absolutejam

Hi guys, I've recently been dabbling with network user folders at a site I'm managing but I have a few queries about OS X user profiles that I've never really gotten my head around. I have previously had some odd errors on machines that were set up by another company complaining that users home folders were missing (a little out of the blue) even for local users and it literally stopped me from opening anything, even the finder. This was just one of many problems I faced, so my first step was to re-image a load of machines to set them up how I deemed correct and now that they're set up, I've enrolled them all into my Open Directory. To ensure they're all administered the same and nice and uniform, I've been messing with some methods of applying settings to certain users and machines via. Work Group Manager (Profile manager just seemed to be a trashpile so far). Whilst messing with WGM, I've set users to have a network home folder located on the server's share as well as tweak some other settings, such as locking down dock items and the likes. However, I was changing a user's dock preferences and unticked 'merge with user's dock', logged on to a machine and now their dock is simply a few folders and 2 apps instead of the usual stuff. I then reverted the setting but it seem to be stuck like this and when I went to look in /Users/ I couldn't see a folder for that user (simply called 'staff' as a generic guinea pig). I've also tried deleting a user folder in the past to see if I could reset a user's 'profile settings' (excuse me if I'm using the incorrect terminology, I'm coming from a Windows background) but I just get an error saying that the folder is missing. I haven't tried recreating the folder as the permissions will be incorrect, but in a Windows environment I'd just have to delete/rename a User's folder and then delete the registry key that points that user to that certain folder and the next time a user logs in, all the folders and settings are recreated. Basically what I'm asking is: - Where are user settings generally saved? - What's the best way to 'default' a user's profile? - Is there an OS X equivalent of roaming profiles (not that I like roaming profiles any way, I'd much prefer to redirect folders) - Probably a whole lot more, but I'm just trying to get my head around the basics to begin with. Thanks for your time. Kind regards, James.

Alright, so I've made some progress so far... Munki is up and running - well, I've tested it, I'm yet to start using it fully - but this looks like a great way to manage installing software. I've installed DeployStudio and so far this piece of software has blown my mind with its usefulness. I've created a standard image to roll out and I can deploy this to one machine, rename the machine, bind it to OD and enroll it into a profile in around 10 minutes. I've tried to stay away from Workgroup Manager as a lot of people have said that it's going the way of the dodo and Profile Manager is the next step (Not too sure I like it yet though). I wasn't sure on the best way to implement login scripts as there doesn't seem to be a 'standard' way of going about it, so I've added a .plist that runs on login in my image and this then looks to a networked .sh script that I can alter at will. Additionally, I've changed users so they all use a network home drive (It baffles me why they were set up in any other manner before). I was looking into creating a 'standard profile'/user as I read that you can script the replacement of profiles (eg. A user's program settings, dock layout, etc.) but I'm yet to fully test this to see its viability. My only issue is, once I lock certain things down, do they stay that way? I've noticed that Workgroup Manager grays out options once it sets them (but I've moved away from using this) and Profile Manager doesn't really right with me yet, but I guess I'll have to get my head around using it. And of course, Google has been my best friend so far! I definitely feeling like I'm making some real progress at last. Thanks for your help so far, James.

Hi guys, I'm posting because I'm at a bit of a crossroads when it comes to a Mac network I'm looking after. It's a small primary school consisting of around 35 iMacs (All running OS X Lion) and a Mac server (Lion Server) that is running Open Directory along with a pair of windows machines on a workgroup (yuck). We do have an old Windows server to use but it's pretty archaic an lockd on 2003 at the moment so I'm not sure it's even worth bothering. As it stands, all of the Macs have been set up by another company and I'm aiming to kick them into shape by automating and regulating certain things as I would in a windows network (Perhaps my first mistake). Currently users log on and all of their data is saved locally (yuck), everyone's bottom dock is different, they can place files on the desktop, etc. - All things I would have full control over from a central location if I was administrating from a Windows network (And all things I'd quickly change!). So I've began making some changes in Workgroup Manager, and tried to change users to mount a network home drive (although I've seen a couple of 'This home drive is not in the normal place' error messages); removed certain items from the dock; rolled out proxy settings to all machines. I also had a play with profile manager but this seems like it's basically for iOS devices. However, at the end of it all I'm still left with a yearning for a more in-depth kind of Group Policy system and I want to get your opinion on what's the best route to go down before I configure something or purchase something that's not worthwhile. I've taken a look at the Casper suite and I heard that can basically act as a replacement for Group Policy (or an equivelant) but it's too expensive. Next I considered ARD. ARD looks very handy for remote tasks as I'm not based at the site and even then, it's easier to do things remotely then do things a hundred times over per machine. I also considered StarDeploy as a means to deploy software (Again, as I would use in a GP environment) but the set up has to be done per-machine and in this time, it seems like I might as well re-image the lot and get more issues out of the way with. I then read that a lot of Mac administrators achieve what I want by using DeployStudio to just reimage the machines for any major changes - and it looks like I'll have to do this anyway - but this doesn't really help for small changes like automatically mapping a new printer or changing a wallpaper. My final conclusion was that I have to make the most of OS X's speedy imaging and the underlying Unix commands (I know how powerful and terrifying bash is), so I'm left thinking that I should create my standard image with all software, updates, etc. and add a login script hook that then pulls off networked login scripts to help me achieve any minor tweaks that can be done on login but also reimage the machines with DeployStudio if I need to administer a large upgrade or install big pieces of software? Any input is greatly appreciated! Kind regards, James.