We’re running into a problem when deploying certain .pkg installers via MDM on macOS 15 and above. The installation fails with the following error message:
“The app is running and we don’t have the context to quit it, failing install.”
Context:
- The .pkg is being pushed through an MDM solution (not installed manually).
- This happens consistently across multiple macOS 15+ devices.
- The target app is often already running when the MDM tries to install the update.
- Unlike a manual installation, the MDM does not appear to have the ability to quit the running app before proceeding.
Questions:
- Is this a known change in macOS 15 where MDM-delivered installs no longer have permission to terminate apps during package installation?
- Are there recommended best practices for handling app updates via .pkg through MDM in this scenario?
- Has anyone implemented a workaround—such as pre-install scripts, user notifications, or policies to quit the app before running the installer—that works reliably on macOS 15?
- Is Apple planning to update MDM behavior or installer APIs to address this, or should admins expect to handle quitting apps entirely outside of the MDM installation process?
Any insights from Apple engineers or other developers/admins who have encountered this would be really helpful.