Chapter 13. Client Management

13. Client Management

Many system administrators believe that a centrally controlled user environment is the ultimate management solution. The concept is simple: Instead of configuring user accounts individually at each computer, management information is centralized on your servers so that you can configure preferences for every account from one central location. For instance, you can prevent a specific user account from launching nonessential applications, restrict printing on an expensive color printer to only a certain group of users, or set a preference that automatically shuts down every idle computer at the end of the workday.

But with such an extensive variety of managed preference options available, this simple concept can become complicated. Fortunately, Mac OS X Server's managed preference settings allow you to micromanage accounts while still working at the macro level. For starters, you can select multiple accounts and simultaneously apply managed preference settings for all of them in one step. Then Mac OS X Server lets you define presets so that newly created or imported accounts are automatically configured with your settings. Most important, you can apply managed preference settings to workgroups or computer lists in addition to individual user accounts.

Now with Mac OS X Server 10.4, you can also manage network views, allowing a managed computer to view only the network settings you want it to view, including specific servers and local computers. This can dramatically reduce the time spent by users when searching large networks for volumes they need.

Prior to implementing managed preferences, consider all the options available and create a plan that will accomplish your administration requirements with the least amount of configuration.