Push security patches, whether the Mac is on an internal network/VPN or not.

Force mandatory installation of some packages, while allowing others to be optional.

Tightly manage Apple-provided updates.

Scale without deploying and maintaining additional server infrastructure.

Obtain reports on all of this and the fleet overall.

Today we are open-sourcing Simian, our solution to enterprise-class Mac OS X package deployment. Simian uses App Engine-based hosting to scale with the needs of your growing enterprise, and a Munki-based client which will continue to evolve through the outstanding work of Greg Neagle and the Munki community. We hope this to be the first of many announcements in sharing Google’s unique IT approach with the larger community.

For more information, please visit our Simian project page, join the discussion list, and downloadthe code. For more information about Munki, please visit its project page.

By John Randolph and Justin McWilliams, Google Corporate Platforms Engineering Team

The Original Google Open Source Announcement is at: 

Simian: Mac OS X package deployment via App Engine

Saturday, January 29, 2011 | 4:15 PM

Labels: app engine, Munki, releases, security