docs: add administrator configuration for disabling Coder Desktop auto-updates (#21641)

## Summary

Adds documentation for the "disable automatic updates" feature in Coder
Desktop.

This adds a new "Administrator Configuration" section to the Coder
Desktop docs that documents:

- **macOS**: Setting the `disableUpdater` UserDefaults key via MDM or
`defaults` command
- **Windows**: Setting the `Updater:Enable` registry value in
`HKLM\SOFTWARE\Coder Desktop\App`

The feature already exists in both platforms but was not documented in
the user-facing docs.

## Changes

- Added new "Administrator Configuration" section before
"Troubleshooting"
- Documented macOS MDM configuration for disabling updates
- Documented Windows registry configuration for disabling updates
- Mentioned the `ForcedChannel` option for locking update channels

---

Created on behalf of @ethanndickson

---------

Co-authored-by: blink-so[bot] <211532188+blink-so[bot]@users.noreply.github.com>
This commit is contained in:
blinkagent[bot]
2026-01-27 22:26:40 +11:00
committed by GitHub
co-authored by blink-so[bot]
parent 7546e94534
commit 1375fd9ead
+36
View File
@@ -112,6 +112,42 @@ Open `http://your-workspace.coder:PORT` in your browser, replacing `PORT` with t
</div>
## Administrator Configuration
Organizations that manage Coder Desktop deployments can configure the application using MDM (Mobile Device Management) or group policy.
### Disable Automatic Updates
Administrators can disable the built-in auto-updater to manage updates through their own software distribution system.
<div class="tabs">
### macOS
Set the `disableUpdater` preference to `true` using the `defaults` command:
```shell
defaults write com.coder.Coder-Desktop disableUpdater -bool true
```
Organization administrators can also enforce this setting across managed devices using MDM (Mobile Device Management) software by deploying a configuration profile that sets this preference.
### Windows
Set the `Updater:Enable` registry value to `0` under `HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Coder Desktop\App`:
```powershell
New-Item -Path "HKLM:\SOFTWARE\Coder Desktop\App" -Force
New-ItemProperty -Path "HKLM:\SOFTWARE\Coder Desktop\App" -Name "Updater:Enable" -Value 0 -PropertyType DWord -Force
```
You can also configure a `Updater:ForcedChannel` string value to lock users to a specific update channel (e.g. `stable`).
> [!NOTE]
> For security, updater settings can only be configured at the machine level (`HKLM`), not per-user (`HKCU`).
</div>
## Troubleshooting
### Connection Issues