Customizing Packages for Deployment: Modifying metapackage choices for automated distribution

摘要

Apple's package format is increasingly the most common format for Mac OS X software distribution. There are several utilities - ranging from open-source, to donation-ware, to fully-supported commercial solutions - designed to help OS X system administrators deploy software packaged in the Apple package format to large numbers of machines. One Apple package format is known as the "metapackage". A metapackage is simply a package that contains (and is intended to install) one or more component packages. Notable examples of software that come in metapackage format include the Office 2008 and 2011 suites, iLife, the Final Cut Suite, and Apple's Xcode tools. When a user installs software from a metapackage using the Installer application, he or she can often customize the install by selecting or deselecting components for install.