Updated Cookbook: Baking Up Your Perfect Jamf Pro testing VM

Good News! Apps & Books can now be deployed to macOS 15.4 or later virtual machines. If you manage the VM with MDM, you can install all your Apps from Apple Business Manager or Apple School Manager.

Updates

14.Nov.25 - Post has been updated to be macOS Tahoe only with template updates including the use of variables, variable file and conditional statements that make it more flexible and easier to customize. Main reason is so we don't break the template file and only have to update are variable file!

Session Video

🥣 Ingredients

• Tart: The virtualization tool that lets you create and run macOS VMs with ease.
• Packer: The automation mixer for building custom VM images
• Packer Template: Your base recipe-download a pre-made one or craft your own
• Jamf Pro Enrollment Invitation: The secret sauce for rapid device enrollment.
• Enrollment URL/Profile: Placed on the VM desktop for easy access during testing.

🧑‍🍳 Step 1: Install Tart

• Install via Homebrew
  • brew install cirruslabs/cli/tart
• Or download the latest release from tart.run.

🧑‍🍳 Step 2: Install Packer

• Install via Homebrew
  • brew tap hashicorp/tap
  • brew install hashicorp/tap/packer

🧑‍🍳 Step 3: Download all files in repo

• Fork the Github repository: Here

🧑‍🍳 Step 4: Create a Jamf Pro Enrollment Invitation

I did write about this a year ago titled - "Enrolling your VM into Jamf Pro"

Access Enrollment Invitations

• Log in to Jamf Pro
• Click Computers in the sidebar
• Click Enrollment Invitations in the sidebar
• Click New

Configure Invitation Settings

• Set an expiration date (optional)
• Uncheck require login
• Check multiple uses
• Select a site (if applicable)

Specify Email Details

• Enter the recipient email address(es)

Review and Send

• Verify all settings are correct
• Click Send to distribute the invitation
• Once sent, go back to the created invitation and at bottom copy down the ID.

🧑‍🍳 Step 6: Create a Variables File

Create a file named my-config.pkrvars.hcl in the packer-templates directory with your custom values:

# -------------------------
# Packer Variables File
# -------------------------
# This file contains variable values for the apple-tart-tahoe.pkr.hcl template
# Usage: packer build -var-file="my-config.pkrvars.hcl" apple-tart-tahoe.pkr.hcl

# VM Configuration
vm_name  = "jamf-test-vm"
ipsw_url = "/path/to/your/macos-tahoe.ipsw"

# Account Configuration
account_userName = "admin"
account_password = "admin"

# MDM Enrollment Configuration
enrollment_type    = "profile"  # Options: "profile" or "link"
jamf_url           = "https://yourinstance.jamfcloud.com"
mdm_invitation_id  = "your-invitation-id-here"

# Feature Toggles
enable_passwordless_sudo   = "true"
enable_auto_login          = "true"
enable_safari_automation   = "true"
enable_screenlock_disable  = "true"
enable_spotlight_disable   = "true"
enable_clipboard_sharing   = "false"

Note: Variables files (.pkrvars.hcl) should be added to your gitignored by default to protect sensitive information like passwords and invitation IDs.

Use Packer to build your custom image:

• Used to initialize your packer file and download any plugins

packer init apple-tart-tahoe.pkr.hcl

• Used to validate that there are no errors in your packer file

packer validate -var-file="my-config.pkrvars.hcl" apple-tart-tahoe.pkr.hcl

• If all checks out, you can now build

packer build -var-file="my-config.pkrvars.hcl" apple-tart-tahoe.pkr.hcl

Clone and run your VM with Tart:

• tart clone your-custom-image my-test-vm
• tart set my-test-vm --display-refit --random-serial --random-mac
• tart run my-test-vm

🧑‍🍳 Step 7: Enroll and Test

• Open the enrollment URL or profile on the VM desktop.
• Complete the Jamf Pro enrollment process.
• Test policies, scripts, and workflows as needed.

🍰 Serving Suggestions

• Version Control: Store your Packer templates in Git for easy updates and collaboration.
• Sharing: Push your finished VM images to an OCI registry for team-wide access
• Whatif: VM doesn’t enroll, double-check your invitation URL and network settings.

📚 Resources

• Tart Quick Start
• Tart Packer Plugin Docs
• Official Packer Docs
• Download Presentation