Imagr may be the new kid on the Mac imaging block, but for those of us using the Casper Suite it can offer an alternative imaging method with little extra effort.
The post expands upon the above, explaining the niche use cases for Imagr for those of us using the Casper Suite
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For a number of years we have used Portfolio as an archive server for old projects to be archived from our various data servers.
This would free up space on those servers, & with the added benefits of using the built-in meta-tagging ability to view cataloged files via a web browser.
With the release of the most recent version, we moved from a Windows 2008r2 VM which was starting to creak under the 20+TB of data we had archived to a Mac Pro 64GB RAM, 1TB SSD & 2x24TB LaCie 8big Rack Thunderbolt 2.
However, a few months in & not all data had been cataloged & the Mac Pro was pretty much idling. So I had a hunt through Portfolio’s various files with Extensis support on the phone & came up with the below locations in which the memory allocation can be amended from the defaults to improve performance by utilising more resources.
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As posted by Tim Sutton, the installation of “Security Update 2015-002” on a 10.8.5 or 10.9.5 Mac will leave the /mach_kernel file visible. That’s fine, until someone deletes the file & then can’t boot their Mac.
As ever, Rich Trouton has blogged a method to hide the file via Casper.
However, Rich does love an EA & I’m not so inclined therefore the following is an EA free method to achieve the same end.
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On January 29th, Microsoft released Outlook for iOS and Android.
This release has caused somewhat of a stir due to some reported security issues with the app which existed before it’s rebranding from “Accompli”
I’ll be honest, I found a number of the posts on this app to be somewhat alarmist, but a post with the somewhat alarmist title: Warning – Microsofts Outlook app for iOS breaks your company security raised a point that caused me some concern.
This point was: “Shared Exchange ActiveSync ID and device type”
This post will explain why the concern, my findings & how to block “Outlook for iOS and Android” via Exchanges Allow/Block/Quarantine List.
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For a number of years I have used the same Imaging workflow, during which time I thought the process was fairly common (with FSTAB being an exception).
However, after speaking to a few fellow Casper Admins it has become clear that my workflow isn’t as common as I thought. So the post below outlines what we do.
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The “Automatic Proxy Configuration” url in System Preferences is used to point the clients to a PAC file to set the proxy server when on the Office LAN. Below are some scripts to manage this setting.
Continue readingNOTE: Due to macOS Monterey's prompts when Python 2 in invoked, please review the blog post here to get the logged in user instead.
When running scripts via Jamf Pro, Munki or a launch daemon, you sometimes have a challenge to get the username of the currently logged in user.
Below has a method to achieve this, with a link to an Apple approved method.
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As mentioned previously, we deploy a custom Safari Toolbar with links to various sites to our Macs.
With the release of Safari 6.2 & 7.1 Apple has changed the method to install extensions, once a Mac has been updated to Safari 6.2 or 7.1 the user is prompted to “migrate” their extensions.This change breaks the previously posted method to install extensions, as the installed extensions list is now in the users Keychain (!?).
Below is how to install extensions via Self Service, which in testing works for all Safari versions & allows the user to reinstall if they recreate their login.keychain.
Continue readingAlmost 2 years ago, I posted how to deploy a custom Safari Toolbar. But until now I have not posted on how to make the Toolbar (READ: Extension Bar) until now.
The reason for the delay was due to me not really being literate with the technology used to create an Extension Bar, 2 years on & i’m still not!
We use the Extension Bar to deploy links to company websites & resources. As it seems most web based products we have only support Safari on a Mac, we’ve found this is a good way to drive people to use Safari to access these sites, even if they use other browsers for general browsing.
I hope the below helps you to create your own.
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A couple of years ago I posted on how we “Submitted User Information From AD Into The JSS At Login” Since the Casper Suite 8.61 was release, the JSS has been able to perform this function. Below is a guide on how to leverage this.
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