Smart Software allows you to deploy .app files silently to your managed devices through Addigy policies. Because Addigy requires individual file uploads, .app files — which are technically directories — must be compressed into a single archive before uploading. This guide walks you through compressing your .app and creating a Smart Software item to deploy it.
Note: If your app is distributed as a .dmg file, follow How To: Create Smart Software Items (.dmg files) instead.
Step 1: Compress the .app File
Before uploading to Addigy, compress the .app into a .tar.gz archive. The example below uses Google Chrome.app, but the same steps apply to any .app file — just substitute your app name and paths as needed.
-
Open Terminal and navigate to the directory containing your .app file:
cd /Applications
-
Run the following command to compress the .app into a
.tar.gzarchive:tar -czvf ~/Desktop/chromeapp.tar.gz "Google Chrome.app"
This creates
chromeapp.tar.gzon your Desktop. You can change the output path and filename to whatever you prefer.
Step 2: Create the Smart Software Item
- Navigate to Catalog > Software > Smart Software and click New.
- Enter a name and version number for your item.
- Under Installation Files, click Select File(s) and upload the
.tar.gzarchive you created in Step 1. -
In the Installation Command field, paste the following, replacing
Google Chrome (1.0)with your Smart Software's name and version number andchromeapp.tar.gzwith your actual filename:tar -zxf "/Library/Addigy/ansible/packages/Google Chrome (1.0)/chromeapp.tar.gz" -C /Applications/
This extracts the .app directly into
/Applications/on the target device. - Click Save in the bottom right.
Important: Using the
-v(verbose) flag in thetarextraction command can significantly delay policy deployments and software enforcement.
Optional: Add a Condition for Install
A condition script tells Addigy whether to run the installation on a given device — for example, skipping installation if the app is already present in /Applications/. Adding a condition is recommended for any item you plan to deploy at scale.
To learn how to configure conditions, see Overview: Conditions for Install (Condition Scripts).
Next Steps
Once your Smart Software item is saved, you can deploy it in the following ways:
- Deploy via Policy — add the item to a Parent or Child policy to deploy it automatically to all devices in that policy. See Adding Items to a Policy for details.
- Deploy via Self Service — make the item available for end users to install on demand from the Self Service app. See Adding or Removing Software in the Self Service Catalog.
- Deploy to an Individual Device — use GoLive to deploy the item to a single device on demand. See Deploying Software to Individual Devices in GoLive for details.