Enterprise Mac Managed Preferences

Prelim......Page 1 Contents at a Glance......Page 5 Contents......Page 6 About the Authors......Page 11 About the Technical Reviewer......Page 12 Acknowledgments......Page 13 Preface......Page 15 Why Manage?......Page 17 Maintaining Company Policy......Page 18 Keeping Your Sanity......Page 19 Preference Delivery......Page 20 Scripting......Page 21 Managing Everything Else......Page 23 Summary......Page 24 How Did We Get Here?......Page 25 Where Are We Now?......Page 27 The Heart of Managed Preferences......Page 28 What Can You Manage?......Page 29 What You Will Need......Page 30 Summary......Page 31 What Are Directory Services?......Page 33 Directory Services and Managed Preferences......Page 35 Open Directory......Page 36 NIS......Page 37 Local Only......Page 38 Network Directory Service......Page 39 Multiple Network Directory Services......Page 41 Summary......Page 43 What Are Property List Files?......Page 45 Digging Deeper . . .......Page 49 Property List Editor.app......Page 52 Creating a Property List from Scratch with Property List Editor......Page 54 Command-Line Utilities......Page 55 Cocoa for Scripters......Page 60 Summary......Page 62 Resources......Page 63 Where Do Managed Preferences Reside?......Page 65 Preferred Tools for Creating, Testing, and Deploying Managed Preferences......Page 67 Using Workgroup Manager......Page 68 The dscl Command......Page 76 Summary......Page 82 Directory Choices......Page 83 Binding Mac OS X Clients to Open Directory......Page 84 Accessing the Directory......Page 86 Delivery with Active Directory......Page 87 Binding Mac OS X Clients to Active Directory......Page 88 Extending the Active Directory Schema......Page 90 Managing Preferences in Active Directory......Page 104 Consider Indexing......Page 106 Bind Mac OS X to OpenLDAP......Page 107 Further OpenLDAP Considerations......Page 113 Delivery Without a Centralized Directory......Page 114 Help! I Can't Use MCX at All......Page 115 Additional Resources......Page 116 Delivery Without a Centralized Directory......Page 117 Introducing Local MCX......Page 118 Getting Started......Page 120 Creating a Computer Group......Page 123 Adding Managed Preferences......Page 125 Extending the Managed Preferences to Other Machines......Page 126 Advanced Local MCX......Page 128 Dynamic Group Membership (or ‘‘Smart Groups’’)......Page 129 Local MCX Issues......Page 130 MCX in Alternate Directory Nodes......Page 131 More Local DS Node Tricks......Page 137 Summary......Page 138 Managed Preference Interactions......Page 139 Preferences Precedence......Page 140 Preferences and Group Hierarchy......Page 141 MCXCompositor......Page 142 Viewing Composited MCX Data with mcxquery......Page 147 Viewing Composited MCX Data with System Profiler......Page 148 Summary......Page 149 Management Frequency......Page 151 Choosing a Management Frequency......Page 156 Enforcing the Managed Preferences Configuration......Page 160 Protecting Your Managed Preference Configuration......Page 161 Summary......Page 163 Preferences Overview......Page 165 Importing a Preference Manifest......Page 170 Working with Preference Manifests......Page 171 Importing ‘‘Raw’’ Preferences......Page 174 Third-Party Applications......Page 178 Summary......Page 182 Recipes......Page 183 Finder Sidebar......Page 184 Adding Preferences to Manage the Finder Sidebar......Page 186 Login Window Preferences......Page 187 Managing Bluetooth......Page 190 Screen Saver......Page 191 Managing the Screen Saver in Snow Leopard......Page 194 FileVault......Page 196 Secure Virtual Memory......Page 201 Managing iTunes......Page 202 Managing Office 2008......Page 206 Default Save File Formats......Page 207 Office Setup Assistant......Page 208 Importing Office Preferences for Management......Page 209 Summary......Page 212 Managing Mobile Accounts......Page 213 Prerequisites......Page 214 Manual Setup of Mobile Accounts......Page 215 Automatic Setup of Mobile Accounts......Page 218 Limitations of Workgroup Manager’s Preferences Overview......Page 236 Using the Preference Details Editor......Page 238 Summary......Page 242 Troubleshooting Managed Preferences......Page 243 Triage Step 1: Did It Ever Work?......Page 244 Triage Step 2: Machineor User-Specific?......Page 245 Examining Delivered Managed Preferences......Page 246 mcxquery......Page 247 System Profiler......Page 248 MCX Caching......Page 250 No Managed Preferences Data......Page 251 Wrong or Old Managed Preferences Data......Page 254 mcxrefresh......Page 255 Summary......Page 257 ¦C......Page 259 ¦E......Page 260 ¦I......Page 261 ¦M......Page 262 ¦P......Page 263 ¦R......Page 264 ¦X......Page 265

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 systems administrators. 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 Preferences/Client technology
• Recipes for common use case studies and patterns
• A targeted approach appropriate for any sys admin that manages Macs in an OS X or Windows environment

This is the only book that focuses on this facet of OS X exclusively. If you’re a sys admin, this book will take away much of the pain of working with OS X client systems. Even better, both of the authors are very involved in the Mac community—Greg Neagle is part of the MacEnterprise steering committee, and Ed Marczakis the executive editor and an author for MacTech magazine and a member of the Apple Consultants Network.

What you’ll learn

• The Managed Preferences system and how to manage it
• All about Directory Services and Local Directory Services
• How to work with property list files
• How to deliver files with Open Directory, ActiveDirectory, local scripts, third-party utilities, Puppet, LANRev, Casper, and more
• How to work with compositing preferences, including the hierarchy of preferences
• How to write a Plist for management, using Workgroup Manager and Dock Example
• How and when to enforce Managed Preferences
• How to understand manifests
• What recipes to use and when
• When, how, and where to use mcxquery, System Profiler, and MCX Cache flushing

Who this book is for

This book is for systems administrators using Mac clients.

Table of Contents

1. Why Manage?
2. What Is the Managed Preferences System?
3. Understanding Directory Services
4. Property List Files
5. Writing a Property List for Management
6. Delivering Managed Preferences
7. Local MCX
8. Compositing Preferences
9. Enforcing Managed Preferences
10. Preference Manifests and “Raw” Preferences
11. Recipes
12. Managing Mobile Accounts
13. Troubleshooting Managed Preferences

Annotation 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 systems administrators. 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 Preferences/Client technology Recipes for common use case studies and patterns A targeted approach appropriate for any sys admin that manages Macs in an OS X or Windows environment This is the only book that focuses on this facet of OS X exclusively. If you’re a sys admin, this book will take away much of the pain of working with OS X client systems. Even better, both of the authors are very involved in the Mac community—Greg Neagleis part of the MacEnterprise steering committee, andEd Marczak is the executive editor and an author for MacTech magazine and a member of the Apple Consultants Network. What you’ll learn The Managed Preferences system and how to manage it All about Directory Services and Local Directory Services How to work with property list files How to deliver files with Open Directory, ActiveDirectory, local scripts, third-party utilities, Puppet, LANRev, Casper, and more How to work with compositing preferences, including the hierarchy of preferences How to write a Plist for management, using Workgroup Manager and Dock Example How and when to enforce Managed Preferences How to understand manifests What recipes to use and when When, how, and where to use mcxquery, System Profiler, and MCX Cache flushing Who this book is for This book is for systems administrators using Mac clients. Table of Contents Why Manage?   What Is the Managed Preferences System?   Understanding Directory Services   Property List Files   Writing a Property List for Management   Delivering Managed Preferences Local MCX    Compositing Preferences   Enforcing Managed Preferences  Preference Manifests and “Raw” Preferences  Recipes    Managing Mobile Accounts   Troubleshooting Managed Preferences 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 systems administrators. 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 Preferences/Client technology Recipes for common use case studies and patterns A targeted approach appropriate for any sys admin that manages Macs in an OS X or Windows environment This is the only book that focuses on this facet of OS X exclusively. If you’re a sys admin, this book will take away much of the pain of working with OS X client systems. Even better, both of the authors are very involved in the Mac community—Greg Neagle is part of the MacEnterprise steering committee, and Ed Marczak is the executive editor and an author for MacTech magazine and a member of the Apple Consultants Network. What you’ll learn The Managed Preferences system and how to manage it All about Directory Services and Local Directory Services How to work with property list files How to deliver files with Open Directory, ActiveDirectory, local scripts, third-party utilities, Puppet, LANRev, Casper, and more How to work with compositing preferences, including the hierarchy of preferences How to write a Plist for management, using Workgroup Manager and Dock Example How and when to enforce Managed Preferences How to understand manifests What recipes to use and when When, how, and where to use mcxquery, System Profiler, and MCX Cache flushing Who this book is for This book is for systems administrators using Mac clients. Table of Contents Why Manage? What Is the Managed Preferences System? Understanding Directory Services Property List Files Writing a Property List for Management Delivering Managed Preferences Local MCX Compositing Preferences Enforcing Managed Preferences Preference Manifests and “Raw” Preferences Recipes Managing Mobile Accounts Troubleshooting Managed Preferences 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 systems administrators. 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 Preferences/Client technology Recipes for common use case studies and patterns A targeted approach appropriate for any sys admin that manages Macs in an OS X or Windows environment This is the only book that focuses on this facet of OS X exclusively. If you're a sys admin, this book will take away much of the pain of working with OS X client systems. Even better, both of the authors are very involved in the Mac community— Greg Neagle is part of the MacEnterprise steering committee, and Ed Marczak is the executive editor and an author for MacTech magazine and a member of the Apple Consultants Network. Under-documented by Apple, Enterprise Mac Managed Preferences exclusively covers OS X operating system. Written by prominent insiders of the Mac community, the text provides readers with valuable insight on OS X client systems.