Mac OS X 10.5 fast system deployment practices-Plan (2) V1

MacOS X 10.5 fast system deployment practice

Quick system deployment practices for Mac OS X 10.5

Note:The previous article is here: Mac OS X 10.5 fast system deployment practices-Plan (1) V1
Operating System

The changes in the hardware platform pose a challenge to the system software, which includes two aspects.

First, the new system needs to run on two hardware platforms: Intel and PowerPC. Apple uses the universal
Binary) technology as a transition. This technology is very good in practice and can run well on the two platforms, which is technically guaranteed, we can create a general core.
System image file.

The other is compatibility at the application layer, that is, to ensure that the software running on powerpc in the past is not UB code. The software provider does not need to modify and re-compile the software, and the end user can not upgrade the software,
It can be used on the new platform system. The solution provided by Apple is called Rosetta. with this solution, you can only run on the PowerPC platform before it is transparent to users.
The program does not need to support intervention. Of course, Rosetta is just a transitional technology from the perspective of history, and it also has its shortcomings. It cannot support all the functions of all the software, such as the previous use
In Rosetta's Safari, Java program support is not good. However, Rosetta is a very successful technology.

There is also support for software such as OS 9 before Mac OS X.
The software earlier than X should not be considered for its support, because it does not support OS from 10.5 or on Intel's Hardware computers.
Before 9, the system and software support, and the existing classic environment is gone, that is, OS 9 and its previous software have long been unable to run in the 10.5 and later systems.

With the popularization of Intel Platform computers, the concept of UB will also be abandoned. Starting from snow leopard of 10.6, Mac OS X 10.6 cannot run on powerpc hardware platforms. That is to say, the PowerPC platform is now in its history.

The problem of the hybrid hardware system environment is also mentioned above. In terms of software, this may be a symbiotic problem between os9 and OS X, there are also symbiosis issues between UB encoding, PowerPC encoding, and Intel encoding. For these problems, the idea of hardware is also applicable, limiting the functions and use of old systems/technologies, and preparing an Upgrade Plan.

Due to the compatibility and Management of old systems, the configuration of the system deployment environment also needs to be retained, including the preparation of core system image software, deployment software, and servers, software installation disks, documents of old systems, and so on. From software to hardware maintenance instructions, deliberate maintenance of the old system will bring additional system overhead and maintenance costs to the Enterprise.

Application Software and Configuration

First, consider the hardware and OS upgrade mentioned above when selecting software. In addition to the old version of the software, the vast majority of the software has a suitable new version of the operating system, but also a lot of new software continues to be available, so be sure to select software compatible with Mac OS X. Of course, some software may have specific version requirements, especially the system
Manage Software.

Second, in terms of software configuration, do your best to do a good job of documentation. All the steps and explanations for the special configuration that the enterprise requires during testing and use, such
As the default option, it is also required by the entire enterprise. For example, setting the default homepage of Safari is always the homepage of the company. Although it is a small detail, but in different network environments
You must manage these details in different ways from the deployment policy.

Retained the update history of the document, which is also a very important detail. Although a function configuration improvement works well in the test environment, unexpected problems may occur in the production environment, in this way, the document history can provide first-hand error information and ensure rapid rollback of system deployment.

We also need to consider the application software and server license. How much authorization may affect the production of your core system image and the implementation of rule formulation and deployment, preconsideration of authorization restrictions is a necessary factor.

User and Computer Management

General users and system management users have clear permissions. If you do not use an enterprise managed by AD, or you do not need Microsoft Active Directory (hereinafter referred to:
AD) Management of Small and Medium-sized Enterprises, you may wish to choose Apple's working group-level hardware, with Mac OS X Server's powerful open
Directory (hereinafter referred to as OD) user management, so that whether it is to manage computers/users or network resources, there is a best management tool for enterprises and administrators, at the same time can also
Provides support for a variety of services, such as mail, chat, and Wiki.

It is also important to divide administrator groups in detail, because the responsibilities of each administrator are only part of the management work. In this way, different groups are assigned for different management responsibilities, which facilitates management and troubleshooting, reduces the chance of errors and so on. For example, the administrator responsible for deployment implementation and deployment settings has different and overlapping permissions.
The permissions of the server administrator and the deployment administrator are different, and some of them overlap. For details, refer to other professional books and decide based on the characteristics of the enterprise.

In Mac OS X, the system supports local accounts and guest accounts,
Network accounts, mobile accounts, external mobile users, and other account types, enterprises need to select one or more account types as the basis for user management according to their own user and environment needs, in this way, deploy
When preparing, you must consider the needs of different enterprise account management. Generally, except for special local users, you can use od to manage configurations.

In terms of user management, Mac OS X of different versions supports less uniform user behaviors or types, such
10.3 does not exist; ad network users will have different configurations on the 10.4 and 10.5 systems, of course, 10.5 is simple, and 10.4 requires some complicated configurations,
We also need to consider the differences between different system versions, resulting in more considerations for the system deployment plan.


In addition, Mac OS X can be used not only to group users, but also to group computers (only supported in Versions later than 10.5). In this way, it can be based on different computer types (types, purposes, and other factors.

The above details will be detailed later.

Deployment Method

What deployment method should be used to suit your network environment and user needs? This is a problem that needs to be determined in advance. Of course, a deployment method may not be able to ensure that it is suitable for the enterprise's various internal changing environments and needs. Therefore, it seems more practical to select multiple deployment solutions based on different scenarios.

There are basically two methods: Network and single machine. Both methods are useful.

Some methods have high requirements on network and storage, but can be deployed on a large scale in a unified and fast manner. Some methods can only be used for one-to-one standalone scenarios where the network and server cannot meet the requirements even though they are slow, it is the only choice. Sometimes we need to consider emergency deployment methods.

The time of the deployment plan should also be considered. If you deploy the scale on the network, it may affect the normal network usage of the enterprise. In this way, you may need to deploy the deployment during off-duty hours and during working hours, do not control the deployment scope, or use network technology to differentiate network segments.

Summary:

The above section describes several aspects that need to be considered in the preparation of the plan. Here, we only show the parts that the author encountered and thought of in his actual work, in other practical scenarios, more factors may need to be taken into consideration before a complete and feasible plan can be developed.

Word comparison:

AD: Microsoft Active Directory
OD: Apple Open Directory
UB: universal binary

 

To be continued: Quick system deployment practices for Mac OS X 10.5-core system image creation (1) V1

 

 

 

Tony Liu

2009, Calgary