Can you have a locally hosted Munki repo with links to CDN downloads?

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kai.h...@gmail.com

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Mar 3, 2026, 4:24:29 PM (15 hours ago) Mar 3
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Is there any straightforward way I can host a Munki repository locally but have the download links point to a CDN?

For example, I'd like to host a Munki repository for a few of my clients. I've only got an internet connection with 100 Mbs upload speeds however, which is fine for serving up plist and xml files, but struggles when multiple endpoints are downloading 1GB+ installers at the same time.

It would be great if I could host all of the metadata on my own machine, but have the actual download links point to the original urls on the relevant vendor's CDN (verified, of course, by the installer item hash)

This way, I still control what is deployed, and allow non-admin users to use the self-service features to install apps and updates, but I'm not providing the bandwidth for bulk downloads – the Munki client would download the installer item directly from the vendor at full speed via their CDN.

I guess my question is:
Can the installer_item_location be a full URL, or does it always have to be relative to the Munki host? 

Gregory Neagle

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Mar 3, 2026, 7:56:40 PM (11 hours ago) Mar 3
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https://github.com/munki/munki/wiki/Supported-Pkginfo-Keys

Look at PackageCompleteURL

I caution that if you put vendor-controlled URLs there you are almost certainly looking at a lot of pain and suffering, as vendors can change their URLs and the files _at_ their URLs at any time.

For example, if your Munki repo had a GoogleChrome item, with a PackageCompleteURL of "https://dl.google.com/chrome/mac/universal/stable/GGRO/googlechrome.dmg”, that’s going to break _very_ quickly, as that URL will return the latest version of Google Chrome.

-Greg

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Alan

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Mar 3, 2026, 10:11:27 PM (9 hours ago) Mar 3
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One of the main advantages of Munki is that you can control your repo (including what versions you deliver), and you know the download link will work, because you own the hosting.

If you want clients to just fetch stuff from the vendor directly, you may want to look into Installomator: https://github.com/Installomator/Installomator

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