Thats OK, what I learned is to not be so scared about the idea of avoiding trying to manage the macs with a cycle of reimaging like we once did with Windows computers or to deploy images with carbon copy tools. Whilst it can be made to work, in the long term there is an easier way.<br>
<br>Carefully built and correctly configured, the operating system OSX is robust enough with volatile guest users (roaming type profiles) to be remotely managed with the odd bulk package installation, upgrade etc. The tools are used with Apple enterprise deployments in the tertiary sector, free to download, easy to learn and can be readily adapted for use in a high school. If you are not familar with the Apple Mac as I was, get around to seeing what can be done by visiting some of the big Apple schools or get in touch with somebody who can demo and set you up to mange this yourself over a weekend (beats trying to teach it yourself)<br>
<br>I learned heaps and ended up giving a talk about this at the ICTEV conference, happy to do it again. :-)<br><br>Regards Roland<br><br><div class="gmail_quote">2009/7/7 S Sukohondono <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:sukohond@siena.vic.edu.au">sukohond@siena.vic.edu.au</a>></span><br>
<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="border-left: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); margin: 0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex; padding-left: 1ex;">
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<p><font color="navy" face="Arial" size="2"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial; color: navy;">Hi Roland,</span></font></p>
<p><font color="navy" face="Arial" size="2"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial; color: navy;"> </span></font></p>
<p><font color="navy" face="Arial" size="2"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial; color: navy;">Thank you so much for the valuable info.</span></font></p>
<p><font color="navy" face="Arial" size="2"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial; color: navy;"> </span></font></p>
<p><font color="navy" face="Arial" size="2"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial; color: navy;">You have given us much to chew on.</span></font></p>
<p><font color="navy" face="Arial" size="2"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial; color: navy;"> </span></font></p>
<p><font color="navy" face="Arial" size="2"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial; color: navy;">Regards,</span></font></p>
<p><font color="navy" face="Arial" size="2"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial; color: navy;">Suko</span></font></p>
<p><font color="navy" face="Arial" size="2"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial; color: navy;"> </span></font></p>
<div>
<div style="text-align: center;" align="center"><font face="Times New Roman" size="3"><span style="font-size: 12pt;" lang="EN-US">
<hr align="center" size="2" width="100%">
</span></font></div>
<p><b><font face="Tahoma" size="2"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Tahoma; font-weight: bold;" lang="EN-US">From:</span></font></b><font face="Tahoma" size="2"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Tahoma;" lang="EN-US">
<a href="mailto:tech-bounces@edulists.com.au" target="_blank">tech-bounces@edulists.com.au</a> [mailto:<a href="mailto:tech-bounces@edulists.com.au" target="_blank">tech-bounces@edulists.com.au</a>] <b><span style="font-weight: bold;">On Behalf Of </span></b>Roland Gesthuizen<br>
<b><span style="font-weight: bold;">Sent:</span></b> Sunday, 5 July 2009 4:15 PM<div class="im"><br>
<b><span style="font-weight: bold;">To:</span></b> Technical Discussion in
Schools Mailing List<br>
</div><b><span style="font-weight: bold;">Subject:</span></b> Re: [Technical] Mac
auto-updating</span></font><span lang="EN-US"></span></p>
</div><div><div></div><div class="h5">
<p><font face="Times New Roman" size="3"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> </span></font></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 12pt;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="3"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">G'day all,<br>
<br>
we don't need to regularly reimage the OSX side of the Macs by using a custom
bash script that installs, configures any new Mac on the network. Updates and
patches are dead easy to deploy using Apple Remote Desktop (ARD) that has a lot
in common with Novell Zenworks that we use on the Windows side of the network.
There is another cool freeware tool called DeployStudio that lets us remotely
configure and manage multi-boot setups for both sides and a tool called rEFIt
that manages the bootup and more .. <br>
<br>
Am running a workshop at Westall SC this term if anybody is interested in
learning how this is done or watching to get their head around the tools.
Contact me offlist. I can also put you in touch with somebody who can advise,
config and help set this up for your school. Even if you only have a room of
iMacs, this is better than wasting time walking about reimaging, reimaging,
reimaging .. until the cows come back home for milking.<br>
<br>
Regards Roland</span></font></p>
<div>
<p><font face="Times New Roman" size="3"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">2009/7/3 S Sukohondono <<a href="mailto:sukohond@siena.vic.edu.au" target="_blank">sukohond@siena.vic.edu.au</a>></span></font></p>
<div link="blue" vlink="purple">
<div>
<p><font color="navy" face="Arial" size="2"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial; color: navy;">Hi Jason & everyone else,</span></font></p>
<p><font color="navy" face="Arial" size="2"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial; color: navy;"> </span></font></p>
<p><font color="navy" face="Arial" size="2"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial; color: navy;">We just purchased 25 iMacs for our VisComm class using Mr
Rudd’s money.</span></font></p>
<p><font color="navy" face="Arial" size="2"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial; color: navy;"> </span></font></p>
<p><font color="navy" face="Arial" size="2"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial; color: navy;">With no experience in administering Macs, I was wondering
what software do you use in re-imaging the Macs.</span></font></p>
<p><font color="navy" face="Arial" size="2"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial; color: navy;"> </span></font></p>
<p><font color="navy" face="Arial" size="2"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial; color: navy;">Any info would be greatly appreciated.</span></font></p>
<p><font color="navy" face="Arial" size="2"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial; color: navy;"> </span></font></p>
<p><font color="navy" face="Arial" size="2"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial; color: navy;">Cheers,</span></font></p>
<p><font color="navy" face="Arial" size="2"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial; color: navy;">Suko</span></font></p>
<p><font color="navy" face="Arial" size="2"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial; color: navy;">Siena</span></font><font color="navy" face="Arial" size="2"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial; color: navy;"> College</span></font></p>
<p><font color="navy" face="Arial" size="2"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial; color: navy;"> </span></font></p>
<div>
<div style="text-align: center;" align="center"><font face="Times New Roman" size="3"><span style="font-size: 12pt;" lang="EN-US">
<hr align="center" size="2" width="100%">
</span></font></div>
<p><b><font face="Tahoma" size="2"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Tahoma; font-weight: bold;" lang="EN-US">From:</span></font></b><font face="Tahoma" size="2"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Tahoma;" lang="EN-US"> <a href="mailto:tech-bounces@edulists.com.au" target="_blank">tech-bounces@edulists.com.au</a>
[mailto:<a href="mailto:tech-bounces@edulists.com.au" target="_blank">tech-bounces@edulists.com.au</a>]
<b><span style="font-weight: bold;">On Behalf Of </span></b>Jason Clarke<br>
<b><span style="font-weight: bold;">Sent:</span></b> Friday, 3 July 2009 9:55 AM<br>
<b><span style="font-weight: bold;">To:</span></b> Technical Discussion in
Schools Mailing List<br>
<b><span style="font-weight: bold;">Subject:</span></b> RE: [Technical] Mac
auto-updating</span></font></p>
</div>
<div>
<div>
<p><font face="Calibri" size="2"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri;"> </span></font></p>
<p><font color="#1f497d" face="Calibri" size="2"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri; color: rgb(31, 73, 125);">Hi Paul,</span></font></p>
<p><font color="#1f497d" face="Calibri" size="2"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri; color: rgb(31, 73, 125);"> </span></font></p>
<p><font color="#1f497d" face="Calibri" size="2"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri; color: rgb(31, 73, 125);">We re-image the machines each holiday period
and its at that point we roll out the patches then. We do this because of the
issue you’ve outlined before, we’ve bricked a few installs and had to re-image
again anyway.</span></font></p>
<p><font color="#1f497d" face="Calibri" size="2"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri; color: rgb(31, 73, 125);"> </span></font></p>
<p><font color="#1f497d" face="Calibri" size="2"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri; color: rgb(31, 73, 125);">Cheers,</span></font></p>
<p><font color="#1f497d" face="Calibri" size="2"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri; color: rgb(31, 73, 125);"> </span></font></p>
<p><font color="#1f497d" face="Calibri" size="2"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri; color: rgb(31, 73, 125);">Jason</span></font></p>
<p><font color="#1f497d" face="Calibri" size="2"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri; color: rgb(31, 73, 125);"> </span></font></p>
<div>
<div style="border-style: solid none none; border-color: -moz-use-text-color; border-width: 1pt medium medium; padding: 3pt 0cm 0cm;">
<p><b><font face="Tahoma" size="2"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Tahoma; font-weight: bold;" lang="EN-US">From:</span></font></b><font face="Tahoma" size="2"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Tahoma;" lang="EN-US"> <a href="mailto:tech-bounces@edulists.com.au" target="_blank">tech-bounces@edulists.com.au</a>
[mailto:<a href="mailto:tech-bounces@edulists.com.au" target="_blank">tech-bounces@edulists.com.au</a>]
<b><span style="font-weight: bold;">On Behalf Of </span></b>Paul Williamson<br>
<b><span style="font-weight: bold;">Sent:</span></b> Thursday, 2 July 2009 6:19
PM<br>
<b><span style="font-weight: bold;">To:</span></b> <a href="mailto:tech@edulists.com.au" target="_blank">tech@edulists.com.au</a><br>
<b><span style="font-weight: bold;">Subject:</span></b> [Technical] Mac
auto-updating</span></font></p>
</div>
</div>
<p><font face="Calibri" size="2"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri;"> </span></font></p>
<p><font face="Calibri" size="2"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri;" lang="EN-US">Hi,</span></font></p>
<p><font face="Calibri" size="2"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri;" lang="EN-US"> </span></font></p>
<p><font face="Calibri" size="2"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri;" lang="EN-US">Just wondering if anyone knows how to get Mac’s to
automatically run their software updates, or if it is even possible?</span></font></p>
<p><font face="Calibri" size="2"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri;" lang="EN-US"> </span></font></p>
<p><font face="Calibri" size="2"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri;" lang="EN-US">Currently we need to login as an administrator user and
then we can open software update and install updates.</span></font></p>
<p><font face="Calibri" size="2"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri;" lang="EN-US"> </span></font></p>
<p><font face="Calibri" size="2"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri;" lang="EN-US">We have an xserve which runs an Update Server, and using
Workgroup Manager I have configured our machines to get updates from our
xserve, which does work.</span></font></p>
<p><font face="Calibri" size="2"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri;" lang="EN-US"> </span></font></p>
<p><font face="Calibri" size="2"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri;" lang="EN-US">Are there any settings on the xserve perhaps that will
help push out the updates?</span></font></p>
<p><font face="Calibri" size="2"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri;" lang="EN-US"> </span></font></p>
<p><font face="Calibri" size="2"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri;" lang="EN-US">We have Remote Desktop so can remotely push install
packages etc. or run sh scripts… There was a command I tried to remotely run to
get softwareupdate to run and force install everything, but this caused an imac
to completely die and had to be reloaded, so I think I’ll avoid that one in
future :-). </span></font></p>
<p><font face="Calibri" size="2"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri;" lang="EN-US"> </span></font></p>
<p><font face="Calibri" size="2"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri;" lang="EN-US">Best regards,</span></font></p>
<p><font face="Calibri" size="2"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri;" lang="EN-US"> </span></font></p>
<p><font face="Calibri" size="2"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri;" lang="EN-US">Paul Williamson</span></font></p>
<p><font face="Calibri" size="2"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri;" lang="EN-US">ICT Manager</span></font></p>
<p><font face="Calibri" size="2"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri;" lang="EN-US">Huntingtower</span></font><span lang="EN-US"> School</span></p>
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