Hold on! Before you rush to upgrade, here are the things to do:
MacOS Big Sur compatibility: Find out if your device will work with the new OS
Software that has been tested for macOS Big Sur on M1 Chipset
Check software compatibility for macOS Big Sur on Intel Chipset
Are all your peripheral devices compatible?
Is all your installed software compatible?
Do you have the installers for that software, if you need to reinstall?
Make sure a full backup of your computer is completed before upgrading
Once you go through the list and decide to upgrade
On Thursday, February 11, 2020 at 6PM, Commons was offline for ~15 minutes while IT performed scheduled maintenance.
On February 24, 2021, smtp.lbl.gov was reconfigured as a CNAME alias that uses Google's SMTP relay service (smtp-relay.gmail.com) instead of being an on-the-hill host (131.243.228.39).
Any on-the-hill systems (ie having an LBL Class B or NERSC IP address) will still be allowed to relay unauthenticated via smtp.lbl.gov and do not need to change their outgoing/outbound SMTP settings.
This change will only be an issue for hosts that do NOT have a route to the Internet, due to either their networking configuration and/or firewall rules, or can only connect to an IP address, as opposed to a hostname.
More information about the SMTP relaying reconfiguration plan is at:
https://go.lbl.gov/smtpRelayChange
Berkeley Lab IT will be releasing the block on Big Sur for macOS. IT initiated the block to address software incompatibilities, more specifically with the Lab’s anti-virus software Sophos. Those issues can now be resolved by upgrading your Sophos client with the latest version from our Sophos server. For further information and other related postings regarding Big Sur, see:
Installing Sophos on Big Sur Upgrade
Installing Sophos Central v10.0.2 on Big Sur with M1 chipset
What Works and Doesn't Work Running Big Sur and Latest Mac Hardware
Berkeley Lab IT did some recent software compatibility testing of Big Sur with common applications used at LBL. Tests run on a MacBook Pro 13” with new M1 chipset and macOS Big Sur 11.0.1. Results listed below:
Test Steps | Test Results |
Downloaded Latest Chrome Installed Chrome | Chrome prompts user to select between “Intel” or “M1” Browser installed, no issue |
Downloaded Latest Firefox Installed Firefox | No prompts presented to user, auto downloads compatible version corresponding to system |
Downloaded Zoom version for M1 Macs Installed Zoom | Zoom provides a specific installer for M1 systems Download Link: https://zoom.us/client/latest/Zoom.pkg?archType=arm64 This will install Zoom v.5.5.2 |
Downloaded MS Office 2019 Installed MS Office 2019 | To run MS Office 2019 on M1 systems Rosetta 2 is required |
DisplayLink Drivers (necessary for Dell D6000 Dock) | Release 1.2 supports M1 systems Download Page: https://www.displaylink.com/downloads/macos Last reported known issue: Screen rotation on Mac with Apple M1 chip is not supported on macOS Big Sur 11.0.1 |
Adobe Acrobat Pro DC | To run Acrobat Pro DC on M1 systems Rosetta 2 is required |
Google Backup | Compatible |
Google Drive File Stream | ALERT: As of 11/25/2020 Google notes that it does not yet support M1 systems, expected support Quarter 2/April 2021. |
Google Sync | Compatible |
Druva InSync | Version 6.8.2 supports M1 systems |
Cisco VPN 4.9.05042 | Installs on M1 systems, connects to LBL VPN, no issue reported |
BigFix | Installs on M1 systems, no issue to report |
VMWare Fusion | VMWare Fusion 12 Pro supports macOS Big Sur Macs with M1 Silicon chips - VMWare no release date on compatibility with Fusion 12 Pro, this recent blog post from VMWare Communities shows users asking when plus mentions many challenges VMWare has to make VMWare Fusion 12 Pro work with M1 systems. |
IT has created new videos to help you with:
If you would like to see a specific help video created, let us know!
Keep an eye on our IT Spotlight page for future announcements on new video tutorials!
lists.lbl.gov (Sympa) and conferences.lbl.gov (Indico) were offline between from ~11:35AM-145PM due to a storage outage.
