Macintosh Manager 2.2.1: About Macintosh Manager Document

About Macintosh Manager 2.2.1

This document includes information about additional Mac OS client software for use with the Mac OS X Server v.10.2. The Macintosh Manager Installer installs Macintosh Manager 2.2.1 client software, a version of AppleShare Client, and Macintosh Manager 2.2.1 administration software.

Macintosh Manager is Apple's workstation management technology, providing network administrators with a centralized method of securing Mac OS workstations, controlling software access, and providing a consistent, personalized experience for users.

For more information about these software applications, refer to the "Mac OS X Server Administrator's Guide," the online Help for Macintosh Manager and Mac OS X Server Help.

Changes in Macintosh Manager 2.2.1

• Fixed a problem where Mac OS 8.x clients would save user's documents inside the ~/Library/Documents folder instead of their usual ~/Documents folder. This would prevent users from being able to access their documents from Mac OS 9 client workstations.

Changes in Macintosh Manager 2.2

• To provide compatibility with Mac OS X client applications that may share the same Mac OS X server, the location of preferences and other redirected folders in Macintosh Manager 2.2 has changed. Information was previously stored inside a Library folder on the server volume. Macintosh Manager 2.2 now stores client information inside a folder called Classic inside the current Library folder. Because it cannot be determined if existing preferences are being utilized by Mac OS X clients, no migration is available to previous versions of Macintosh Manager.
• When connected to the network and the idle lockout feature is activated, you can use server administrator passwords to log in. Note: Server administrator passwords should not be confused with Macintosh Manager administrator passwords.
• The workstation name is now displayed in the login window (as opposed to the Apple menu in previous versions), similar to what you see in a Mac OS X login window. Additionally, the optional banner message is displayed in a smaller font.
• It is now possible to use the Command-E to eject CDs and floppies from drives while login window is displayed.
• When you create new workgroups, the initial setting for where applications are found is now set to "Use local first." Using this setting can help decrease login times on workstations.
• A new option is available in the Privileges pane of the Workgroups pane of the Macintosh Manager administrator application that allows the administrator to lock the user's Library folder (and most folders within it). This prevents users from changing the Library folder or its contents. To maintain application compatibility, applications can still to write to the Library folder even if the lock mechanism is activated. The default for this option is Off.
• Energy Saver preferences are no longer supported by Macintosh Manager 2.2.
• When a user logs out, the confirmation window's default time for automatic logout has been changed from 90 seconds to 30 seconds.

Problems addressed in Macintosh Manager 2.2

• When a user enters the System Access workgroup, the Activity Log now indicates the user's name. Furthermore, each login to System Access will only generate one log entry instead of two (where one entry was for System Access and the other was for the user entering the Finder). These changes do not affect log entries generated by earlier client versions and do not affect users who enter the Finder using the Command-Shift-Esc key combination.
• A problem where the workstation would not respond for long periods of time after checking the workstation out and logging back in has been fixed.
• Blank passwords are not allowed when a user changes his or her own password.
• The progress bar is updated properly when importing users.
• A problem causing the "Enforce file level security" checkbox not to update properly when multiple records were selected has been fixed.
• Because drop boxes are not supported while a computer is checked out, a workstation will no longer attempt to create drop boxes when users log in.
• A problem where the user could move an item to the desktop even if the desktop was "locked" has been addressed. This problem was seen only on OS9 clients if the "File level security" option was turned off (this is the default setting.)

Known Issues in Macintosh Manager 2.2

The Connected Users report is limited to approximately 300 clients. This affects only the report that is generated; it does not affect the actual number of simultaneous users connected to the server.

Local Preferences on Mac OS 9 Client Workstations

A new system extension introduced in Macintosh Manager 2.1.1 called MMLocalPrefs (located on the installer disk in the Macintosh Manager Parts folder) can be installed onto your Mac OS 9 client computer to enable a feature in which preferences for a logged in user are always accessed locally instead of redirected to the remote server volume. A copy of the extension must be manually installed onto every Mac OS 9 client workstation on which you want to enable the feature. It cannot be disabled on a per-user or per-workgroup basis and does nothing if installed on a Mac OS 8 workstation.

The new ability to have local preferences for Mac OS 9 workstations works in a similar fashion to what already exists today on a Mac OS 8 client workstation using Macintosh Manager and should be used when excessive network activity generated by some applications is mitigated by having the preferences accessed locally. If you use this feature, you may experience longer login and logout times because preferences are copied to the local workstation during these times. However, the exact amount of time required depends on many variables.

Because Mac OS 9 was designed for remotely directed preferences, it's possible that some applications will not behave normally. If this occurs, you should remove the MMLocalPrefs extension and restart your workstation. It is also recommended that you unlock the desktop if you have problems printing from workstations that use the MMLocalPrefs extension.

Note: The Check Out feature of Macintosh Manager does not use the new local preference feature of this version of Macintosh Manager but instead synchronizes only to the remote preferences folder. It is not recommended that you enable the Check Out feature on OS 9 client computers when you have installed the MMLocalPrefs extension.

Using the update package

If you are already using Macintosh Manager 2.0 or later on your client computers, you can use the auto-update package (instead of the Installer) to upgrade your clients to the latest version of Macintosh Manager.

To use the auto-update package, do the following:

1. Open the Macintosh Manager Installer disk image and locate the Update Package file inside the Update Package folder. Depending on the version of Macintosh Manager you are using, the name of this file may vary.

2. Copy the Update Package file to the top level of your Multi-User Items folder on the server. The Multi-User Items folder should be located inside the Macintosh Manager share point on the server.

Client workstations periodically monitor the folder for the update package. If the update package is found, the client will update the software automatically when the client workstation is at the login screen. After the software is updated, the client workstation will restart automatically.

After all your clients have been updated, it is recommended that you remove the update package file to prevent your clients from unnecessarily accessing the server.

System requirements

Macintosh Manager 2.2 administration software requires a computer with:

• Mac OS 9.2.2 or Mac OS X
• At least 64 MB of RAM

Macintosh Manager 2.2 client software requires a computer with:

• Mac OS 8.1 through 9.2.2

AppleShare Client software:

• AppleShare Client 3.8.7 requires a 68K computer running Mac OS 8.1 to 8.5
• AppleShare Client 3.8.8 requires a PPC computer running Mac OS 8.1 or later