Ebook: Enterprise Mac Administrators Guide

Cover13; -- Table of Contents13; -- About the Authors -- About the Technical Reviewer -- Acknowledgments -- Preface -- Chapter 1 Why Manage? -- Predictability Means Less Work over Time -- Maintaining Company Policy -- Removing Unused Functions -- Keeping Your Sanity -- Preference Delivery -- Client Management Alternatives -- Scripting -- Managing Everything Else -- Summary -- Chapter 2 What Is the Managed Preferences System? -- How Did We Get Here? -- Where Are We Now? -- The Heart of Managed Preferences -- What Can You Manage? -- What You Will Need -- Summary -- Chapter 3 Understanding Directory Services -- What Are Directory Services? -- Directory Services and Managed Preferences -- Directory Services Supported by Mac OS X -- Open Directory -- Active Directory -- LDAPv3 -- NIS -- Local Directory Services -- Directory Service Configurations -- Local Only -- Network Directory Service -- Multiple Network Directory Services -- Summary -- Chapter 4 Property List Files -- What Are Property List Files? -- Property List Example -- Digging Deeper ... -- Working with Property List Files -- Property List Editor.app -- Creating a Property List from Scratch with Property List Editor -- Command-Line Utilities -- Cocoa for Scripters -- Altering .plist Files in Memory -- Summary -- Resources -- Chapter 5 Writing a Property List for Management -- Where Do Managed Preferences Reside? -- Preferred Tools for Creating, Testing, and Deploying Managed Preferences -- Using Workgroup Manager -- The dscl Command -- The defaults Command Refresher -- Summary -- Chapter 6 Delivering Managed Preferences -- Directory Choices -- Delivery with Open Directory -- Binding Mac OS X Clients to Open Directory -- Accessing the Directory -- Delivery with Active Directory -- Binding Mac OS X Clients to Active Directory -- Extending the Active Directory Schema -- Importing the LDIF File -- Managing Preferences in Active Directory -- Delivery with OpenLDAP -- Add the Apple Schema to OpenLDAP -- Consider Indexing -- Bind Mac OS X to OpenLDAP -- Further OpenLDAP Considerations -- Delivery Without a Centralized Directory -- Help! I Can't Use MCX at All -- Summary -- Additional Resources -- Chapter 7 Local MCX -- Delivery Without a Centralized Directory -- Introducing Local MCX -- Getting Started -- Creating a Computer Group -- Adding Managed Preferences -- Extending the Managed Preferences to Other Machines -- Local MCX Checklist -- Advanced Local MCX -- Dynamic Group Membership (or 8220;Smart Groups8221;) -- Local MCX Issues -- MCX in Alternate Directory Nodes -- More Local DS Node Tricks -- Summary -- Chapter 8 Compositing Preferences -- Managed Preference Interactions -- Preferences Precedence -- Preferences and Group Hierarchy -- MCXCompositor -- Viewing Composited MCX Data with mcxquery -- Viewing Composited MCX Data with System Profiler -- Summary -- Chapter 9 Enforcing Managed Preferences -- Management Frequency -- Choosing a Management Frequency -- Enforcing the Managed Preferences Configuration -- Protecting Your Managed Preference Configuration -- Summary -- Chapter 10 Preference Manifests and 8220;Raw8221; Preferences -- T$3075.;Many systems administrators on the Mac need a way to manage machine configuration after initial setup and deployment. Apple's Managed Preferences system (also known as MCX) is under-documented, often misunderstood, and sometimes outright unknown by sys admins. MCX is usually deployed in conjunction with an OS X server, but it can also be used in Windows environments or where no dedicated server exists at all. Enterprise Mac Managed Preferences is the definitive guide to Apple's Managed Client technology. With this book, you'll get the following: * An example-driven guide to Mac OS X Managed Pr.