Setting up a BaseSystem

1 Initial Account

Set up administration Account need IPaddress temporary address or permanent address and port to the internet

• Select English as Language
• Select Canada as country
• Select no if first time set up
• Select US as Keyboard layout
• Select Don't create an Apple ID for me
• Fill in the information as required
• Fill in 2nd page of questions
• Long (full) Name "CSCF Administration"
• Short name/userid/account name "admin"
• Password as specified
• Select a picture - from the library
• Select I'll use my existing Internet service
• Select Local network
• Preferred alternative is to use DHCP if the sub-net is covered; this provides address, hostname, router/gateway, search domain, and DNS;
• In any case, for Leopard, in Network settings:
  • for both Ethernet and Airport
  • under TCP/IP - Advanced
  • change IPV6 from Automatic to "Off"
• otherwise do TCP/IP Setup Manually
• enter Ip address as given 129.97.xx.xx subnet mask 255.255.255.0 router Address same as Ip except last digit area is 1
• DNS host names: see https://www.cs.uwaterloo.ca/cscf/software/dns/
• Domain name "uwaterloo.ca"
• Select I will setup up a .Mac membership later
• If admin account skip the mail page
• Select an area just above Lake Ontario for time zone

Manually configuring the network settings

If you didn't have the IP address available when first configuring the Mac, you can set it by doing the following:

• Apple -> System Preferences
• Click on Network
• Show: "Ethernet" (the top one should be the built in wired ethernet, for a connected machine)
• On the right:
  • Configure IPv4: Manually
  • IP address:
  • Subnet mask:
  • Router:
  • DNS server: as above
  • Search domains: cs.uwaterloo.ca,uwaterloo.ca
  • Click "Apply"

Change hostname

• sudo scutil --set HostName scsmacNNN

2 Additional base system software

On the install media supplied with the system are optional installs.

It is done automatically on Leopard, but on Tiger (OSX 10.4), manually install the X11 package.

If required, install the developer tools.

3 System Preference Settings

• Security
  • Disable automatic login
  • Use Secure Virtual Memory
  • Strongly consider setting - Require Password to wake ... from sleep or screen saver
• Bluetooth - turn it completely off if not required
• Energy Saver - lots of choices between performance/responsiveness and energy saving
  • Note - if you use sleep, especially on a portable, then see MacDisableSafeSleep
• Sharing - pick a suitable computer name; choose sharing options as required, with appropriate security restrictions

4 Update system software

Download software updates. This may be more than a one step process as some updates (Security) depend on the level of the operating software. This updating should be done multiple times until no more updates are needed.

5 Load and Install UW licensed and Public domain software

5a - unknown developer warning

• Hold down the CTRL key and press Open to bypass the Unknow developer warning!

• See also UW Software Depot: http://ist.uwaterloo.ca/download/
• You must have admin rights to continue with the following steps
• Firefox Web Browser
• Thunderbird Email
  • Alternate Email Client
  • Update default permissions so that Auto Updates work for : Firefox and Thunderbird
    • Open a terminal Window: Finder -> terminal
    • sudo -s
    • cd /Applications
    • chown -R userid Firefox.app/
    • chmod -R g+w Firefox.app/
    • chown -R userid Thunderbird.app/
    • chmod g+w Thunderbird.app/
    • The result - both the user and admin can now use the FF / TB update process
• Java search java for os x 10.8 +site:http://support.apple.com/
• FileZilla graphical file transfer utility
• Fugu - Mac OS X SFTP,SCP,SSH Frontend
• MacTex Tex/LaTex Distribution
• Adobe Reader
• Video Lan Media Player
• Windows Media Player for Mac
• Cord - Remote Desktp Application - works better then Microsoft Remote Desktop
  • Remote Desktop from Apple App Store
    • For older Mac's Remote Desktop Client - access Remote Desktop on Windows Machines
• LibreOffice - Mostly Microsoft Compatible Office Application - free software
• AntiVirus Software

UW Licensed software

* May require payments*
update 2 July 2013 Mike Gore

• Microsoft Office 2011
• MatLab
• Maple
• Legato Backup - if you wish your system remotely backed up
  • See also Using Legato Network on a Mac
• Adobe Software
• Mac OS X

Purchased Software

update 2 July 2013 Mike Gore

• Carbon Copy Cloner

Obsolete - older software

• *Obsolete with Lion; product is no longer free
  • Lingon - http://lingon.sourceforge.net/ * On Leopard use this to turn off the normally unneeded mail server; disable the System Daemon "org.postfix.master.plist". Otherwise, you are displaying an Open Relay Mail Server - allowing spammers access.

• Stuffit Standard (Used to decode encoded packages) * Leopard+ appears to be able to handle zip and compressed files natively
• Applejack is a recommended system repair utility for tech support staff ** 2011/11/08 - only 10.6 support at this time **Do NOT install on Lion
• Onyx (a free system maintenance utility - ensure version matches the OS version - there is a Lion version)
• GraphicConverter (a shareware utility that will convert graphic images)
• TextWrangler if an optional, more featured plain text Editor is required
• optional - it is a bit flakey and complicated Macfusion and Macfuse for sshfs access to servers
• pdf viewer plugin for Firefox
• Fink and Mac Ghostview, if required

The following programs should be installed, if required, Note the administrator password is needed for software installs in this colour

• Other Licensed Software can be obtained from the Chip desk to complete the customization of your system.

For a standard machine for CS Admin staff:

• • Apple iWork

• • FileMaker Pro
  • Macromedia Dreamweaver, if required (due to be superseded "corporately" in 2011?)

Printers

• Xerox Drivers ( drivers for the Xerox copier/printers)
  • Xerox 4150 Workcentre http://www.support.xerox.com/go/results.asp?Xtype=download&prodID=WC4150&Xlang=en_US&Xcntry=USA
  • Xerox 123/128 Workcentre Pro http://www.support.xerox.com/go/results.asp?Xtype=download&prodID=WCP123_WCP128&Xlang=en_US&Xcntry=USA
  • Xerox Colour printer/MFP http://www.support.xerox.com/support/phaser-8560/downloads/enus.html?operatingSystem=macosx&fileLanguage=en
  • Dymo Label or PTouch drivers and software, if required

6 Set up Local Account

• Open System Preferences under the apple icon
• double click Accounts
• In bottom left corner click on the "+" icon
• In "Name" box Type the full account name
• Im "Short Name" box type the university user name for that person (this is that short name that is used by the system and it is extremely helpful that it coincide with the University ID)
• The passwords that are used should be consistent with other Unix University passwords complexity.
• Locking the screen with a password Go to System Preferences/Security Open icon Check the appropriate box (Admin access is needed)
• On Leopard, new users may not be automatically added to the correct/sufficient groups, (I suspect because of a "pure" user migration with Migration Assistant); eg, if they are not in _lpadmin, they are prevented from pausing/restarting printers, and possibly deleting print jobs. The syntax for adding a user to a local group, eg _lpadmin is:
  • dseditgroup -o edit -n /Local/Default -u admin -p -a student -t user lpadmin
  • "admin" is the local adminuser on the machine
  • "student" is the local user shortname

• Once the user is logged in, set up "automatic mounting" of their "core" home directory:
  • Finder - Go - Connect to server
  • smb://smb-files.cs.uwaterloo.ca/userid
  • enter userid and password, Tick the box to save the password to the encrypted Keychain - enter
  • once the directory is mounted - System Preferences, Accounts, their user account
  • Login Items
  • click "+"; in the left column, click "smb-files.cs...", the click their userid from the list of shares
  • click the "add" button - to verify, log out, and get them to log back in

• for Laptops, we do not install / use Networker, since they are often "offline"
  • the primary contingency backup is Time Machine to a local external drive
  • for disaster backup, their critical home directories can be automated to back up to their "core" home directory
    • As local admin: defaults write com.apple.systempreferences TMShowUnsupportedNetworkVolumes 1
    • now, as the user, set up Carbon Copy Cloner (see ST#67344) to do a daily backup of Desktop and Documents, excluding any extraneous sub-directories, such as Documents/Microsoft User Data
    • verify by having them look at their core-home - directory Users/"userid"/"name of backup task"/

-- ArthurHills - 23 Mar 2005

-- -- IanTurner - 31 Oct 2005 - Oct 2009