• Mac OS X,  Mac OS X Server

    Mac OS X Server: Customizing Menu Items with Open Directory MCX

    Recently I had a scenario where I wanted to disable all of the menu items using an MCX for some NetBoot clients. To do so, I ended up building a custom MCX. To do so, first open Workgroup Manager and click on the group in question. Then click on Preferences and then the Details tab. Next, click on the + sign and browse to /System/Library/CoreServices/ManagedClient.app. Next click on Menu Extras and click on the pencil. Here drop down the Always disclosure triangle and click on the New Key button. From here, name the key with menu item in question (or create multiple keys) and set the Type to Boolean and the Value…

  • Mac OS X

    Mac OS X: Automatically Open Expanded Viewing

    The open and save dialogs can automatically have the expanded view opened by default rather than having you need to open it manually each time you go to open or save a file. To enable this setting, use the following command: defaults write -g NSNavPanelExpandedStateForSaveMode -bool TRUE

  • Mac OS X

    Mac OS X 10.5: Disable Glass Shelf in Dock

    I originally posted this at http://www.318.com/TechJournal For early Leopard adopters that don’t like the new look and feel of the dock, here’s a command to disable that Glass shelf look in your dock: defaults write com.apple.dock no-glass -boolean YES killall Dock If you would like to revert the setting: defaults write com.apple.dock no-glass -boolean NO killall Dock click on the code and choose run to activate or deactivate this setting

  • Mac OS X,  Mac OS X Server,  Mac Security,  Mass Deployment

    Mac OS X Server 10.5: Managed Preferences Update

    I originally posted this at http://www.318.com/TechJournal If you’re familiar with Managed Preferences in Tiger then you’re basically already familiar with Managed Preferences in Leopard Server. But there are some great new features that Apple has provided us with by popular demand. These include the following: Applications There are now more features to the Applications Managed Preference. You can allow or disallow applications by selecting them individually or a folder. This means that you can allow access to applications located in the /Applications folder but disallow all applications located in the /Applications/Utilities folder. There are also now controls for allowing specific widgets and disabling Front Row. Finder There are new options…

  • Mac OS X Server

    Mac OS X Server: Another MCX

    So the the last article talked about an Apple-based preference.  But then I thought it might make sense to talk about pushing out one that’s non-Apple.  Let’s look at the Name in the Settings from Microsoft Office.  For this, Click on the + sign in Workgroup Manager, then browse to a user account -> Library -> Preferences -> Microsoft -> Office 2008 -> Microsoft Office 2008 Settings.plist.  Then change Manage imported preferences to Always.  Now double-click on Microsoft Office 2008 Settings and open up that disclosure triangle for Always.  Change the string for the 1000 value to be what you want the name to be.  Then save and test.  Fun…