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Deploying Xerox print drivers on a per-OS basis via Casper’s Self Service
In my shop, we use a Xerox color copier/printer along with a number of Canon ImageRunner printers. Like the Canons, I have the Xerox printer available in Casper’s Self Service so that our users can set...
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Power Nap, power management settings and FileVault 2
I recently purchased a new MacBook Pro Retina for my own use and encrypted it with FileVault 2. As part of setting it up, I ran the following command to ensure that the laptop hibernated (where the...
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Managing the Authorization Database in OS X Mavericks
Prior to OS X Mavericks, the /etc/authorization XML file controlled the rights for many different actions, such as adding a printer, setting up Time Machine or setting DVD region codes. Modifying this...
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Deploying Sophos Anti-Virus for Mac OS X 9.x
For the past few major releases, Sophos used a standard installer package to install both their free and paid antivirus solution. With the release of Sophos Anti-Virus 9.x though, Sophos changed how...
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Payload-Free Package Creator.app
I do a lot of work with payload-free packages and I’ve looked for a while for a tool that would let me easily create them from existing scripts. While I have a process for creating them as needed with...
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FileVault 2 session at MacIT 2014
I’ll be speaking about FileVault 2 at MacIT 2014, which is being held from March 26th – 29th, 2014 in San Francisco. For those interested, my talk will be on Wednesday, March 26th. For a description of...
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Setting Parameter Labels in Casper
I recently learned about how to use Parameter Labels as part of a JAMF training class. I had read about them in the Casper Administrator’s Guide but managed to fundamentally misunderstand what they did...
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Disabling FileVault 2 with fdesetup on Mountain Lion and Mavericks
Recently, I was asked how to disable FileVault 2 without needing to go into System Preferences. The general idea was that an organization may want to provide their users without admin rights a way to...
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Removing all recovery keys from a FileVault 2-encrypted Mavericks Mac
One of the functions added to the fdesetup tool on 10.9 is removerecovery. This function removes the current recovery key(s) from a FileVault 2-encrypted Mac and can be used to remove with the personal...
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Slides from the FileVault 2 Session at MacIT 2014
For those who wanted a copy of my FileVault 2 talk at MacIT 2014, here are links to the slides in PDF and Keynote format. PDF: http://tinyurl.com/macit14fv2PDF Keynote slides:...
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Using /etc/auto_home on Mavericks to mount shares under /home
One of my users at work asked me recently about symlinking his network home folder to /home on his Mac running 10.9.2 and wanted to check to see if it was safe to do so. In this case, the person in...
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Creating an Office 2011 SP 4 14.4.1 installer
One of the issues I worked on this week was building a new Office 2011 installer after Microsoft released the Office 2011 14.4.1 update. I have an existing process to build a combined Office 2011...
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Repackaging the Microsoft Lync 14.0.8 installer
Microsoft has released Microsoft Lync 14.0.8, which included compatibility with Mavericks. Since we have several folks using both Lync and Mavericks, I wanted to get this into our Casper server’s Self...
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First Boot Package Install Revisited
As covered previously, Greg Neagle’s createOSXinstallPkg is a useful tool for installing or upgrading Mac OS X in a variety of situations. One of the nicer features is that you can edit the OS X...
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CasperCheck – an auto-repair process for Casper agents
One of the issues that I occasionally run into in my shop is that sometimes the Casper agent on individual Macs stops working properly. They stop checking in with the Casper server, or check in but...
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Unlocking or decrypting a FileVault 2-encrypted Fusion Drive from the command...
Unlocking or decrypting a FileVault 2-encrypted Fusion drive from the command line can be a little different from how you would handle a non-Fusion drive. This is because Apple has created Fusion...
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Simple Package Creator.app
One task that has always seemed to me to take more time than it should is the process of packaging applications like Firefox, Google Chrome or other applications which are self-contained and can be...
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Building Simple Packages With Packages
One of the responses I got to my post on Simple Package Creator.app was this one from my colleague Per Olofsson. I’ve used Packages for a while now, but I had no idea it could do this. Not only does it...
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Converting video files to play on both Macs and PCs with Handbrake
Telestream’s recent conversion of Flip4Mac from a free app to a paid one has left many Mac admins without a free vendor-supported solution to display Windows Media files in. One particular niche that...
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Users folder being hidden with iTunes 11.2 installed and Find My Mac enabled
One side effect of the iTunes 11.2 update on Thursday, May 15th 2014 has been that some but not all Macs were seeing the /Users and /Users/Shared folders disappear. The permissions on the /Users folder...
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