Best Practices for Deploying TextExpander via MDM

Overview
This guide provides MDM deployment instructions for TextExpander across both macOS and Windows platforms. It includes packaging, installation, version control, and update restrictions to help IT admins efficiently manage TextExpander rollout and maintenance. This is a generalized instruction set that can be used for all MDM deployments.

Deploying TextExpander for macOS via MDM

Supported Format

• TextExpander for Mac is distributed as a .dmg file containing TextExpander.app
  If your MDM solution requires it, you can repackage it as a .pkg and then upload the resulting .pkg file to your MDM system.
  

Deployment Steps

1. Upload the .pkg into a custom app or package library.
2. Create a deployment policy:
   – Scope to the desired blueprints.
   – Set to “Install if not present”.
   – Do not enable automatic updates within MDM settings.

Optional: Post Install script to disable automatic updates
defaults write /Library/Preferences/com.smileonmymac.textexpander SUEnableAutomaticChecks -bool false
defaults write /Library/Preferences/com.smileonmymac.textexpander SUEnableAutomaticDownload -bool false

To Re-enable automatic Updates:
defaults write com.smileonmymac.textexpander SMTC_organization_updates -bool NO

Support for Multiple Versions
– Audit scripts should check only for /Applications/TextExpander.app
– Users can also have /Applications/TextExpander Beta.app or TextExpander 8.app
– MDM should not flag or remove non-primary versions.

Deploying TextExpander for Windows via MDM
TextExpander for Windows is distributed as a .exe installer that includes .msi files for both 32-bit and 64-bit versions.

MSI Extraction
This will extract .msi installers for both 32-bit and 64-bit systems.
1. Create a folder in the same directory as the TextExpander installer.
2. Open a Command Prompt.
3. cd to that folder.
Run:
TextExpanderSetup-x.y.z.exe /layout NAMEOFFOLDER


Intune or Windows MDM Deployment Steps

1. Upload the appropriate .msi (e.g., 64-bit) to your MDM.
2. Define install command:
msiexec /i TextExpander_x64.msi /qn /norestart

3. Define uninstall command (if needed):
msiexec /x TextExpander_x64.msi /qn

4. Scope to device/user groups.

Auto-Update Control

It is also possible to disable update checking by adding a DWORD under one of the following registry keys:

/HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Smile, Inc\TextExpander\AppCast

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Smile, Inc\TextExpander\AppCast

The DWORD needs to have the following attributes:

Name: enabled
Value: 0

After that, users will be unable to update their TextExpander applications.

For additional support, contact our helpful support team – support@textexpander.com