Installer command-line options for Mac

On macOS Monterey 12.4 or later, you can't unzip the installer in the documents or downloads directories or on the desktop. It will fail to install. You must unzip the installer somewhere else, we recommend the home directory, /users/<username>/.

For more information on installing or uninstalling using Terminal, see Install or uninstall using the Terminal.

Mac command line options

The Sophos Central Endpoint installer for Mac supports the following command-line options.

Quiet

Runs the installer without displaying the user interface.

--quiet --install

Group

Specifies the Sophos Central device group to join the endpoint to. You can also use this option to add devices to a subgroup. You must use \ for any groups that have spaces in their names.

--devicegroup <group>

--devicegroup <group>\<subgroup>

--devicegroup <group>\<subgroup>\<subgroup>

Trailing argument

Replace <group> and <subgroup> with the name of the Sophos Central group and subgroup to join. If it doesn't exist, it's created.

Message relays

Specifies a list of message relays to use.

--messagerelays <IPs>

Trailing argument

Replace <IPs> with a space-separated message relay list of IPs including port 8190.

Proxy address

Specifies a custom proxy to use.

--proxyaddress <URL>

Replace <URL> with the custom proxy address.

Trailing argument

Replace <URL> with the custom proxy address (HTTPS).

Proxy port

Specifies a port that the proxy uses.

--proxyport <port>

Trailing argument

Replace <port> with the proxy's port number.

Proxy username

If a custom proxy has been specified, set the username with this option.

--proxyusername <user>

Trailing argument

Replace <user> with the username for the proxy.

Proxy password

If a custom proxy and username have been specified, set the password with this option.

--proxypassword <pw>

Trailing argument

Replace <pw> with the password for the proxy.

Computer name override

Overrides the name of the computer to be used in Sophos Central.

--computernameoverride <name>

Trailing argument

Replace <name> with the custom computer name.

Don't use quotes around the computer name.

You can only use this option for a new installation.

Domain name override

Overrides the domain name of the computer to be used in Sophos Central.

--domainnameoverride <domain>

Trailing argument

Replace <domain> with the custom domain name.

You can only use this option for a new installation.

Preferred hostname for usernames in Sophos Central

Sets the client to send usernames as domain\username instead of machine\username.

You can only use this option for a new installation.

--mcsPreferHostname

Registration server

Specifies the MCS server to connect to.

--mgmtserver <URL>

Trailing argument

Replace <URL> with the MCS server URL

Customer token

Specifies the token of the Sophos Central customer to associate the endpoint with.

--customertoken <UUID>

Trailing argument

Replace <UUID> with the UUID which maps to a customer.

Products to install

Specifies a list of products to install. If you specify a product that you don't have a license for, then it isn't installed.

--products <products>

Trailing argument

Replace <products with a space-separated list of products to install.

Available options are: antivirus, intercept, mdr, xdr, deviceEncryption, or all.

xdr

If you install xdr only we won't install anti-malware protection. You must have third-party protection installed to protect your devices.

Mac examples

Install Sophos Anti-Virus and Intercept X without user interaction:

sudo ./Sophos\ Installer.app/Contents/MacOS/Sophos\ Installer --products antivirus intercept --quiet

Install using a proxy:

sudo ./Sophos\ Installer.app/Contents/MacOS/Sophos\ Installer --proxyaddress <IP/FQDN> --proxyport <port>

Replace <IP/FQDN> with the proxy's IP address or fully qualified domain name (FQDN) and <port> with the proxy's port number.

Install using a message relay:

sudo ./Sophos\ Installer.app/Contents/MacOS/Sophos\ Installer --messagerelays 192.168.10.100:8190

Use a file to change names

You can use a file to change names and descriptions for computers and domains. To do this, do as follows:

1. Create a new file in /Library/Preferences/ called com.sophos.mcs-overrides.plist.

2. Use the following format:

       <?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
       <!DOCTYPE plist PUBLIC "-//Apple//DTD PLIST 1.0//EN" "http://www.apple.com/DTDs/PropertyList-1.0.dtd">;
       <plist version="1.0">
           <dict>
               <key>ComputerNameOverride</key>
               <string>OverridingComputerName</string>
               <key>DomainNameOverride</key>
               <string>OverridingDomainName</string>
               <key>ComputerDescriptionOverride</key>
               <string>OverridingComputerDescription</string>
           </dict>
       </plist>
   

3. Copy and paste the key and string pairs so that you have as many as you need.

4. Change the key and string pairs, as follows:

   • To change a computer name, replace the string for ComputerNameOverride.
   • To change the domain name, replace the string for DomainNameOverride.
   • To change a description for a computer, replace the string ComputerDescriptionOverride.

5. Make sure your entries obey the following rules:

   • Length must be from 1 to 256 characters.
   • Don't use newline characters.
   • Don't use '\n' or '\r'.
   • Don't use the symbols <, >, &, ', ", /.
   • Don't use consecutive whitespace characters. They are replaced with a single space.

6. Remove any key and string pairs that you aren't using. All entries in the file are used.

7. Save the file in /Library/Preferences/.

   You can do this before or after installing Sophos Endpoint Protection. However if you do it after an installation a new computer may appear in Sophos Central with the new details. The old computer is also still present. If you do it before installing we remove the old computer and the new computer appears.

8. To load this file, you can restart the computer or run the following command from Terminal:

   sudo launchctl stop com.sophos.mcs