Content Caching MDM payload settings for Apple devices
Use the Content Caching payload to enable and configure content caching on Mac computers enrolled in a mobile device management (MDM) solution.
The Content Caching payload supports the following. For more information, see Payload information.
Supported payload identifier: com.apple.AssetCache.managed
Supported operating systems and channels: macOS device.
Supported enrollment methods: Device Enrollment, Automated Device Enrollment.
Duplicates allowed: False—only one Content Caching payload can be delivered to a device.
You can use the settings in the table below with the Content Caching payload.
Setting | Description | Required | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Allow the cache to be deleted | Allows the Mac to purge content from the cache automatically when it needs storage space for other apps. | No | |||||||||
Automatically activate content caching | Users can’t turn off the content caching service. | Yes | |||||||||
Cached content types | You can select which types of content you want the caching content service to cache:
| Yes | |||||||||
Cache location | The path to the directory used to store cached content. Changing this setting manually doesn’t automatically move cached content from the old to the new location. The default location is /Library/Application Support/Apple/AssetCache/Data/. | No | |||||||||
Log client details | The Mac using the caching service logs the IP address and port number of clients using this Mac. | No | |||||||||
Maximum cache size | The maximum number of bytes of storage space that is used for the content cache. The value of zero allows unlimited space. | No | |||||||||
Parents IP address | A list of the local IP addresses of other content caches from which this cache should download or upload content instead of downloading from or uploading to Apple directly. The content cache ignores invalid addresses and addresses of computers that aren’t content caches. The content cache skips parent caches that become unavailable by reading the If all parent content caches become unavailable, the content cache downloads from, or, uploads to, Apple directly until a parent content cache becomes available again. | No | |||||||||
Parent selection policy | The policy to use when choosing among more than one configured parent content cache. With every policy, parent caches that are temporarily unavailable are skipped. The policies are:
| No | |||||||||
Peer filter ranges | When this setting is configured, the content cache filters and sorts its list of peers according to the IP address ranges you enter. The content cache then queries only peers that are in the those ranges. This setting affects only the list of other content caches that this content cache queries for content and downloads. It has no effect on incoming requests for content from any other content cache. When this setting is turned on, the content cache does the same as above, but uses the peer listen ranges rather than the peer filter ranges value. When peer filter ranges is empty, the content cache doesn’t query any peers. | No | |||||||||
Peer listen ranges | When peer listen ranges is configured, the content cache successfully responds only to peer cache queries from content caches with an IP address contained within IP address ranges you enter. When PeerListenRanges is any other type or the value is missing, the content cache successfully responds to cache queries from all other content caches. Peer listen ranges only affects which content caches this content cache successfully responds to cache queries from. It has no effect on the list of peers this content cache queries for content and downloads content from. When peer listen ranges is empty, the content cache responds with an error to cache queries from any other content cache. | No | |||||||||
Prevent the Mac from sleeping | Prevents the Mac from sleeping if the caching service is turned on. | No | |||||||||
Port | TCP port on which the content caching services accepts requests for uploads. Set the value to 0 to use a random port. | No | |||||||||
Public ranges | Ranges of public IP addresses the cloud servers should use for matching clients to content caches. | No | |||||||||
Restrict content to local network | An option for specifying whether the content cache should offer content only to clients on the same immediate local network as the content cache rather than to clients on all local networks reachable by the content cache. If this setting is turned off, you can add a range of IP addresses and specify whether to restrict clients to those specified ranges. | No | |||||||||
Restrict peers to local network | An option for specifying whether the content cache should peer only with other content caches on the same immediate local network, rather than with content caches that use the same public IP address as this Mac. If this setting is turned off, you can add a range of IP addresses for:
| No | |||||||||
Share internet connection | The internet connection of the Mac is shared with iPhone and iPad devices connected using USB or Thunderbolt. | No | |||||||||
Automatically activate internet sharing | Requires macOS 10.15.4 or later; the “Share internet connection” option must be checked. | No | |||||||||
Show alerts | Alerts can be enabled to show as system notifications. | No | |||||||||
Note: Each MDM vendor implements these settings differently. To learn how various Content Caching settings are applied to your devices, consult your MDM vendor’s documentation.