Mac All users type of settings

[GoldenWonder]

OK, so I'm getting along quite nicely with our new bunch of Macs. All working nicely on the domain and picking up preferences from our xserver, but theres a couple of niggles I can't seem to find an easy solution to:

 

1) How to get rid of the Open Office registration nagging screen for every user who logs on?

2) How to put a shortcut on the desktop for All Users (like XP!) - this would be a web site link or a link to a shared folder (SMB:\\server\share)

 

Is there an easyish way of doing either of those?

[HodgeHi]

The best way to achieve both of these (assuming that open office stores it's info in a preference file) would perhaps be a script to copy them into each users' location.

 

For example, taking the * to hop through folders. You could use cp item.txt /user_share/*/desktop/ for the shortcut. This should copy the item you want to add to each users desktop folder in their home dir.

 

Depending on what you want to put on the desktop though it may be better to place them in the dock. This then could allow you to manage the prefs (if open office does use a prefs file) using wgm.

 

Edit: having just read the end of your post you can use WGM to add these items to the dock. Just add them to the dock and also pop the URLs into the login items. This ensures that the items will be available when they log in. They should be accessed using Kerberos if you are AD integrated.

Edited September 13, 2010 by HodgeHi

[GoldenWonder]

Thanks - I'll have another look at the WGM, I think I've only scratched the surface of preferences as they seem a lot more basic compared to Group Policies, so there must be more to it!

[HodgeHi]

I knocked up a small guide on adding additional preferences that are not available by default. you can find it here:

 

http://www.edugeek.net/forums/mac/56240-preventing-change-desktop-background.html

 

It should be useable for any preference file you wish to add.

[jselway]

Edit: having just read the end of your post you can use WGM to add these items to the dock. Just add them to the dock and also pop the URLs into the login items. This ensures that the items will be available when they log in. They should be accessed using Kerberos if you are AD integrated.

 

Without wanting to state the obvious too much, this touches upon an important distinction for basic WGM automount share 101... Login item = the smb://server/sharename path, dock item = the /Volumes/sharename path. The dock icon works because the login item has already mounted a volume with the share name. Adding the smb:// path for the login item can be a bit fiddly as well as you have to browse for it, if worst comes to worst just link it to /Applications or whatever to create a login item, then edit the link path in the details tab.

Edited September 14, 2010 by jselway

[GoldenWonder]

In the end I use WGM to add the shortcuts to their dock - took longer to work it out, but then I realised you have to open the location and then drag it into the WGM!

[Tricky_Dicky]

I've been trying to put our network shares on the iMac desktop using the method above and getting some strange results.

 

If I map the "common" drive for the students it shows up as a drive on the desktop and all is well. However if I try and mount the same one for the staff it doesn't show up on the desktop. It appears to be mapping to the server and if you go in to find you can navigate to it but that's kind of missing the point.

 

Any ideas what could be going wrong?

 

Cheers

 

Rich