The Midnight Deploy
If you have scoured a .mobileconfig file, dug through the documentation of a Mobile Device Management (MDM) solution like Jamf Pro, Kandji, or Mosyle, or looked at an escaped plist string, you have likely seen this string. But what exactly is ipa user-unlock ? How does it work, and why is it the linchpin of modern, passwordless, or secure recovery workflows? ipa user-unlock
ipa user-find --locked | grep "User login:" | awk 'print $3' | while read user; do ipa user-unlock "$user" echo "Unlocked: $user" done The Midnight Deploy If you have scoured a
<key>PayloadContent</key> <array> <dict> <key>PayloadType</key> <string>com.apple.MCX.FileVault2</string> <key>PayloadIdentifier</key> <string>com.example.filevault.config</string> <key>DeferForceAtUserLoginMaxBypassAttempts</key> <string>3</string> <key>ShowRecoveryKey</key> <false/> <key>OutputRecoveryKey</key> <false/> <key>user-unlock</key> <!-- THE CRITICAL KEY --> <true/> <!-- Enable user-based escrow unlock --> <key>UseKeychain</key> <true/> </dict> </array> ipa user-find --locked | grep "User login:" |
Check the Account lockout status attribute.
: Only users with administrative privileges or specific permissions (like the unlock permission) can run this command.