Uninstall the FileWave Client on macOS
Description
The below methods can be used to uninstall the FileWave client on macOS machines.
Updated with version 4.1. Version 4 did not allow for the removal of the FileWave VNC client and as such will cause devices to reboot and not uninstall the FileWave Client. Please update to version 4.1 to avoid this issue. Version 4.1 will still work with older version of FileWave Client.
Ingredients
- FileWave Uninstall, Fileset or Stanadalone
Directions
Fileset
- Download the attached Fileset and unzip
- Drag and drop the unzipped Fileset in to your Filesets tab. Please make sure to drag it in your root level of your Filesets structure so it is not accidentally deployed to devices. This Fileset will uninstall the client and break communication to your FileWave server.
- Associate the Fileset to machines that you want to remove from FileWave.
- Once the Fileset is sent out the devices will not check back in and can be deleted from FileWave.
↓ macOS |
![]() |
Standalone
- Download the attached script
- Use Terminal to run the script locally as root
↓ macOS |
![]() |
This will uninstall the FileWave Client, but it will not remove an MDM enrolment profile if installed. As such, the device may still be able to connect back to the FileWave Server over MDM, but will be unmanageable. Additionally, if the Custom PKG is configured to instal beyond initial enrolment, MDM can reinstall the client onto the device again. Ensure the MDM profile is also removed if removing the client from FileWave.
Re: Ensure the MDM profile is also removed if removing the client from FileWave.
How to remove the MDM profile if the MDM profile is not-removable due to being DEP enrolled?
Also, datapoint of one Mac device, running the standalone script did not remove the FileWave kiosk (v.2) icon from Mac menu bar.
Hi,
I got this error when trying to RUN it.
I'm using the standalone
sh-3.2# sh /Users/fwuser/Downloads/FileWaveUninstallermacOSv4.1.sh
com.filewave.fwcld.pkg
/Users/fwuser/Downloads/FileWaveUninstallermacOSv4.1.sh: line 125: syntax error near unexpected token `<'
/Users/fwuser/Downloads/FileWaveUninstallermacOSv4.1.sh: line 125: `done< <(pkgutil --files com.filewave.fwcld.pkg)'
In reply to #2
Yeah, this needs revisiting. Sorry for that. Although you should expect it to work in the main, it won't always. To ensure it removes the correct items, it looks at the PKG content left behind by the installer. It then uses that to list all files and remove. However, if you subsequently upgrade the client using the upgrade Fileset, then you will have files and/or folders that are new, which may not be included in the PKG receipt. Likewise, there could be files/folders that are no longer in use anymore.
That said, the error shown is somewhat confusing. There should be some kind of PKG receipt (unless the script has been ran more than once). The script also 'forget's the knowledge of the installer; so a second run of the script will no longer find a PKG receipt.
The receipt was used, since each version can be different (requiring a potential update of the script with every new version). However, since the receipt cannot be relied upon due to the upgrade client Fileset, then this unfortunately doesn't cure the issue.
There is also the complexity of having a macOS Server, that also has the client installed, for example.
The following command will show which FileWave PKGs are currently known:
pkgutil --pkgs | awk '/com.filewave/ {print}'
Where com.filewave.fwcld.pkg is the FileWave client. However, if you were to manually run our vanilla installer on a device and then run the uninstaller, the PKG receipt should match and remove as expected. You can find that installer at the bottom of the downloads section, under 'Unconfigured Client Installers'
No comments to display
No comments to display