Using Presets for New Accounts

If you've been reading this chapter sequentially, you've probably noticed that there are many settings to configure for a user account. Fortunately, you don't have to configure every single setting each time you create a new user. Workgroup Manager offers a timesaving feature that lets you save a preset for new user accounts.

Once you define a preset, all new users you create will have the same configuration as the preset (the preset must be selected before you create the account). However, even when new users are created with the User Presets tool, you must still configure each user's name (long name ), user ID, short names , and password.

To define a preset

In Workgroup Manager, click the Accounts icon in the Toolbar, click the User tab in the account types tab, and select a user account.

It's a good idea to create an actual account called Preset User. This helps avoid confusion in the future as to which account the others accounts were based on ( Figure 4.78 ).

Figure 4.78. Create a preset user for all other yet-to-be-created users.

From the Presets pop-up menu, select Save Preset.

A dialog drops down from the title bar, in which you can enter a name for your preset ( Figure 4.79 ).

Figure 4.79. Enter a name in the Preset Name field.

Enter a name, and click OK.

"Changing" the Short Name

As previously mentioned, you really shouldn't change the original short name, but you can create a new account and then move the user's configuration and files to the new account.

Simply create a preset using the user's old account as shown in this section and then create a new account using this preset. Next give the new account the same User ID value as the old account. The new account will have attributes and permissions similar to those of the old account.

Note that this solution does not move the user's email database or home folder and related files to the new account. You'll have to reconfigure those items manually. Be sure to thoroughly test the new account before you delete the old one!

To create a user with a preset

1.	Within Workgroup Manager, select your custom user preset from the Presets pop-up menu ( Figure 4.80 ). Figure 4.80. Select the new preset from the Presets pop-up menu.
2.	Click New User to create a new account that will use this preset.
3.	Verify that your preset works by inspecting the attributes on the various account settings tabs: Advanced, Groups, and so on. Remember that you must still configure the Basic user attributes to complete this user account.
4.	When you've finished making changes, click Save.

Tips

You can rename and delete presets from the Presets pop-up menu.
You can also create custom group presets. Repeat all the steps in the previous task; but, in step 2, click the Group icon instead of the User tab.

5. File Sharing

For many organizations, file sharing is the only reason they have a server. Although Mac OS X Server is accomplished at tasks other than file sharing, it stands out as a robust and reliable multiplatform file server by providing file-sharing capabilities via the four most common sharing protocols: Apple File Protocol (AFP) for Mac OS clients, Server Message Block (SMB) for Windows-compatible clients, File Transfer Protocol (FTP) for almost any client, and Network File System (NFS) for Unix-based clients .

For many administrators, the amount of time spent planning access to shared items outweighs the time spent configuring the server. Access to shared items is often a technical and political issue. As a server administrator, you're charged with figuring out how to configure server resources so they fit with your organizational requirements. Therefore, it's a good idea to plan access to your shared items before you try to implement sharing services on your server. You should also set up users and groups before you enable your shared items, because Mac OS X Server uses both Unix-style user and group permissions and access controls to control local and shared file access. (See Chapter 4, " User and Group Management," for more on configuring users and groups.)

When you're ready to configure share points, you have two main areas of concern: setting up and configuring the protocols over which users connect, and the actual share point. This chapter examines both.