Tech Recess

Searching for an empty LDAP field

Randy — Wed, 16 May 2012 03:46:43 +0000

I recently was in the situation where I wanted to find out which people in our directory DIDN’T have a value for a specific LDAP attribute. Typically, I’m wondering which people match something, such as an keyword used for another service. My task was finding which people did not have a value for the attribute [...]

Slides from #psumacconf on Apple Configurator

Randy — Fri, 04 May 2012 13:39:05 +0000

Here is a PDF version of the slides from “iOS Deployment using Apple Configurator” from the Penn State Mac Admin’s Conference. Once video of the session is posted, I will make another post with a link to view the presentation. Enjoy! PSU MacAdmin 2012

Supervising Devices with Apple Configurator

Randy — Thu, 08 Mar 2012 18:45:29 +0000

If you have looked at Apple Configurator in my previous post and are starting to wonder just how you can use this application, this is the post for you. This video walks though the process of supervising a device within Apple Configurator. Supervision is a more locked-down approach for device setup and focuses a bit [...]

First look at Apple Configurator + Resources

Randy — Wed, 07 Mar 2012 23:16:14 +0000

Apple Configurator is a brand new application aimed at making it faster and easier to deploy, manage, and configure iOS based devices. The great thing about this utility is it does not require an OS X Server or an MDM solution and provides a fast way to get devices ready-to-go. You can download Apple Configurator from [...]

Big Sur California Pictures

Randy — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 05:19:28 +0000

Here is the gallery from the trip out to California and the Big Sur Region. Be sure to check out the larger pictures on Flickr if you are interested.

K-12 introductory tour of iTunes U

Randy — Wed, 15 Feb 2012 18:53:28 +0000

iTunes U is a service originating at Higher Ed that has since trickled down to K-12 schools. Once I started playing around with the services, I found the mechanisms we already have in place work very well for building a content creation and sharing environment. I was really excited to see iTunes U and build [...]

Syncing Suborgs with Google Apps Directory Sync

Randy — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 15:09:27 +0000

For those of you that are working with Google Apps Directory Sync (GADS) and looking to do everything based on your OpenDirectory, ActiveDirectory or some other centralized directory service, one challenge has been getting the right format for either assigning users into a sub-organization based on a defined attribute. This can be specified in as [...]

Want to find me at MacWorld?

Randy — Sun, 22 Jan 2012 18:46:00 +0000

While I won’t have a cool give-away if you find me at MacWorld, I will be around the conference if you are interested in seeking me out and having a conversation about a specific topic. I will be presenting three sessions at the MacIT Conference of MacWorld | iWorld this year. If you are interested [...]

User masquerading in Lion Server

Randy — Fri, 18 Nov 2011 01:57:47 +0000

One of the useful features for administrators is to utilize a feature called user masquerading. This allows for an administrator to imitate a specific user over AFP. While this does not work for Kerberos for at the LoginWindow, it provides a useful method to test file permissions to home directories and verify group membership if [...]

Precipitate – A tool for searching your Google Docs files

Randy — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 20:01:24 +0000

One of the great things about Google Docs and using the cloud is the ability for document accessing being ubiquitous across Internet-connected devices. If you are like a majority of people, you have a collection of files located in the cloud, and another set of documents located on your laptop. A challenge becomes remembering which [...]