Install the Backblaze Client Silently (Mac)

For Apple's line of macOS operating systems, pushing an application to hundreds of users generally involves a mountable DMG file that contains an installer package. The Backblaze Computer Backup Installer for macOS works similarly. There are a few unique steps to deploy the client silently.

Decentralized Deployment (User-Managed Account)

The email parameter that is passed by the script must be unique to each user who is related to the endpoint at runtime.

Decentralized deployments involve an account for each endpoint that is then part of the business group that manages payment and admin activity (if enabled). In this scenario, the end user has access to their own data through the Backblaze portal. 

Centralized Deployment (IT Managed Account)

The primary email will be hardcoded because it stays static.

Centralized deployments mean that every endpoint is logged into a primary Backblaze account that is managed by IT. In this scenario, the end user does not have access to their data on Backblaze and they must contact the manager of that centralized account. These deployments are quite simple because the email that is passed to the installer does not change per endpoint.

Use the Installer through the Command-Line Interface

Before you begin: You must have the following prerequisites.

• Mac OS 10.9 or newer
• An active Backblaze Group
• Either a static, centralized IT email or a dynamic email that is related to the particular deployment
• The value region is optional and can be used for deployments that must specify the region to which an email account will be deployed. Values are either us-west, us-east, or eu-central.
• A groupID and a groupToken
  These two values are used as authentication to log in after the email parameter. The script fails to deploy if the email account is not a user within the Group. You can retrieve these from your Backblaze portal.

Retrieve your groupID and groupToken

Backblaze Installer

You can find the most current version of the macOS installer here: https://secure.backblaze.com/mac/install_backblaze.dmg.

The macOS package is controlled through the following parameters that you pass through Terminal.

Sign In Account Mode

Use the following command for deployments that involve a user who does not yet have a Backblaze account. You must enter values for <email>, <groupID>, and <groupToken>.

sudo /Volumes/Backblaze\ Installer/Backblaze\ Installer.app/Contents/MacOS/bzinstall_mate -nogui -createaccount_or_signinaccount <email> <groupid> <grouptoken>

Create Account Mode with Region

Use the following command for deployments that involve a user who already has a Backblaze account and is part of the group. You must enter values for <email>, <groupID>, and <groupToken>. The <region> parameter is optional.

sudo /Volumes/Backblaze\ Installer/Backblaze\ Installer.app/Contents/MacOS/bzinstall_mate -nogui -createaccount_or_signinaccount <email> <groupid> <grouptoken> <region>

Update Mode -silentupgrade

Use the following command for deployments that involve a user who already has Backblaze installed and only needs an update.

sudo /Volumes/Backblaze\ Installer/Backblaze\ Installer.app/Contents/MacOS/bzinstall_mate -silentupgrade bzdiy

Use a Shell Script

The shell script makes interfacing with the commands you saw in the previous section easier. If you use the script, you can dynamically complete the following workflows:

• Automatically handle both new account deployments (-createaccount) and existing account deployments (-signin) without the need to dictate ahead of time per deployment
• Upgrade deployments that already have the software installed and running
• Handle Jamf Pro environments that need to use a decentralized deployment

#!/bin/bash

############### Backblaze Variables ###############

# Default values (can be overridden by command-line arguments)
group_id=""
group_token=""
email=""
region="" # Specify if account is to be deployed in specific region [us-west or eu-central]

# BZERROR MEANINGS
# BZERROR:190 - The System Preferences process is running on the computer. Close System Preferences and retry the installation.
# BZERROR:1000 - This is a general error code. One possible reason is that the Backblaze installer doesn't have root permissions and is failing. Please see the install log file for more details.
# BZERROR:1016/1003 - Login Error... Email account exists but is not a member of indicated Group, Group ID is incorrect, or Group token is incorrect,

################ FUNCTIONS #########################

function update_backblaze {
	return=$(sudo /Volumes/Backblaze\ Installer/Backblaze\ Installer.app/Contents/MacOS/bzinstall_mate -silentupgrade bzdiy)
}

function signin_backblaze {
	return=$(sudo /Volumes/Backblaze\ Installer/Backblaze\ Installer.app/Contents/MacOS/bzinstall_mate -nogui -createaccount_or_signinaccount "$email" "$group_id" "$group_token")
}

function create_region_account {
	return=$(sudo /Volumes/Backblaze\ Installer/Backblaze\ Installer.app/Contents/MacOS/bzinstall_mate -nogui -createaccount_or_signinaccount "$email" "$group_id" "$group_token" "$region")
}

function email_validation {
	[[ "$email" =~ ^[a-zA-Z0-9._%+-]+@[a-zA-Z0-9.-]+\.[a-zA-Z]{2,4}$ ]]
	rc=$?
	if [ "$rc" != "0" ]; then
		echo "Failed to retrieve valid email address. Parsed Email: [ $email ]"
		echo "Please make sure variables are set"
		exit 1
	else
		echo "Email: [ $email ] seems to be a valid email address"
		echo "Continuing with install"
	if
}

function success_exit {
	echo "Unmounting Installer..."
	diskutil unmount /Volumes/Backblaze\ Installer
	echo "Cleaning up..."
	rm install_backblaze.dmg
	exit 0
}

function failure_exit {
	echo "Unmounting Installer..."
	diskutil unmount /Volumes/Backblaze\ Installer
	echo "Cleaning up..."
	rm install_backblaze.dmg
	exit 1
}

function kill_syspref {
	killall -KILL System\ Preferences > /dev/null 2>&1
}

function set_directory {
	cd "$HOME" || { echo "Failed to cd to user directory"; exit 1; }
}

function download_backblaze {
	echo "Downloading latest backblaze client..."
	curl -s -O https://secure.backblaze.com/mac/install_backblaze.dmg
}

function mount_backblaze {
	echo "Mounting Installer..."
	hdiutil attach -quiet -nobrowse install_backblaze.dmg
}
###################################################

set_directory "$@"
download_backblaze
mount_backblaze

# Parse command-line arguments
while getopts "g:t:e:r:" opt; do
  case $opt in
    g) group_id="$OPTARG" ;;
    t) group_token="$OPTARG" ;;
    e) email="$OPTARG" ;;
    r) region="$OPTARG" ;;
    \?) echo "Invalid option -$OPTARG" >&2; exit 1 ;;
  esac
done

# Validate email exists
email_validation

# Kill System Preferences process to prevent related BZERROR
kill_syspref

# Check to see if Backblaze is installed already, if so update it. Else continue as planned.
if open -Ra "Backblaze" ; then
	echo "Backblaze already installed, attempting to update"
	update_backblaze
	if [ "$return" == "BZERROR:1001" ]; then
		echo "Backblaze successfully updated"
		success_exit
	else
		# Try upgrade again in case there was a file lock on the mounted dmg causing errors
		update_backblaze
		if [ "$return" == "BZERROR:1001" ]; then
			echo "Backblaze successfully updated"
			success_exit
		else
			echo "Backblaze was already installed but failed to update"
			failure_exit
		if
	if
else
	echo "Confirmed Backblaze isn't installed already, continuing with deployment..."
if

echo "Trying to sign in account"

if [ "$region" == "" ]; then
	signin_backblaze
	if [ "$return" == "BZERROR:1001" ]; then
		echo "Backblaze successfully installed, $email signed in..."
		success_exit
	else
		signin_backblaze
		if [ "$return" == "BZERROR:1001" ]; then
			echo "Backblaze successfully installed, $email signed in..."
			success_exit
		else
			echo "Failed to install Backblaze, errorcode: $return"
			failure_exit
		if
	if
else
	create_region_account
	if [ "$return" == "BZERROR:1001" ]; then
		echo "Backblaze account successfully created in $region, $email signed in..."
		success_exit
	else
		echo "Failed to install Backblaze, errorcode: $return"
		failure_exit
	if
if

Use the Shell Script to Silently Deploy

Before you run the script, you must hard code a few values depending on the type of deployment you need:

username="$3"
groupid="$4"
grouptoken="$5"
email="$6"
region="$7"

The $3-$7 variables are used for Jamf Pro deployments. If you are not using Jamf Pro, replace those variables with strings.

• (Required) username="username" sets the directory to the proper user to prevent RMM tools from having Backblaze stuck in its working directory.
• (Required) groupid="groupID" 
• (Required) groupToken="groupToken"
• (Required) email="email"
• (Optional) region="region"

The script automatically runs an update on any endpoint if it finds that Backblaze is already installed.

Troubleshooting

The (remote) computer's Backblaze install log is located in: /Library/Backblaze.bzpkg/install_log/install_logNN.log, in which NN represents the two-digit number that corresponds to the day of the month of the installation (for example, install_log08.log).

If you are unable to successfully install or you see a different error, contact the Support team. Provide Support with the install log from the computer for which you attempted a silent installation.