How to enforce reboots with a progressive escalation policy

Before deploying this Script, make sure your company logo is available at /var/root/CompanyAssets/logo.png on each managed Device. The Script resizes and copies the logo to the swiftDialog resources folder automatically. Using the corporate logo ensures users recognize the alerts as IT communications and don't dismiss them as noise. You can distribute the file using Applivery File Management.

Once in the Applivery Dashboard, follow the steps described here to create a Script. Paste the following Script into the editor, select Bash as the language, give it a descriptive name (e.g., Force Reboot Policy), and click Create.

#!/bin/bash

# ---
# Title: Force Reboot Policy (Uptime Enforcement)
# Description: Monitors macOS uptime and triggers escalating alerts via swiftDialog to force a restart.
# Author: Applivery
# Version: 1.2.0
# ---

# ==========================================
# 1. CLEANUP OLD INSTALLATIONS
# ==========================================
DIALOG_OLD="/Applications/Dialog.app"

if [ -d "$DIALOG_OLD" ]; then
  echo "→ Old Dialog.app found"
  pgrep -if "Dialog.app" && {
    echo "  → Quitting Dialog..."
    pkill -if "Dialog.app" 2>/dev/null
    sleep 1
  }
  if sudo rm -rf "$DIALOG_OLD" 2>/dev/null; then
    echo "  → Removed successfully"
  else
    echo "  → Failed to remove legacy app."
  fi
else
  echo "→ No old Dialog.app present"
fi

# ==========================================
# 2. PRE-FLIGHT & BRANDING SETUP
# ==========================================
PATH=/usr/bin:/bin:/usr/sbin:/sbin

DIALOG_CLI="/usr/local/bin/dialog"
DIALOG_APP="/Library/Application Support/Dialog/Dialog.app"
DIALOG_ICON_DIR="/Library/Application Support/Dialog"
DIALOG_ICON="$DIALOG_ICON_DIR/Dialog.png"
BRAND_ICON="/var/root/CompanyAssets/logo.png"

needs_install=0
needs_reinstall=0

CURRENT_USER=$(stat -f %Su /dev/console)
USER_ID=$(id -u "$CURRENT_USER" 2>/dev/null || true)

get_swiftdialog_pkg_url() {
  local url
  url="$(/usr/bin/curl -fsSL -H "Accept: application/vnd.github+json" -H "User-Agent: Force_Reboot" \
    "https://api.github.com/repos/swiftDialog/swiftDialog/releases/latest" | \
    /usr/bin/sed -nE 's/.*"browser_download_url":"([^"]*\.pkg)".*/\1/p' | \
    /usr/bin/head -n 1)"
  [ -n "$url" ] && echo "$url" && return 0
  return 1
}

run_as_user() {
  if [ -z "$CURRENT_USER" ] || [ "$CURRENT_USER" = "loginwindow" ] || [ -z "$USER_ID" ]; then
    return 1
  fi
  launchctl asuser "$USER_ID" /usr/bin/sudo -u "$CURRENT_USER" -- "$@"
}

if [ ! -x "$DIALOG_CLI" ] || [ ! -d "$DIALOG_APP" ]; then
  needs_install=1
fi

mkdir -p "$DIALOG_ICON_DIR"
chmod 755 "$DIALOG_ICON_DIR"

if [ -f "$BRAND_ICON" ]; then
  tmp_brand="$(/usr/bin/mktemp /tmp/dialog_brand.XXXXXX.png)"
  if ! sips -z 512 512 "$BRAND_ICON" --out "$tmp_brand" >/dev/null 2>&1; then
    /bin/cp "$BRAND_ICON" "$tmp_brand"
  fi
  if [ -f "$tmp_brand" ]; then
    if [ ! -f "$DIALOG_ICON" ] || ! cmp -s "$tmp_brand" "$DIALOG_ICON"; then
      cp "$tmp_brand" "$DIALOG_ICON"
      chmod 644 "$DIALOG_ICON"
      chown root:wheel "$DIALOG_ICON" >/dev/null 2>&1
      needs_reinstall=1
    fi
  fi
  rm -f "$tmp_brand"
fi

# ==========================================
# 3. SWIFTDIALOG INSTALLATION
# ==========================================
if [ "$needs_install" -eq 1 ] || [ "$needs_reinstall" -eq 1 ]; then
  pkg_url="$(get_swiftdialog_pkg_url 2>/dev/null || true)"
  if [ -n "$pkg_url" ]; then
    pkg_path="/tmp/swiftDialog_$(date +%s).pkg"
    /usr/bin/curl -fL --retry 3 --retry-delay 1 "$pkg_url" -o "$pkg_path"
    installer -pkg "$pkg_path" -target /
    rm -f "$pkg_path"
  else
    echo "ERROR: Could not retrieve swiftDialog URL." >&2
    exit 1
  fi
fi

killall Dialog 2>/dev/null

# ==========================================
# 4. UPTIME CALCULATION
# ==========================================
current_unix_time="$(date '+%s')"
boot_time_unix="$(sysctl -n kern.boottime | awk -F 'sec = |, usec' '{ print $2; exit }')"
uptime_seconds="$(( current_unix_time - boot_time_unix ))"
uptime_days="$(( uptime_seconds / 86400 ))"

# TEST_UPTIME_DAYS="7" # Uncomment for testing

if [ -n "$TEST_UPTIME_DAYS" ]; then
  uptime_days="$TEST_UPTIME_DAYS"
fi

# ==========================================
# 5. ESCALATION LOGIC
# ==========================================

if [ "$uptime_days" -le 4 ]; then
  echo "Uptime: $uptime_days days. No action needed."
  exit 0

elif [ "$uptime_days" -ge 5 ] && [ "$uptime_days" -le 8 ]; then
  echo "Uptime: $uptime_days days. Showing Notification."
  run_as_user "$DIALOG_CLI" --notification \
    --title "$uptime_days days without a reboot!" \
    --message "Your Mac needs to restart to regain performance and apply security updates."
  afplay "/System/Library/Sounds/Sosumi.aiff"
  exit 0

elif [ "$uptime_days" -ge 9 ] && [ "$uptime_days" -le 12 ]; then
  echo "Uptime: $uptime_days days. Showing Dialog with Postpone."
  afplay "/System/Library/Sounds/Sosumi.aiff" &
  run_as_user "$DIALOG_CLI" \
    --title "Restart Required" \
    --message "*${uptime_days} days without a reboot!* \n\nPlease save your work and restart. If postponed, you will be reminded in 24 hours." \
    --icon "$DIALOG_ICON" \
    --button1text "Restart now" \
    --button2text "Postpone" \
    --timer 840 --width 650 --height 280 --position bottomright --ontop
  dialog_results=$?

elif [ "$uptime_days" -ge 13 ]; then
  echo "Uptime: $uptime_days days. Final warning."
  afplay "/System/Library/Sounds/Sosumi.aiff" & sleep 0.2 && afplay "/System/Library/Sounds/Sosumi.aiff" &

  run_as_user "$DIALOG_CLI" \
    --title "Restart Required" \
    --message "*${uptime_days} days without a reboot!* \n\n*After pressing I Understand, you will have 10 minutes to save your work.*" \
    --icon "$DIALOG_ICON" --button1text "I Understand" --width 650 --height 230 --blurscreen --ontop

  run_as_user "$DIALOG_CLI" \
    --title none --message "Computer will restart when the timer reaches zero." \
    --button1text "Restart now" --timer 600 --width 320 --height 110 --position bottomright --icon none --ontop
  dialog_results=$?
fi

# ==========================================
# 6. REBOOT EXECUTION
# ==========================================
if [ "$dialog_results" = "0" ] || [ "$dialog_results" = "4" ]; then
  echo "Rebooting now..."
  shutdown -r now
  sleep 2
  reboot
elif [ "$dialog_results" = "2" ]; then
  echo "User postponed the restart."
fi

exit 0

Now, navigate to any of your Devices, select the Scripts tab, click on the + Assign Script button, and select the one you just created.

This Script does not require any arguments. System uptime is calculated automatically at runtime. Click Add to save the assignment.