Big Sur system updates slow down with Sophos Endpoint

Hi mickl089, 

Thanks for reaching out to us on Sophos Community! Which Mac device are you using? It'd be great if you can provide more details regarding the system updates slowing down.  

Hi everyone,

I'd recommend all of you update to the latest version of the Sophos Central Mac Endpoint, v10.1.4, and see if you're still facing these issues. 

10.1.4 was automatically updated to a couple of weeks ago. I can't remember if that was before or after the update in question.

I see the same behavior applying 11.6 and running the latest endpoint software10.1.4. Disabling Sophos shouldn't have to be the solution.  Even with all of the client settings disabled (real tine scanning, runtime protection, user controls) com.sophos.endpoint.scanextenstion is hovering between 30-50% CPU.  

This has been going on for months on every Mac model we have. We found a workaround by booting computers to Safe Boot then installing the available updates. This is not a good solution and need a fix. Is there a way to temporarily disable on-access scanning through terminal then run updates? I'm looking at a way to use jamf to get the updates installed in a timely manner. My current test, brand new Macbook Air M1 has been trying to install updates for 7 hours now.

This has been going on for months on every Mac model we have. We found a workaround by booting computers to Safe Boot then installing the available updates. This is not a good solution and need a fix. Is there a way to temporarily disable on-access scanning through terminal then run updates? I'm looking at a way to use jamf to get the updates installed in a timely manner. My current test, brand new Macbook Air M1 has been trying to install updates for 7 hours now.

Hello Pat, 

If you’re experiencing significant delays when performing OS updates, I recommend enrolling the affected devices in the new EAP program for macOS. One of the changes mentioned in the KBA linked below advises that improvements have been made to CPU usage when performing macOS updates. 
- Welcome to the New macOS Endpoint Protection Features EAP

Hi Kushal,

Thanks for the suggestion. It looks promising. I will start testing tomorrow. 

I updates to 11.6.1, not thinking about it, and the upgrade went well. But starting up all of my apps after the reboot took a half hour. So there are much more serious problems than just the upgrade process and than Monterey.