Package Installation
Building Packages
- Building
- Installation Scripts
- Signing Packages
- Payload-Free Packages
Re-Packaging
- Re-Packaging Applications
- Custom Installers
Configuration Files
- Challenges
- Configuration Profiles
- Other Settings Files
Distribution Packages
- What are Distribution Packages
- Installation Choices
- Building Distribution Packages
- Installer Interface
Packaging Strategies
- Application Installation
- Configuration Files
Other Package Builders
- munkipkg
- WhiteBox Packages
- Jamf Composer
Conclusion
Appendix
- Legacy Package Formats

1.9 September 24, 2018 - many minor typo fixes and rewrites - added note on removed pkgutil options - changed the sample script in the Payload-Free Packages section to enable SSH instead of ARD because of changes in macOS Mojave security - added a second simple package example to Building Packages - expanded the description on how to build the Boring Desktop pkg in Building Packages - updated script code across various scripts to match my coding standards which have changed since I started writing this book - updated the Github repository to include completed sample code to match the state of the project at the end of each section (so far for Chapter 2, this is ongoing work) - added a description for the undocumented --preserve-xattr option in Building Packages (Credit to Greg Neagle and Carl Ashley for finding and documenting)