[stevesnj]

And good resources on how to easily set up users and OS X server (Tiger)? I am new to OS X server and need an easy how to guide to setup client systems to connect to the server and how to make users on the server...any help would be appreciated.

Systems are 25 Intel iMacs and 1 Macpro server

[besson3c]

Originally Posted by stevesnj 

And good resources on how to easily set up users and OS X server (Tiger)? I am new to OS X server and need an easy how to guide to setup client systems to connect to the server and how to make users on the server...any help would be appreciated.

Systems are 25 Intel iMacs and 1 Macpro server

What do you mean by "connect to the server"? LDAP Directory stuff? Simply mounting an AFP volume?

This could mean many things, could you be more specific?

[stevesnj]

I want users to log into the Macpro server and only be able to log into their Mac only when the server allows them to and only allow the clients to save onto the server not their loacal iMac.. Its a set up for students in a graphic arts class. I am unfamiliar with the LDAP Directory stuff and mounting an AFP volume. I know Mac well but not server at all.

[besson3c]

Originally Posted by stevesnj 

I want users to log into the Macpro server and only be able to log into their Mac only when the server allows them to and only allow the clients to save onto the server not their loacal iMac.. Its a set up for students in a graphic arts class. I am unfamiliar with the LDAP Directory stuff and mounting an AFP volume. I know Mac well but not server at all.

How are these users authenticating? Do they each have local accounts on these machines? Were you wanting to do something like NetBoot or Kerberos authentication to a template home directory? Store usernames and passwords on another machine? Where are their usernames and passwords currently stored? If you have never heard of these terms before, perhaps you should look into this so that you know what your options are. There are many paths which you could do down here, the best recommendations we give you would be dependent on your environment and your needs.

Mounting an AFP volume is simply the Finder's Connect to Server mechanism. You don't need OS X Server to do this, this is built into OS X Server and Client.

[stevesnj]

Okay, I want students to log into their mac, connect to the server and have their own folder on the server.

[besson3c]

Originally Posted by stevesnj 

Okay, I want students to log into their mac, connect to the server and have their own folder on the server.

How many students? Will they be using a different Mac each time? If so, you probably don't want to store those accounts locally, right? Is there a central authentication source in your environment?

We need to know these sorts of details about your environment.

[stevesnj]

Possibly 100 students a year, they may log onto a different iMac each day, again I don't want then to loacally save ONLY on the server. What do you mean central authentication source? again I am new to mac server, please explain these terms.

[besson3c]

Originally Posted by stevesnj 

Possibly 100 students a year, they may log onto a different iMac each day, again I don't want then to loacally save ONLY on the server. What do you mean central authentication source? again I am new to mac server, please explain these terms.

These are not really Mac server specific concepts, these are also concepts that apply to Windows and Unix system administration too.

It sounds like what would be best is to setup an LDAP Directory on your Mac OS X Server machine to store information about each of these users. The once piece of information that will require careful consideration is passwords though. This is why I was asking about your central authentication source.

If there is a Kerberos or Active Directory server for your environment that is responsible for authenticating users, you'll definitely want to hook into that so that you don't have to maintain passwords for all of your users, and in doing so essentially reinvent the wheel and take on the burden of keeping these passwords in a secure environment and ensuring that the transactions are likewise secure. How do the computers in the other labs authenticate?

Once you have created these users, each of them will have a home directory on your OS X Server. There are several techniques you can use for mounting these home directories from OS X Client - be it manual or automatic.

What I strongly suggest is *not* to simply learn what you need to click on to make things work, but to actually understand the concepts of these different authentication models and at least the basics of how an LDAP directory works. Maybe somebody here can recommend a book for you.

Like I said, a lot of this is just basic System Administration knowledge. Under Windows or Unix, the solutions to these problems are very similar. Under Windows, instead of an LDAP directory of account info it would be an Active Directory, and even then this Active Directory would probably be doing Kerberos authentication just like you ought to look into doing under OS X. Active Directory itself is Microsoft's implementation of LDAP, but it is essentially an LDAP server - all of the usual queries generally work just fine and the server behaves as expected, more or less.

Therefore, I wouldn't put up mental road blocks and think "I have to learn these Mac things". If you get a handle on system administration and these underlying concepts, these knowledge will be transferable to other platforms too. Knowing what to click in the GUI to complete your desired configuration will become rather trivial if you put in the time to learn what you need to learn.

[stevesnj]

Thanks I appreciate the help, but I am still looking for a guide for new users of OS X server, either a web site or book...anyone have any suggestions?

[besson3c]

Originally Posted by stevesnj 

Thanks I appreciate the help, but I am still looking for a guide for new users of OS X server, either a web site or book...anyone have any suggestions?

Sorry, I don't have any recommendations, but like I said, the recommendations that people come up with may very well depend upon your environment.

Are there other labs? How do their users authenticate? Is there some server which authenticates users for these other labs? How does this take place?

Without understanding this, you might be wasting your time focusing on something that is not applicable to you.

Also, you might want to think a little about some policy related and resource allocation issues too, such as whether you want to establish quotas on home directories, whether you want to save the contents of files students save within their session or start with a clean slate each time a student logs in, what kind of backup system you need (e.g. whether you will handle personal file backups for the students), what sorts of internal backup you have if this is a mission critical enviornment, whether it would be appropriate to provide access to certain folders to certain groups of students (e.g. a class section) and what these groups are, etc. A lot of the answers to these questions will probably depend your budget, your time, and your needs.

[Art Vandelay]

Lots of info here for beginners and advanced admins.

Apple - Mac OS X Server

[stevesnj]

Originally Posted by besson3c 

Sorry, I don't have any recommendations, but like I said, the recommendations that people come up with may very well depend upon your environment.

Are there other labs? How do their users authenticate? Is there some server which authenticates users for these other labs? How does this take place?

Without understanding this, you might be wasting your time focusing on something that is not applicable to you.

Also, you might want to think a little about some policy related and resource allocation issues too, such as whether you want to establish quotas on home directories, whether you want to save the contents of files students save within their session or start with a clean slate each time a student logs in, what kind of backup system you need (e.g. whether you will handle personal file backups for the students), what sorts of internal backup you have if this is a mission critical enviornment, whether it would be appropriate to provide access to certain folders to certain groups of students (e.g. a class section) and what these groups are, etc. A lot of the answers to these questions will probably depend your budget, your time, and your needs.

Thanks again but I know what I want to do as I explained in earlier posts I just need to know how to use OS X server.

[besson3c]

Originally Posted by stevesnj 

Thanks again but I know what I want to do as I explained in earlier posts I just need to know how to use OS X server.

Well, we can't help you if you don't tell us more about your environment, regardless of how aware you are of it.

[stevesnj]

Originally Posted by besson3c 

Well, we can't help you if you don't tell us more about your environment, regardless of how aware you are of it.

Well I don't know what else to tell you, I am trying to relay everything I do know about my environment, it appears you know more than me, if I knew more about how to set up server for my environment I wouldn't be here asking on a 'guide' on 'basic' OS X server setup. You expect me to know things YOU know. Its obvious you have a reading difficulty, I explained my environment in all the above posts.

[Gee4orce]

The OS X server documentation has some very detail instructions on how to set up a variety of common network configurations. What you're trying to do is definitely covered in the documentation (also available online from the link posted above).

Did you read the docs ?

[stevesnj]

Originally Posted by Gee4orce 

The OS X server documentation has some very detail instructions on how to set up a variety of common network configurations. What you're trying to do is definitely covered in the documentation (also available online from the link posted above).

Did you read the docs ?

I skipped by that link for some reason...thanks Gee4orce and Art

[besson3c]

Originally Posted by stevesnj 

Well I don't know what else to tell you, I am trying to relay everything I do know about my environment, it appears you know more than me, if I knew more about how to set up server for my environment I wouldn't be here asking on a 'guide' on 'basic' OS X server setup. You expect me to know things YOU know. Its obvious you have a reading difficulty, I explained my environment in all the above posts.

I'm done with you. I've asked you several questions about how authentication occurs in your environment which you have completely blown off and have *not* addressed, and now this.

Piss off. Find somebody else who is foolish enough to help you.