News and Updates

DssW's latest news and information. Announcements, insights, and guides all appear here first.

Power Manager 5.10.0 Released

Announcing the launch of Power Manager 5.10.0 for macOS.

We are pleased to announce the launch of Power Manager 5.10. This update introduces new Schedule Assistant tasks for requesting URLs, a new user session time condition and improvements to the command line tool pmctl. This update introduces a new set of Schedule Assistant tasks for requesting URLs. …

Published

Power Manager and pmset on macOS

How can Power Manager and pmset work together on macOS.

Power Manager is often considered a replacement for macOS’s built-in power management tool pmset. This is not true but the assumption is understandable. We are often asked about how macOS’s power management System Settings, the built-in command line tool pmset, and our own Power Manager all work together. …

Published

How to Script Power Manager Licensing

A recipe showing how to apply a licence to Power Manager using a script.

Power Manager’s licensing is certificate based. This means your licence is represented by a certificate file1 and that file needs to be applied to Power Manager to work. Typically, a licence is applied by following the steps included with the purchase or at licensing support. …

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Scripting without Passwords

How to script Power Manager without needing to enter passwords or credentials.

When writing scripts or tools that use pmctl as a client, being able to avoid an interactive prompt is often essential. We have previously written about How to Avoid Passwords in Power Manager Scripts but in the twelve years since, the underlying tools have evolved and become cross platform. …

Published

Missing Energy Saver Schedule in macOS 13

Acknowledging the removal of the power schedule from Energy Saver.

With the launch the macOS 13, aka Ventura, Apple removed their user interface for scheduling power events. The omission is conspicuous, particularly during a time when energy costs are making news headlines. Reducing energy use through automation is an effective way to reducing costs. …

Published

How to Open a Link or URL

Learn how to open a link or URL from a scheduled event.

You can create an event in Power Manager that automatically opens a link or URL. The URL will open in the user’s default browser. This behaviour can be customised by passing additional arguments to the open command. Creating a URL Opening Event Let’s create an event that opens this web site in the active user’s web browser. …

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Apple Silicon

Announcing support for Apple silicon in Power Manager.

We are pleased to announce the launch of Power Manager 5.9.3. This minor update adds native support for Apple silicon. Power Manager’s core now includes arm64 native support. In Apple’s terminology, the application is now “Universal”. There are no other changes. …

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How to Prepare a Schedule for File Configuration

Learn how to export and prepare a schedule for distribution using Power Manager's file configuration capability.

Power Manager can be managed using a technique called file configuration. File configuration involves placing a file of settings and commands in a secure folder for Power Manager to read. In this recipe we use the new -file-configuration flag added to pmctl. …

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How to Run a Script When the Battery is Charged

Learn how to automatically run a script when the computer battery is charged.

You can create an event in Power Manager to automatically perform tasks when the computer’s battery reaches a specific charge. In this recipe, we will create an event that runs a script when the battery reaches 90% charged. Power Manager already includes a Schedule Assistant task for running scripts when the battery charge drops, but not one for when the battery charge rises. …

Published

Power Manager 5.9.0 Released

Announcing the launch of Power Manager 5.9.0 for macOS.

We are pleased to announce the launch of Power Manager 5.9. This update introduces a new astronomic calculations library and improvements to the user interface. This update changes the sun trigger and condition to use the astral library. Along with the change in library we fixed a tricky time zone bug and improved the user interface for entering the longitude and latitude. …

Published