If you want to update your Mac in a hurry, you can always use terminal. Terminal is a program (free with every Macintosh) that allows you to access your Unix based operation system. You can make changes and have a level of control over Mac OS X that you would not normally have through your applications. A good example of this is that Terminal allows you to update your system quickly and simply; no fussing with the Software Update System Preferences or having to worry about selecting your updates from the list.
Even better, running updates via terminal doesn’t give you a window you can’t close reminding you to reboot for the updates to take effect.
To update your Mac with Terminal, launch it and enter either of the commands below (you’ll need to be logged in as your computer’s administrator):
- To install all available updates, type: sudo softwareupdate -1 -a
- To install only the recommended updates, type: sudo softwareupdate -1 -r
Now you can stay up to date in style.
It is not suggested you try to copy and paste the text. Retype it, just be sure to double check it before you submit. As we’ve mentioned before, be sure not to make any changes without knowing what you are doing. Terminal is a powerful access point, and you can damage your system with errant commands.
Hey nice note on the Terminal app. This is a great tool, and for those of us who are also linux users this application makes us feel right at home. This is one of the reasons I love Mac OS X, because it's not only nice but also robust, and powerful.
One thing, I tried your command for updating and it didn't work. According to the help message -1 is not an option. Maybe what you wanted to use was -i(install)?
Using -i -a as arguments it worked out.
Again, great note. Thanks for reminding us of Terminal.
Cheers!
It worked just fine for me. Great tip!