X8 on Mac keeps prompting for update even after update has "successfully" installed

This issue occured on 3 Macs running Sierra 10.12.6. The issue appears to be permissions-related and can be resolved by running the updater as an administrator user from a command line as follows:

  1. Log in as an administrator user

  2. Download the update installer from here: http://download.endnote.com/updates/18.0/EndNoteX801UpdateInstaller.zip

  3. Launch the terminal app (from Applications\Utilities)

  4. The command line will depend on the location of the updater, but to get the path

  • Type sudo followed by a space

    • -Locate the download, right-click on  EndNote X8.0.1 Updater.app and choose “show package contents”
    • -Drill down to MacOS/ Patcher
    • -Click on Patcher and drag into the terminal window and release
    • -You should now see a command looking like this:

users-iMac:~ username$ sudo /Users/username/Downloads/EndNote\ X8.0.1\ Update\ Installer/EndNote\ X8.0.1\ Updater.app/Contents/MacOS/Patcher 

  • -Press enter; you will be prompted for your password
  • -Type your password (note that nothing appears onscreen as you do so) and press enter
  • -The updater will launch; follow the steps (pressing next) to update EndNote
  • When complete, launch EndNote
  • In the menu bar click on EndNote X8, you should now see EndNote X8.0.1.