Getting Started

This page shows you the process to get started with your deployment of Santa.

Note: You can combine each of the profiles listed in the following steps into a single profile containing the different payloads: configuration, TCC, system extension, and notifications.

1. (Optional) Set up a sync server. For a list of open-source sync servers, see Sync Servers. Without a sync server, santactl can configure rules locally.

2. Create and install your Santa configuration profile to customize your deployment of Santa. See Configuration for a reference list of the available options and an example profile. TODO: update link to point at com.northpolesec.santa.example.mobileconfig.

3. Install the TCC and system extension configuration profiles:

   • The TCC profile provides Santa the access it requires to read files anywhere on disk. See an example TCC profile.
   • The system extension profile allows Santa to run without approval from the user. See an example system extension profile.

4. (Optional) Customize and install the notification settings profile. This allows you to set up notifications to alert when Santa is switching modes. See an example notification settings profile.

   The notifications modified through this profile are different to the main Santa GUI pop-ups. To configure the Santa GUI notifications, use the configuration profile (in step 2).

5. (Optional) Suppress “Background Items Added” notifications. When Santa installs helper services a notification will popup, unless suppressed with a com.apple.servicemanagement MDM profile. A example profile can be found here.

6. Install the latest Santa package from GitHub (where you can also find release notes). The package is distributed as a PKG wrapped inside a DMG, both of which are properly signed and can be validated.