• Mac OS X Server

    Manage Groups In Mavericks Server

    There are a number of ways to create groups in OS X Mavericks Server (Server 3). The first is using the Server app, the second is using Workgroup Manager (which could be running on an older operating system and connecting to the Mavericks Server in question), the third is using the Users & Groups System Preference pane and the fourth is using the command line. In this article we will look at creating groups in the Server app. Once a server has been an Open Directory Master all user and group accounts created will be in the Local Network Group when created in Server app. Before that, all user and…

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

    Moving Managed Preferences to Profiles

    If you’ve been following my postings for the past few weeks you may have noticed that I’m putting the pieces together for a strategy to transition existing managed preferences in environments to profiles, most notably those managed using Lion Server’s Profile Manager as more than just a mobile device management tool, but also as a computer management tool. To put the articles into a bit more order, let’s look at the order that you’d likely use them to actually do an integration: If needed, upgrade any existing Open Directory deployments to Lion: https://krypted.com//mac-os-x/upgrading-open-directory-from-snow-leopard-server-to-lion-server Start off with getting Profile Manager installed (Part 1): https://krypted.com//iphone/setting-up-profile-manager-in-lion-server Then integrate Profile Manager with your internal directory…

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

    Managing iTunes en Masse

    iTunes is cool.  But there are some features that many organizations want to limit as when they are used by a large number of people they can become problematic.  Apple allows you to manage iTunes for Windows and Mac OS X clients.  For Windows, there are a number of registry keys that can be used and for Mac OS X there is the ~/Library/Preferences/com.apple.iTunes.plist file, or more importantly the ability to Add the aforementioned file into the Workgroup Manager Managed Preferences.  Once added you will be able to set a number of options to manage, including the following (which are self explanatory for the most part): allowiTunesUAccess disableAppleTV disableAutomaticDeviceSync disableCheckForUpdates…

  • Mac OS X,  Mac OS X Server

    Mac OS X Server: AutoFS

    AutoFS is greatly improved in Leopard.  To set up an automounting sharepoint in Leopard, use Server Admin from /Applications/Utilities.   We described how to setup a share point in this article: Mac OS X Server 10.5: Sharing Files the New Way Once you have set up your share point then you may want to make it an automounting share, or you may want it to automount and not be visible for users, as in the case of a home directory automount.  To create the automount you would browse to a folder from File Sharing and once shared, place a check mark in the box for Enable Automount.  From here, click on…