Wazza s QuickStart 10. Leopard Server - Managing Preferences

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1 Wazza s QuickStart 10. Leopard Server - Managing Preferences About this Document This document is the 10th in a series of documents describing the process of installing and configuring a Mac OS X 10.5 Server in a school environment. Other documents in this series are available at: servernotes.wazmac.com This document provides information about managing preferences for the users, groups, and computers on a Mac OS X 10.5 network. This process described in this document assumes that you have already setup some users and groups, as described in previous documents. Wazza s QuickStart - OSX Server : Managed Preferences 1

2 Other documents in this series Installing the Mac OS X Server Software & Configuring DNS Initial software Installation Enabling and configuring DNS Updating the OS X Server software Setting up Services - 1 Services overview Setting up Services - 2 AFP, Web & SMB (Windows) Setting up Services - 3 DHCP Setting up Services - 4 Open Directory Setting up Sharepoints - 1 Groups folder Home directories Setting up Users and Groups Setting up Sharepoints - 2 Netrestore folder Group folder permissions Client Imaging - Create a master image - Create a NetBoot image - Configure NetBoot - Prepare Server - Deploy a master image Managing Preferences (This document) Connecting from Windows XP - WorkGroup Configuring Mac OS X Server as a Primary Domain Controller Connecting OS X Clients to Open Directory Backing up your Server Configuring your Intranet Enabling Blogs and Wikis Wazza s QuickStart - OSX Server : Managed Preferences 2

3 Background Information The information in this document assumes that the Users on your server are organised into Groups, as described in previous documents in this series. In a school environment this may be a Year group, a Teachers group, a Student group, etc. This document describes the process for setting up management of the following preferences for people that use the computers on your school network: - Login Options; - Network Preferences; - Dock Preferences; - Printing Preferences; - Desktop View Options; - Default browser Home Page; - Finder and other preferences; - Mounting a Group shared folder at Login. When managing these preferences, you can choose to apply the management to individual users, to groups, or to computers lists. Off the Network Application of the managed network preferences described in this document may prevent you from using a managed computer when it is not connected to the managing network - eg a managed laptop that you take home. If you want to use a managed computer off the network, you may need to delete the contents of the HD > Library > Managed Preferences folder. Wazza s QuickStart - OSX Server : Managed Preferences 3

4 1. Defining Login Options The Login window is the user s first interaction with a managed network computer. You can choose for students and teachers to be presented with a List of Names at the login window or, alternatively, a blank text box where they can enter their Username and Password. We will manage this option at the computer level - ie the preference will be applied to the computer when it powers up on the network, regardless of the user, or the group membership of that user Open WorkGroup Manager Click on the Accounts icon at the top of the window Click on the Computer button, just below the Accounts icon Go to the Server menu, and choose to Create Guest Computer. Wazza s QuickStart - OSX Server : Managed Preferences 4

5 1.5. In the computer list, click on guest Click on Preferences at the top of the window Click on the Login button in the right pane of the WGM window. (Check that guest is still selected in the left pane.) 1.8. Click on the Window button, then on the Manage: Always button Choose to Display the Login Window as either a List of users, or as Name and password text fields. Note: My recent testing with v is that if you click to Show local users and Show network users, that the Local users option over-rides the Network users option, so you may have to disable the display of Local users to obtain a list of Network users Click on the Apply Now button. Wazza s QuickStart - OSX Server : Managed Preferences 5

6 2. Configuring Network Preferences You can set the default proxy server for your network computers using the Network Preferences in WorkGroup Manager. Again we will manage this at the computer level - ie for all users of the computer, regardless of what group membership they have Open WorkGroup Manager and click on the Preferences icon Click on the Computers button, then on Guest Computers. (Alternatively, you may choose to apply this preference to individual computers lists, so that computers in different parts of your school access the internet through different proxy servers - eg staff areas and student areas.) 2.3. In the right pane, click on Network Under Proxies, click on the Manage: Always button Enter the relevant proxy server information in each field. Click on the Apply Now button. Wazza s QuickStart - OSX Server : Managed Preferences 6

7 3. Configuring Dock Preferences We will manage the Dock preferences based on User groups. This will enable us to apply different Dock settings to different year groups in the school. If everyone in the school is to have the same Dock, then consider using Computer settings to manage this preference, rather than Groups. The less management at a Group level seems to make logins a little quicker Log on to a network computer. NOTE: It is important that this computer has an identical software image to other computers on the network If not already installed, install WorkGroup Manager on the local workstation. (This can be copied from the server) Open WorkGroup Manager (Applications > Server) Click on the Groups tab, then the Preferences icon 3.5. Select a Group (or Groups) in the left pane Click on the Dock Icon in the right pane. Wazza s QuickStart - OSX Server : Managed Preferences 7

8 3.7. Choose Manage: Always Use the Add and Remove button to include applications that will be available in the Dock for the selected Group(s) Other options, such as including the user s Home folder in the Dock, are available within the Dock Items window. Merging with user s Dock allows to user to add their own additional items to the Dock. Click on the Apply Now button The Dock Display button gives some more options for the management of the size and position of the Dock, if required. Wazza s QuickStart - OSX Server : Managed Preferences 8

9 4. Managing Printing (Note: Managed printing doesn t seem to be working reliably in ) The management of printers as described below refers to network printers - ie printers that have their own network port, their own IP address, and are connected directly to the school network. The drivers for these printers should be installed on all the computers in your school. In a large school, printers are most likely to be managed based on Computer Lists, created with sympathy to the geography of the school. Smaller schools may choose to use the Guest computer group, or manage printers based on User Groups. It has been my experience in testing these options that logins are quicker if these sort of preferences are managed by Computer Lists, rather than Groups Working on the server (or using Screen Sharing or ARD to connect to the server remotely), install the printer(s) that will be managed, through System Preferences > Print & Fax, as IP printers: 4.2. Provide a meaningful Name for the printer, and copy the IP address into the Location field Click the Add button, and select the appropriate options to complete the installation of the printer. (Check that the prefs are set to A4 page size, if required). Wazza s QuickStart - OSX Server : Managed Preferences 9

10 4.4. Launch WorkGroup Manager Click on the Computer tab and select Guest computer. Note: You can also choose to create geographically organised Computer Lists, or manage printers based on User Groups. For the sake of simplicity we will use Guest Click on the Preferences icon Click on the Printing icon Under the Printers tab choose Manage: Always Under the Printer List tab, select the printer(s) to be managed, and click on the Add button to add the printer(s) to the User s Printer List. Click on the Apply Now button. Wazza s QuickStart - OSX Server : Managed Preferences 10

11 4.10. Click on the Access tab, and select the printer that will be the default printer. Click on the Make Default button, and then click on the Apply Now button You can also choose to include a footer on each printed page, containing the name of the user who has printed the job... Click on the Footer tab at the top of the window, choose to Manage: Always, and select the username and date option. This feature is available on Mac OS X 10.5 clients only. Wazza s QuickStart - OSX Server : Managed Preferences 11

12 5. Keep Users Desktops Organised 5.1. Open Workgroup Manager Click on the Preferences icon at the top of the WorkGroup Manager window Click on the Groups button, and select a Group (or Groups) Click on the Finder icon in the right pane of the window Click on the Preferences button at the top of the Finder Preferences pane. Check that the Connected servers option is ticked, to ensure that the Groups folder mounts correctly (as described later in these notes.) Wazza s QuickStart - OSX Server : Managed Preferences 12

13 5.6. Click on the Views button, then the Manage: Always button Choose to Keep Arranged by: Kind. Click on the Apply Now button. See also: Managing Finder & Other Preferences (in Section 7, a couple of pages on.) Wazza s QuickStart - OSX Server : Managed Preferences 13

14 6. Defining a Default Home Page for Safari. There are many preferences that you can control that don t have a neat graphical interface. Preferences for Safari, for example, are accessible through the Details tab in the Preferences pane: 6.1. Working on a clean computer, where Safari hasn t been used previously, open Workgroup Manager Click on Preferences > Computers > Guest Click on the Detail button in the right pane of the window Click on the + button at the bottom of the window Navigate to Applications > Safari, and click on the Add button. Wazza s QuickStart - OSX Server : Managed Preferences 14

15 6.6. Click on the Safari application, then on the Edit button Click on Always, then on the New Key button This will add a New Item under Always Click on New Item and select Home Page, from near the top of the pop-up list of options. You may be interested in exploring some of the other available options too! Double-click to edit the default Home Page address. Generally this is set to be the school s Intranet site. Click on the Apply Now button. Wazza s QuickStart - OSX Server : Managed Preferences 15

16 7. Managing Finder and Other Preferences Many other preferences are able to be managed in a similar way to the process for managing the Safari preferences above. For example, you can manage the Sidebar preferences: 7.1. Log on to a network computer Go to Finder > Preferences > Sidebar and adjust the settings to how you would like them to be for all your network users Close the Finder Preferences, log out, then log back in again (just to ensure that the preferences are saved.) 7.4. Open WorkGroup Manager Select a User, Group, or Computer List to which to apply the preference. In the example above we have chosen the Guest computer list - which is basically all the Mac computers on our network. Wazza s QuickStart - OSX Server : Managed Preferences 16

17 7.6. Click on the Preferences icon in the toolbar Click on the Details button in the right pane of the Preferences window Click on the + button at the bottom of the window Navigate to the Home folder of the user, then to Library > Preferences > com.apple.sidebarlists.plist At the bottom of the window, choose the frequency of the management of the preference. Click on the Add button. Wazza s QuickStart - OSX Server : Managed Preferences 17

18 7.11. The preference will now be added to the list of managed preferences, hopefully with the preferences set to be the same as those of the user whose preferences you have copied If the preferences haven t copied exactly, you can select the preference and edit the settings by clicking on the pencil button at the bottom of the window. Note: Some experimentation may be required - not all preferences are manageable, nor editable in this fashion, especially for non-apple software. Wazza s QuickStart - OSX Server : Managed Preferences 18

19 8. Mount a Shared Group folder when a user logs in. OSX Server can mount the Group sharepoint on the desktop at login, providing access to a workgroup folder for each Group. We are going to use this feature to mount the Group sharepoint at login, but we are not going to create the Apple default workgroup folder and sub-folders for each Group, but rather create our own subfolders in the Groups folder. The notes below assume that you have already defined a Groups folder for each Group, as described in the previous Users & Groups document in this series Open WorkGroup Manager, and click on Preferences > Groups Shift-click (and cmd-click) to select the main Groups in the left pane Click on the Login button, on the right side of the screen. Wazza s QuickStart - OSX Server : Managed Preferences 19

20 8.4. Click on the Items button, and Manage: Always Tick to Add group sharepoint Click on the Apply Now button When the users in those groups login next, they will see the Groups folder mounted on their desktop. Access to the sub-folders in the Groups folder is controlled by the permissions applied to those sub-folders. You will also need to check that the client Finder prefs are set to show Connected Servers, or that this is set in the Finder managed prefs, as described earlier in these notes. Wazza s QuickStart - OSX Server : Managed Preferences 20