Deploying applications and files across your MacFleet can be streamlined by hosting ZIP files on a server and automatically downloading them to target devices. This tutorial shows how to create robust scripts for ZIP file deployment using URLs.

Understanding the Process

The deployment process involves:

1. Download - Fetch the ZIP file from a URL using curl
2. Extract - Unzip the contents using unzip
3. Install - Optionally install or move files to their final location
4. Cleanup - Remove temporary files

Basic ZIP Deployment Script

Simple Download and Extract

#!/bin/bash

# Basic ZIP deployment script
cd /tmp

# Download the ZIP file
curl -k https://example.com/myapp.zip -o "myapp.zip"

# Extract the contents
unzip "myapp.zip"

Enhanced Enterprise Script

For production environments with error handling and logging:

#!/bin/bash

# ZIP File Deployment Script for MacFleet
# Compatible with macOS 10.14+

# Configuration variables
DOWNLOAD_URL="$1"  # First argument: URL to ZIP file
ZIP_NAME="$2"      # Second argument: ZIP filename
DESTINATION="${3:-/tmp}"  # Third argument: destination (default: /tmp)
LOG_FILE="/var/log/zip_deployment.log"

# Function to log messages
log_message() {
    echo "$(date '+%Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S') - $1" | tee -a "$LOG_FILE"
}

# Function to validate URL
validate_url() {
    local url="$1"
    if [[ ! "$url" =~ ^https?:// ]]; then
        log_message "✗ Invalid URL format: $url"
        return 1
    fi
    return 0
}

# Function to check internet connectivity
check_connectivity() {
    if ! ping -c 1 google.com &> /dev/null; then
        log_message "✗ No internet connectivity"
        return 1
    fi
    return 0
}

# Function to download ZIP file
download_zip() {
    local url="$1"
    local filename="$2"
    local destination="$3"
    
    log_message "Starting download from: $url"
    
    # Create destination directory if it doesn't exist
    mkdir -p "$destination"
    cd "$destination" || return 1
    
    # Download with progress and error handling
    if curl -L --fail --connect-timeout 30 --max-time 300 \
            --progress-bar "$url" -o "$filename"; then
        log_message "✓ Download completed: $filename"
        return 0
    else
        log_message "✗ Download failed from: $url"
        return 1
    fi
}

# Function to extract ZIP file
extract_zip() {
    local filename="$1"
    local destination="$2"
    
    cd "$destination" || return 1
    
    # Check if ZIP file exists
    if [[ ! -f "$filename" ]]; then
        log_message "✗ ZIP file not found: $filename"
        return 1
    fi
    
    # Test ZIP integrity
    if ! unzip -t "$filename" &> /dev/null; then
        log_message "✗ ZIP file is corrupted: $filename"
        return 1
    fi
    
    # Extract files
    if unzip -o "$filename"; then
        log_message "✓ Extraction completed: $filename"
        return 0
    else
        log_message "✗ Extraction failed: $filename"
        return 1
    fi
}

# Function to install application (if .app bundle found)
install_application() {
    local source_dir="$1"
    
    # Look for .app bundles
    local app_bundle
    app_bundle=$(find "$source_dir" -name "*.app" -type d | head -1)
    
    if [[ -n "$app_bundle" ]]; then
        local app_name
        app_name=$(basename "$app_bundle")
        
        log_message "Found application bundle: $app_name"
        
        # Copy to Applications folder
        if cp -R "$app_bundle" "/Applications/"; then
            log_message "✓ Application installed: $app_name"
            return 0
        else
            log_message "✗ Application installation failed: $app_name"
            return 1
        fi
    else
        log_message "! No application bundle found for installation"
        return 0
    fi
}

# Function to cleanup temporary files
cleanup() {
    local destination="$1"
    local filename="$2"
    
    cd "$destination" || return 1
    
    if [[ -f "$filename" ]]; then
        rm -f "$filename"
        log_message "✓ Cleanup completed: $filename"
    fi
}

# Main deployment function
deploy_zip() {
    log_message "=== Starting ZIP deployment ==="
    
    # Validate inputs
    if [[ -z "$DOWNLOAD_URL" ]] || [[ -z "$ZIP_NAME" ]]; then
        log_message "✗ Usage: $0 <download_url> <zip_filename> [destination]"
        return 1
    fi
    
    # Validate URL format
    if ! validate_url "$DOWNLOAD_URL"; then
        return 1
    fi
    
    # Check connectivity
    if ! check_connectivity; then
        return 1
    fi
    
    # Download ZIP file
    if ! download_zip "$DOWNLOAD_URL" "$ZIP_NAME" "$DESTINATION"; then
        return 1
    fi
    
    # Extract ZIP file
    if ! extract_zip "$ZIP_NAME" "$DESTINATION"; then
        return 1
    fi
    
    # Attempt application installation
    install_application "$DESTINATION"
    
    # Cleanup temporary ZIP file
    cleanup "$DESTINATION" "$ZIP_NAME"
    
    log_message "=== ZIP deployment completed successfully ==="
    return 0
}

# Execute main function
if deploy_zip; then
    exit 0
else
    log_message "=== ZIP deployment failed ==="
    exit 1
fi

Quick Deployment Scripts

Download to Applications

#!/bin/bash

# Download and install app directly to Applications
URL="https://example.com/MyApp.zip"
ZIP_NAME="MyApp.zip"

cd /tmp
curl -L "$URL" -o "$ZIP_NAME"
unzip "$ZIP_NAME"

# Find and move .app bundle
APP_BUNDLE=$(find . -name "*.app" -type d | head -1)
if [[ -n "$APP_BUNDLE" ]]; then
    cp -R "$APP_BUNDLE" /Applications/
    echo "Application installed successfully"
fi

# Cleanup
rm -f "$ZIP_NAME"
rm -rf "${ZIP_NAME%.zip}"

Download with Checksum Verification

#!/bin/bash

URL="https://example.com/myapp.zip"
ZIP_NAME="myapp.zip"
EXPECTED_SHA256="abc123..."  # Replace with actual checksum

cd /tmp
curl -L "$URL" -o "$ZIP_NAME"

# Verify checksum
if echo "$EXPECTED_SHA256  $ZIP_NAME" | shasum -a 256 -c; then
    echo "Checksum verified"
    unzip "$ZIP_NAME"
else
    echo "Checksum verification failed"
    exit 1
fi

Usage Examples

Command Line Usage

# Basic usage
./deploy_zip.sh "https://example.com/app.zip" "app.zip"

# Custom destination
./deploy_zip.sh "https://example.com/app.zip" "app.zip" "/Applications"

# With logging
./deploy_zip.sh "https://example.com/app.zip" "app.zip" 2>&1 | tee deployment.log

MacFleet Deployment

#!/bin/bash

# Deploy multiple applications
APPS=(
    "https://cdn.example.com/productivity.zip:productivity.zip"
    "https://cdn.example.com/security.zip:security.zip"
    "https://cdn.example.com/utilities.zip:utilities.zip"
)

for app in "${APPS[@]}"; do
    IFS=':' read -r url filename <<< "$app"
    echo "Deploying: $filename"
    ./deploy_zip.sh "$url" "$filename"
done

Troubleshooting

Security Considerations

• HTTPS URLs - Always use secure connections when possible
• Checksum verification - Verify file integrity before extraction
• Code signing - Verify application signatures before installation
• Sandboxed downloads - Use /tmp for temporary storage

File Location Reference

• Temporary files: /tmp/
• Applications: /Applications/
• User applications: ~/Applications/
• System utilities: /usr/local/bin/
• Logs: /var/log/zip_deployment.log

Advanced Features

Progress Monitoring

# Show download progress
curl --progress-bar -L "$URL" -o "$ZIP_NAME"

# Or with detailed progress
curl -# -L "$URL" -o "$ZIP_NAME"

Retry Logic

# Retry download up to 3 times
for i in {1..3}; do
    if curl -L "$URL" -o "$ZIP_NAME"; then
        break
    elif [[ $i -eq 3 ]]; then
        echo "Download failed after 3 attempts"
        exit 1
    fi
    sleep 5
done

Important Notes

• ZIP files are temporarily stored in /tmp by default
• Use secure HTTPS URLs when possible
• Test scripts on a small group before enterprise deployment
• Monitor disk space when deploying large files
• Consider bandwidth limitations in your network