Speakers: Tobias Morrison
Level: Fundamental, Lecture
Excerpt: Setting up computers for employees is tedious and time-consuming. It also takes the whimsy and pleasure of the Apple unboxing experience away from the employee. They deserve an exceptional Desktop experience without you having to touch a single device. In this session we explore automating customizations to the Dock and Finder, setting default apps, adding extensions to Chrome and configuring printers with help from a small collection of MacAdmin community member tools.
Description: When a new device is added to your fleet, your goal as an admin is to take it from an Unknown State to a Desired State, as quickly as possible. Imaging is no longer a viable solution. Techniques such as modifying user templates are a moving target that are likely to soon be unworkable. But handing off a new Mac to an employee in Apple’s default state does not address company standards and does not serve your co-workers in any way. Where are their files? Where are their applications? How do they print? In this session, we will look at delivering a great Mac experience by giving employees a usable Dock (you say you have never used any of the apps in the default Dock?), sane Finder defaults, Google Chrome extensions, printers, and more. Using a small collection of FOSS tools and mobile profiles we will look at scripting and profiling our way to a friction-free employee onboarding experience.
About the speaker
Tobias Morrison (Twitter: @apns5223) – Principal Systems Administrator – GlobalMac IT
Tobias Morrison is an aging hipster from an age before fixy bikes and steampunk hats. His favorite computer is his first, an Apple ][+ on which he learned to type BASIC from the pages of COMPUTE! magazine. He likes his music heavy and loud. He has strong opinions that he keeps to himself, at least until you have gone too far. Then you will know exactly what he thinks. He loves winter even when seasonal affective disorder kicks in. His Welsh-Irish skin is not suited to exposure to the sun. He has 4 children, a saintly wife, and is chronically tired.