Part III – Real-World Projects and Automation¶

In this final section, you'll put your Bash skills into practice with hands-on projects designed for enterprise-grade macOS management and security.

What you'll build:

Chapter 14: Automated Hardening & Compliance - Generate baselines with the macOS Security Compliance Project (mSCP), deploy via MDM/DDM, and verify with Bash audits mapped to control IDs
Chapter 15: Inventory & Asset Management - Collect hardware and software inventory with Spotlight export to CSV/JSON; integrate inventory into app rollout decisions
Chapter 16: Signed & Notarized Installer Packages - Build, sign, notarize, and staple macOS installer packages with GUI elements using swiftDialog
Chapter 17: Reprovisioning & OS Refresh - Use startosinstall and erase-install for clean refresh workflows with Apple silicon support
Chapter 18: Endpoint Monitoring & Threat Detection - Deploy Osquery, write practical queries for process/file events, and forward logs to SIEM
Chapter 19: macOS Patch Automation & Notifications - Implement DDM-first update management with Nudge integration for scalable patch deployment
Chapter 20: Application Deployment & Update Automation - Use Installomator and Patchomator for at-scale app installs and updates with label-driven recipes
Chapter 21: Application Control with Santa - Configure binary authorization system with allow/deny rules using TeamID, SigningID, and hash-based policies
Chapter 22: Privilege Elevation with SAP Privileges - Implement time-bound admin elevation with LaunchAgents for least-privilege workflows

These projects reflect real-world needs of macOS administrators and security engineers, giving you reusable templates to streamline your work while maintaining security best practices.