

- OS X SERVER SETUP FOR MAC OS X
- OS X SERVER SETUP FOR MAC OS
- OS X SERVER SETUP MAC OS X
- OS X SERVER SETUP WINDOWS
OS X SERVER SETUP MAC OS X
Mac OS X Server supports four Open Directory roles: stand-alone, Open Directory Master, Open Directory Replica and Connected to a Directory System.
OS X SERVER SETUP FOR MAC OS
You can also use the Contacts tab to set up LDAP search paths of domains for Mac OS X’s Address Book application. You can choose to use an automatic search that includes DHCP-supplied domains and the local domain local-only, in which only the local domain is used and custom, which allows you to manually configure and set the search path of available domains. Search paths are set by using the Authentication tab in Directory Access. For instance, the LDAP v3 plug-in manages Open Directory domain configuration and binding. Directory Access includes plug-in modules that can be configured for each of Open Directory’s features.

Search paths are powerful tools, but it is important to recognize that if you have users with the same name in two domains in a search path, only the account in the first domain of the search path will actually be found.įor static binding, you configure access to directory domains using the Directory Access utility, which is located in the Utilities folder inside Mac OS X’s Applications folder. For example, you could rely on user accounts stored in Active Directory but manage computers using accounts stored in Open Directory, which enables you take advantage of Apple’s client management architecture. They also allow you to build support for multiple directory service platforms that can mix and match advantages of each system. They allow you to have separate containers for different groups of users and/or computers. Search paths can be useful in a number of ways. However, you can place any other domains in any order that you choose. As mentioned above, the local NetInfo domain will always be first in the search path on Mac OS X.
OS X SERVER SETUP WINDOWS
This is different from a Windows environment, in which a list of available domains is part of the log-in dialog. This requires that a search path be established that defines the order in which available domains will be searched for account information. Mac OS X computers can be bound to multiple directory domains (both Open Directory and domains of other platforms such as Active Directory). Local accounts are not part of a shared domain, however, so they can’t be used for log-in at Mac OS X computers. User and group accounts stored in a server’s local domain can access resources on the server, including share points, print queues and Internet services.

It is also important to know that the local domain is visible in Mac OS X Server’s Workgroup Manager this is the tool used for managing user, group and computer accounts. However, it is important to understand that the local domain is always the first source in which a Mac OS X computer will look for user information. There is little administration that needs to be done with the local NetInfo domain on Mac OS X computers. As Mac OS X Server evolved, Apple replaced NetInfo with a service based on the Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP) that is often referred to as simply Open Directory. NetInfo is a proprietary directory service originally developed by NeXT Computer that originally served as Mac OS X’s native directory service.
OS X SERVER SETUP FOR MAC OS X
The local domain for Mac OS X is a NetInfo domain.

This domain stores all information about local users as well as information about the machine itself. When discussing Open Directory, however, the phrase typically refers to its function as Mac OS X’s native directory service.Įach Mac OS X computer, including Mac OS X Server, has a local Open Directory domain. It also has components that manage Mac OS X’s access to self-discovering network protocols including Apple’s Bonjour, Microsoft’s Server Message Block/Common Internet File System and the open standard Service Location Protocol. Open Directory is a multipart architecture that performs the basic functions of any directory service in addition to providing mechanisms for accessing non-native directory services platforms such as Microsoft’s Active Directory and Unix Network Information Service servers. Shared domains also allow systems administrators to define custom user environments. The shared domain can also allow users to access resources on other servers that are bound to the domain. Mac OS X Server relies on shared Open Directory domains to provide network user accounts that can be used to log into computers that are bound to a shared domain. This local domain allows each user to have a computing experience and home directory, and the local domain works with the file system to manage permissions on files and folders. Every Mac OS X computer includes a local Open Directory database-referred to as a domain-that stores information about local user accounts.
