DisplayLink 1.4 (defaults can now autologin)

[donmontalvo]

Maybe its me, but I had a hard time finding this article:

Enabling/Disabling DisplayLink Manager autostart via command line
https://support.displaylink.com/knowledgebase/articles/1964953-enabling-disabling-displaylink-manager-autostart-v

Basically defaults commands can be used to launch DisplayLink on behalf of the user. This means Configuration Profiles can be used if you're managing Macs using an MDM server (Jamf Pro, WS1, etc.).

This article should be considered a "hot" item for those of us who manage/support macOS in enterprise.

[JakubDabrowski]

Hello donmontalvo,

Thank you for your feedback on that.

If you have not seen one of our newer FAQs about deploying DisplayLink on MacOS with Jamf you can click on that link. (https://support.displaylink.com/knowledgebase/articles/1965404-how-to-deploy-displaylink-macos-software-with-jamf)

In case of any questions, feel free to post your questions here.

Kind regards,
Jakub

[donmontalvo]

The Jamf Pro "files and folders" payload isn't intended to launch applications. That would likely create a significant security risk. :)

Apple recommends using a Launch Agent. With that said, the one that comes with the DisplayLinkLoginScreenExtension.pkg package doesn't seem to work.

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<!DOCTYPE plist PUBLIC "-//Apple//DTD PLIST 1.0//EN" "http://www.apple.com/DTDs/PropertyList-1.0.dtd">
<plist version="1.0">
<dict>
<key>CFBundleVersion</key>
<string>1.4.0 (120)</string>
<key>Disabled</key>
<false/>
<key>KeepAlive</key>
<true/>
<key>Label</key>
<string>com.displaylink.DisplayLinkUserAgent</string>
<key>LimitLoadToSessionType</key>
<string>LoginWindow</string>
<key>ProcessType</key>
<string>Interactive</string>
<key>ProgramArguments</key>
<array>
<string>/usr/bin/open</string>
<string>-W</string>
<string>/Applications/DisplayLink Manager.app</string>
</array>
<key>RunAtLoad</key>
<true/>
<key>ThrottleInterval</key>
<integer>5</integer>
<key>Umask</key>
<integer>0</integer>
</dict>
</plist>


It's a moot point now, since 1.4 provides a method that uses the defaults command. It's a huge improvement that allows the use of a Configuration Profile using Applications & Settings payload, using Jamf Pro.

1. Launch Terminal and run this to create a preference file:

defaults write /private/tmp/com.displaylink.DisplayLinkUserAgent AppAutostart 1

Then run this to convert the preference file to an uploadeable format:

plutil -convert xml1 /private/tmp/com.displaylink.DisplayLinkUserAgent.plist

Then cat the file to make sure it is readable, if it comes back with gibberish, it wasn't converted properly:

cat /private/tmp/com.displaylink.DisplayLinkUserAgent.plist

2. Create a new Configuration Profile using the "Application & Custom Settings" payload, and upload /private/tmp/com.displaylink.DisplayLinkUserAgent.plist to the payload, using com.displaylink.DisplayLinkUserAgent as the preference domain, scoped to all computers.

3. There is no step 3. :)

Thanks,
Don

[donmontalvo]

Attached screenshots.

[Wozzy]

Great post @donmontalvo

Need more of this on here.

[donmontalvo]

We’ve been working with Jakob on this, he is incredible.