[mikebat]

Hi there,

I manage a lab of eMacs which came preinstalled with Mac OS 10.3.0.

When I booted them out-of-the-box, they displayed the two network users that are set up on our Jaguar server ("Student" and "Teacher")

However after upgrading the OS to 10.3.2, the login window shows only "Other" and not the two "network users" like it did before.

I can still log in as a network user by clicking "Other" and typing "teacher" or "student", so the computer seems to be connecting to the server correctly... but it would be preferable to have the two buttons instead.

The com.apple.loginwindow.plist file in /Library/Preferences still contains the "NetworkUsers" array, which contains the two network users... they just don't show up in the login window!

I have checked that Directory Access is binding to the correct NetInfo server, and that the Accounts system preference is set to "List of users". I've also cleared the Workgroup Manager cache and clicked "Refresh Preferences" in the login window after logging in as an admin.

--edit: I've just tried deleting "com.apple.MCX.plist", "com.apple.loginwindow.plist" and the "mcx_cache" NetInfo entry, without success.

Does anyone know what could have changed in the loginwindow application between 10.3.0 and 10.3.2 which would make my 2 network users disappear from the user list... or what else I could try?

Thanks,
Mike

[flimsyq]

Under 10.3 server workgroup manager you capture the workstaions via their MAC address. Then by altering the 'computer' managed preferences under 'login'(i think) you can force the login window preference to your desire.

What server are you using?

[mikebat]

Originally posted by flimsyq:
Under 10.3 server workgroup manager you capture the workstaions via their MAC address. Then by altering the 'computer' managed preferences under 'login'(i think) you can force the login window preference to your desire.

What server are you using?

Hi flimsyq,

We are using 10.2.8 server with 10.3.3 clients.

10.3.0 clients display the loginwindow with pictures and names, but as soon as I update the client to 10.3.2 or 10.3.3 with either the 10.3.2 CD or Software Update, the loginwindow only displays the text fields for typing the username, rather than the user list.

I haven't changed the Computer managed prefs from their previous settings ("Display Login window as: List of users able to use these computers" with "network" and "other" users)

I am guessing that 10.3.2 (and 10.3.3) must expect different data from the server in order to display the user list.

On my client computers, the file /Library/Preferences/com.apple.loginwindow.plist
contains the following:

<key>HideAdminUsers_Managed</key>
<true/>
<key>IncludeNetworkUser_Managed</key>
<true/>
<key>NetworkUsers</key>
<array>
<dict>
<key>LongName</key>
<string>Student</string>
<key>ShortName</key>
<string>student</string>
</dict>
<dict>
<key>LongName</key>
<string>Teacher</string>
<key>ShortName</key>
<string>teacher</string>
</dict>

which works on a 10.3.0 client. The 10.3.2 or 10.3.3 clients just seem to ignore this!

On all the 10.3.x clients, the Netinfo database also contains the following, in the path
/mcx_cache/computer_lists/infocentre/mcx_settings

<key>com.apple.loginwindow</key>
<dict>
<key>Forced</key>
<array>
<dict>
<key>mcx_preference_settings</key>
<dict>
<key>HideAdminUsers</key>
<true/>
<key>HideLocalUsers</key>
<true/>
<key>IncludeNetworkUser</key>
<true/>
<key>PowerOffDisabled</key>
<false/>
<key>RetriesUntilHint</key>
<integer>0</integer>
<key>SHOWFULLNAME</key>
<false/>
<key>SHOWOTHERUSERS_MANAGED</key>
<true/>
</dict>
</dict>
</array>
</dict>

So the client's Netinfo db contains the correct (?) key,
<key>SHOWOTHERUSERS_MANAGED</key>
<true/>
which i would have thought would make the client show the user list.

Could someone with a 10.3.3 server and the same "user list" Login config show me the contents of /Library/Preferences/com.apple.loginwindow.plist on one of their managed clients, and also the "mcx_settings" property from their client computer's Netinfo database (/mcx_cache/computer_lists/ then a managed computer group)

Maybe Server 10.3.x uses different keys that 10.3.2 and 10.3.3 understand?

Thanks,
Mike

[mikebat]

Gah!

I didn't think to look in the Apple Knowledge Base:

http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=107855

Looks like I'll have to let the kiddies see the "admin" user for the moment, until they sort out the problem

Mike