.Dd September 11, 2012 
.Dt softwareupdate 8 
.Os Mac OS X

.Sh NAME
.Nm softwareupdate
.Nd system software update tool

.Sh SYNOPSIS
.Nm softwareupdate
.Fl -list
.Pp
.Nm softwareupdate
.Fl -install
.Op Fl -recommended
.Op Fl -all
.Op Fl -os-only
.Op Fl -safari-only
.Op Ar item ...
.Oo
.Fl -restart
.Op Fl -force
.Oc
.Op Fl -stdinpass
.Op Fl -user
.Pp
.Nm softwareupdate
.Fl -download
.Op Fl -recommended
.Op Fl -all
.Op Fl -os-only
.Op Fl -safari-only
.Op Ar item ...
.Pp
.Nm softwareupdate
.Fl -list-full-installers
.Pp
.Nm softwareupdate
.Fl -fetch-full-installer
.Op Fl -full-installer-version Ar version
.Op Fl -launch-installer
.Pp
.Nm softwareupdate
.Fl -install-rosetta
.Op Fl -agree-to-license
.Pp
.Nm softwareupdate
.Fl -background
.Pp
.Nm softwareupdate
.Fl -schedule
.Pp
.Nm softwareupdate
.Fl -help
.Sh DESCRIPTION
Software Update checks for new and updated versions of your software based on information about your computer and current software.
.Pp
Invoke
.Nm
by specifying a
.Ar command
followed by zero or more
.Ar args .
.Pp
.Nm
requires admin authentication for all commands except
.Cm --list .
If you run
.Nm
as a normal admin user, you will be prompted for a password when required.
.Pp
The following
.Ar commands
are available:
.Bl -tag -width Fl
.It Fl l | -list
List all available updates.
.It Fl i | -install
Each update specified by
.Ar args
is downloaded and installed.
.Ar args
can be one of the following:
.Bl -tag -width Fl
.It Ar -r | --recommended
All updates that are recommended for your system. These are prefixed with a
.Em *
character in the
.Cm --list
output.
.It Ar -a | --all
All updates that are applicable to your system, including those non-recommended ones,
which are prefixed with a
.Em -
character in the
.Cm --list
output. (Non-recommended updates are uncommon in any case.)
.It Ar --os-only
Only macOS updates
.It Ar --safari-only
Only Safari updates
.It Ar item ...
One or more specified updates. The
.Cm --list
output shows the item names you can specify here, prefixed by the
.Em *
or
.Em -
characters. See

.Sx EXAMPLES .
.It Ar -R | --restart
Automatically restart if required to complete installation. If the user invoking this tool is logged in then macOS will attempt to quit all applications, logout, and restart. If the user is not logged in, macOS will trigger a forced reboot if necessary. If you wish to always perform a forced reboot, use
.Cm --force.
.It Ar --stdinpass
Collect a password from stdin without interaction. Apple silicon only.
.It Ar --user
An owner user to authorize installation. Apple silicon only.
.El                      \" Ends the list
.It Fl d | -download
Each update specified by
.Ar args
is downloaded but not installed. The values of
.Ar args
are the same as for the
.Cm --install
command. Updates downloaded with
.Cm --download
can be subsequently installed with
.Cm --install ,
or through System Settings (as long as they remain applicable to your system).
.It Fl -list-full-installers
List the available macOS Installers.
.It Fl -fetch-full-installer
Install the latest recommended macOS Installer. Use
.Cm --full-installer-version
to specify the version of macOS to install (e.g.
.Cm --full-installer-version
10.15).
Use
.Cm --launch-installer
to launch the installer automatically after it has been downloaded.
.It Fl -install-rosetta
Install Rosetta. Only applies to Apple silicon Macs. Pass
.Cm --agree-to-license
to agree to the software license agreement without any user interaction.
.It Fl -background
Trigger a background check with a forced scan.
.It Fl -schedule
Returns the per-machine automatic (background) check preference.
.It Fl h | -help
Print command usage.
.El                      \" Ends the list

.Sh EXAMPLES          \" Section Header - required - don't modify
The following examples are shown as given to the shell:
.Bl -tag -width indent
.It Li "softwareupdate --list"       \" Each item preceded by .It macro
.El                      \" Ends the list
.Bd -literal -offset indent \" Begin a literal code section
Software Update Tool

Finding available software
Software Update found the following new or updated software:
   * Label: MacBookAirEFIUpdate2.4-2.4
        Title: MacBook Air EFI Firmware Update, Version: 2.4, Size: 3817K, Recommended: YES, Action: restart,
   * Label: ProAppsQTCodecs-1.0
        Title: ProApps QuickTime codecs, Version: 1.0, Size: 968K, Recommended: YES,
.Ed                      \" End literal code section
.Bl -tag -width -indent  \" Begins a tagged list 
.It Li "sudo softwareupdate --install ProAppsQTCodecs-1.0"
.El                      \" Ends the list
.Bd -literal -offset indent \" Begin a literal code section
Software Update Tool

Finding available software

Downloading ProApps QuickTime codecs
Downloaded ProApps QuickTime codecs
Installing ProApps QuickTime codecs
Done with ProApps QuickTime codecs
Done.
.Ed                      \" End literal code section
.Bl -tag -width -indent  \" Begins a tagged list