Lock or Sleep Your Screen in Mac OS X

Sep 15, 2015 | Learn and Teach, Mac

Lock or Sleep Your Screen in Mac OS X

Locking your Mac’s display (or “sleeping” the display) can be a great security measure when paired with a user account password. While it won’t prevent the outright theft of your Mac, it can be a quick and easy way to prevent nosy family members or coworkers from getting access to your data.

In order for a Mac lock screen command to be effective, you’ll first need to configure System Preferences to require your user account password when unlocking or waking up. To do this, head to System Preferences > Security & Privacy > General. Check the box next to “Require Password” and set an interval that meets your workflow. If you want the highest level of security, set it to “immediately.” If you often find yourself accidentally locking your screen, set it to 5 seconds so that you can quickly unlock the display without having to enter your password.

Next, you’ll need to decide on the exact functionality you want: lock (sleep) the display only, or sleep the entire system. Locking or sleeping the display will shut the display off but keep the Mac running in the background. If you performed the steps above to require a password, users will need to enter the correct account password in order to unlock the display.

Lock or Sleep Only Your Mac’s Screen

To lock your Mac’s screen, simultaneously press the following keys: Control + Shift + Eject. If you have a newer Mac that doesn’t have an optical drive (and thus has no eject key on the keyboard, such as the Retina MacBook Pro), the command is Control + Shift + Power. In both cases, you’ll see your Mac’s display shut off immediately, while the system continues to run in the background.

Related: Once your screen is locked, learn how to set a custom lock screen message.

Performing a lock or display sleep command is useful for situations in which you’ll only be gone for a few minutes, as it allows you to jump immediately back to work. It’s also a good idea to use if you want to lock your Mac but have applications running in the background, such as a rendering operation or an encryption sequence. The Mac will still chug away at its task; the only difference is that anyone without the password won’t be able to access it.

Sleep Your Entire Mac

The second option is to sleep the Mac entirely. MacBook owners are familiar with sleep; it occurs every time they shut their computer’s lid, or automatically after a user-defined period of time. But users can also trigger an immediate sleep state with a simple keyboard command: Command + Option + Eject. Optical drive-less Mac owners can repeat the substitution discussed above and replace the Eject key with the Power key, resulting in a command for Retina MacBook Pro owners, et al. of Command + Option + Power.

Your Mac will immediately go to sleep, shutting down all functions and requiring a password to resume. Users running on battery power who need to step away from their Macs may prefer this option over a locked screen. The practical effect is the same (preventing others from accessing your Mac), but this latter option saves battery power while the user is away. On the other hand, this will stop all background tasks, discussed above, and may not be ideal for users who want their Macs to keep working while they grab a coffee or stop for a bathroom break. Also, it takes longer to wake up from a sleep state than from a display lock state, although on modern Macs with fast SSD storage the time difference between the two options has shrunk considerably.

It’s recommended that users experiment with both options to find the one that suits them best. It’s also likely that users, especially those “on the go” with MacBooks, will find occasion to use both frequently. Regardless, having a strong user account password and taking a moment to ensure that your Mac is locked while you are away are both crucial steps to protecting your data.

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Set custom Lock Screen Msg in Mac OS X

Sep 15, 2015 | Learn and Teach, Mac

Set custom Lock Screen Msg in Mac OS X

Set custom Lock Screen Msg in Mac OS X

How to Set a Custom Lock Screen Message in Mac OS X

Mac users, especially those with portable Macs, will want to take steps to protect their hardware and data in the event of loss or theft. But not everyone who finds a lost Mac is a thief, and it would be nice to provide these good samaritans with the information they need to return your Mac to you. Many traveling businesspeople choose to tape business cards to their laptops, but we don’t want such an inelegant solution to mar your Mac’s hardware, so we’ll use OS X’s built-in lock screen message feature instead.

To set a Mac lock screen message, head to System Preferences > Security & Privacy > General. Click the padlock icon in the lower-left section of the screen and authenticate as an administrative user.

Find and check the box “Show a message when the screen is locked” and then click Set Lock Message.

In the text box that appears, type any information you wish to help return your Mac to you, such as a phone number, address, or email address. We’ve also found that the lock screen message is a handy way to quickly identify identical hardware. At TekRevue, for example, we have two 15-inch MacBook Pros that look the same but run different software. We use the Mac lock screen message to label the first system “Alpha” and the second “Beta,” so that we can quickly tell which system we’ve got in hand.

You can enter as much text as you want in the Lock Message box. On the Mac lock screen, OS X will display the top three lines by default, with a scroll bar to view additional text. If you wish to enter line breaks, press Control-Enter. Otherwise, the text will format as a single paragraph.

Once you’ve set your message, log out of your user account or lock your screen to see it.

How to install and configure DeployStudio

Aug 17, 2015 | Learn and Teach, Mac

Managing Macs has it ups and downs. While the simplicity of OS X allows for ease of use in most cases, its market share gives preference to Windows, leaving a dearth of management suites in its wake. Sure, Apple-centric deployment suites exist, but many of them are too underpowered compared to the more pricier alternatives or too expensive for basic management needs.

Fortunately, there’s DeployStudio Server, an open-source deployment suite that offers imaging, management for apps and settings, plus support for BootCamp and Linux-based partitions. Did I mention that it’s also free?

DeployStudio can be configured to run as a stand-alone server app from a Mac computer or from OS X Server for greater support and added networking features. It can also be setup in a master/replica hierarchy similar to Open Directory to scale with the needs of your organization.

For the scope of this article, we’ll discuss how to install and configure DeployStudio. Before diving into the installation process, please review the requirements below.

• Apple Computer running OS X 10.6.8+ (if running standalone; for multicast network-based deployments, OS X Server 10.6.8+ is required).
• Available storage space sufficient to server OS X images for deployment.
• Broadband internet access (Ethernet)
• Administrative-level credentials
• Static IP
• DeployStudio installer

After verifying the requirements above are met, it’s time to proceed to the installation.

I. Installing DeployStudio

Follow these steps to install DeployStudio:

1. Download and open the DeployStudio DMG file. Inside you’ll find the package installer. Execute it to begin the installation process (Figure A).
   Figure A

• Click the Continue button to proceed past the Introduction screen (Figure B).
  Figure B
  

  

• Click the Continue button to proceed past the Read Me screen (Figure C).
  Figure C
  

  

• Click Continue at the License screen (Figure D).
  Figure D
  

  

• Accept the Licensing agreement (Figure E).
  Figure E
  

  

• At the Installation Type section, you can choose to modify the install location before clicking Install (Figure F).
  Figure F
  

  

• You’ll be prompted to enter admin credentials before continuing on (Figure G).
  Figure G
  

  

• A prompt may appear if installing DeployStudio on OS X Server with the NetInstall service running. If previous NetBoot files exist, a message indicating that the .nbi file cannot be updated may appear. This is not an error, just a notification. Click OK to proceed (Figure H).
  Figure H
  

  

• Upon completing the installation, the Summary is displayed. You may now click Close as DeployStudio has been installed successfully (Figure I).
  Figure I
  

  

II. Configuring DeployStudio

Follow these steps to configure DeployStudio:

1. DeployStudio is installed in the Utilities folder, within Applications. Specifically, three applications are installed:
   a. DeployStudio Admin: The admin console that allows for configurations and workflows to be created and computers to be managed.
   b. DeployStudio Assistant: A wizard that will guide you through the steps to create different NetBoot images for use with various functions of DeployStudio, such as scripting app deployments.
   c. DeployStudio Runtime: This is a window that allows one to select the workflows or configurations set in the admin console and execute them on a client machine (Figure J).
   Figure J
   

   

2. Be default, the DeployStudio Assistant.app is where the configurations are made initially. However, launching that app without first turning on the service will result in a notification that the DeployStudioServer daemon is not active (Figure K).
   Figure K
   

   

3. Go to System Preferences and find the DeployStudio Server preference pane (Figure L).
   Figure L
   

   

4. The service is installed in the OFF position. Clicking the ON button will load the service. The status will change from Stopped (Figure M) to a warning that the Repository is not configured (Figure N). Since this is the first time running the service, no repositories exist at the moment.
   Figure M
   

   

   Figure N

   

5. At this point, click the Launch Assistant button to configure DeployStudio. Select the radio button that corresponds to Set up a DeployStudio Server and click Continue (Figure O).
   Figure O
   

   

6. In the Server connection section, enter the Static IP that is assigned to the computer and create a username and password that will act as the admin account for DeployStudio (Figure P).
   Figure P
   

   

7. Next, select the master server role since this is the first DeployStudio server. If setting up multiple DeployStudio servers, each subsequent configuration should be set as Replica for scalability (Figure Q).
   Figure Q
   
   

   

8. Repository type is a crucial entry since this selection will affect how DeployStudio is used. If DeployStudio is to be a stand-alone computer with images stored on external HDD, then select Local Folder. However, if DeployStudio is to be networked with images being multicast to clients, then select network sharepoint and click Continue to enter the network settings (Figure R).
   Figure R
   

   

9. If local folder was selected, proceed to step #10; If network sharepoint was selected, enter the network path to the folder, as well as credentials to access the shared folder on the network (Figure S).
   Figure S
   

   

10. The following section allows you to configure Email notifications, if desired. This is an optional step that does not impact configuration one way or the other. If you wish to enable email notifications, check the box to enable and enter your organizations email server information. If not, proceed to the next step (Figure T).
    Figure T
    

    

11. Network security is another important decision, since it will directly affect how DeployStudio is accessed. Communication between the server and client is made via specific ports for both encrypted and unencrypted traffic. Enabling SSL will use a 1st or 3rd-party SSL certificate to encrypt traffic. Additionally, ports may be customized in the event that the defaults are already in use by another app/service (Figure U).
    Figure U
    

    

12. The User groups section allows sys admins to define access rights to specific applications, functions, and workflows, based on group membership. The defaults allow the admin account created during installation full access to everything. However, if working with multiple IT staffers, it would be a best practice to secure each user’s account by adding them to the specific group(s) they need access to in order to perform their functions (Figure V).
    Figure V
    

    

13. Again, if running DeployStudio as a stand-alone, jump down to step #15; if running DeployStudio networked, then modify the settings for multicast imaging to meet the needs and demands of your organization’s environment. Bare in mind the impact on production networks when configuring these settings and consult the network admin (Figure W).
    Figure W
    

    

14. For its computer management abilities, DeployStudio creates a database and creates entries on the fly as clients connect to the service. The default identification method is based on the device’s Serial Number; however, it may be modified based on MAC address. Modify the selection as it pertains to your organization (Figure X).
    Figure X
    

    

15. The final step is the initial configuration phase. Clicking Continue will save the settings and create the DeployStudio repository (Figure Y).
    Figure Y
    

    

16. Once the settings have been saved, a confirmation message will appear and subsequently restart the DeployStudio service, bringing it online and ready to communicate with clients (Figure Z).
    Figure Z
    

    

With the installation and configuration of the DeployStudio Server successfully completed, the service is ready, but it must still be configured to communicate with clients over the network.

The next few articles in this series will provide in-depth information for creating images to boot to DeployStudio as well as to be used to capture reference images (which are completed installs of a computer with all settings and applications pre-configured) for automating deployment to multiple computers. Also, I plan to discuss how to build and create workflows that aid in the deployment of said images, software updates, and settings configuration.