Add Network Users to Fast User Switching Menu

Local users appear in the *Fast User Switching menu* on our Macs. How can we add users with *Network accounts* on our bound Mac OS X Servers so they appear in the Fast User Switching menu w/out already being logged into the client machine?

Demetrios wrote:
Local users appear in the *Fast User Switching menu* on our Macs. How can we add users with *Network accounts* on our bound Mac OS X Servers so they appear in the Fast User Switching menu w/out already being logged into the client machine?
It did not use to be possible to have two (or more) network users logged in on a machine (via fast switching) as the normal method of accessing network home directories, i.e. via AFP had limitations that prevented this.
If you want to try this, I suggest you first need to setup your home directories so they are shared via NFS rather than AFP. I found I had to actually turn AFP off for that share rather than merely setting the autoshare to be NFS as if it was shared by both AFP and NFS the clients seemed to prefer using AFP and would use that instead.
I am not using fast user switching myself for this, but I have a Terminal Server running on a Mac Server which allows multiple clients to be logged in at the same time and accessing their home directories via NFS.

Similar Messages

  • Network drive and fast user switching OS 10.7

    I have a shared network drive that I want all accounts on my Mac to be able to access. On my Mac I have a single admin account and several non-admin accounts. The problem is that once one account mounts the network drive when another user logs in (using fast user switching) the drive shows as being inaccessible (a folder icon with a "do not enter" icon on it) and must be unmounted and remounted. This is an issue because unmounting requires the admin password which is not known to all users.
    Is there a way that I can make the mount available to all users on the machine without needing to remount for each user? Or is there a way that I can unmount without requiring the admin account?
    Thanks

    System Preferences -> Users & Groups, click Login Options, you'll see it then.  You'll need to unlock that preference pane with the lock in the lower left corner of the window to change that setting.

  • Issues with Fast User Switching, language pref, greyed out menu options

    I have only one user logged in to my Macbook. If i want to select the other user using Fast User Switching and clicking on the username in top right corner of screen, nothing happens. The other user at this time is still logged out.
    Incidentally, when i click on the airport symbol, the wireless networks are often greyed out and i can't change networks unless in go into network prefs.
    One more thing - i have english and spanish selected as languages in international preferences. I ca not switch back to english at all - by clicking on the flag in the menu bar or by going into sys prefs. When n battery power, power characteristics are also greyed out and unable to select a different profile.
    any help welcome.
    thanks

    It sounds like everything in your menu bar is florfed.
    Can you log in to the other user account from the login window instead of by fast user switching? If so, does that account have the same problems with the menu bar?

  • Bonjour + Fast User switching = messages going to the wrong (inactive) user

    We use iChat for Bonjour in our office– fast file transfers etc.
    If a user is one of 2 or more logged in on a machine– through the use of fast user switching, we've noticed that incoming messages (initiated by another user on the network) will often go to the switched user (i.e. the inactive user) not the user we're currently logged in as.
    We've been able to repeat the issue.
    1. Log in as user 1, fast user switch to user 2 (leaving user 1 logged in but inactive)
    2. Go to new machine, log in as user 3
    3. Send message from user 3 to user 2
    4. Look at user 2 screen. No messages
    5. Send message from user 2 to user 3. User 3 will receive message, and will be able to send message successfully back to user 2.
    6. Log out use 2
    7. Log in as user 1
    8. Notice all the messages that were going to the 'inactive' user profile.
    Has anyone else seen this type of behavior?

    HI MAtthew,
    Welcome to the Apple Discussion Pages.
    I have not seen this (I only have one Mac).
    However there is an item in IChat Preferences > General section that can set the staus of the Users account to Offline or Away when using Fast User Switching.
    What is yur set to and does it make any difference when changing it ?
    Away in normal circumstance menas someone can still Invite you to chats (or Text you)
    Ralph

  • Slow Login, Slow "Fast User Switching"

    Hi--I have a Core Duo, Intel iMac running Leopard 10.5.2. The initial log-in is very slow (several minutes) for any user--whether it's the initial boot up or switching users using "fast user switching." But all seems to work well once the login completes. After a user, or multiple users, rather, are logged in the first time, fast user switching works normally.
    Also, if two or more users are logged in, and a user logs out, it takes forever for one of the other logged-in users to log back in.
    I've tried turning off fast user switching and rebooting; I've disconnected all USB devices; I've repaired permissions; I've rebuilt the directory structure using Disk Warrior 4.1; I've created new accounts (the problem is identical in all accounts); but theses measures didn't work. I know previous versions had issues with font caches, but I'm not sure how to delete these in Leopard. Anyway--anyone else encounter this problem? Thanks!

    Well, I did an "Erase and Install"--and THAT didn't get rid of my problem... Well, I SHOULD say it did--for the first boot-up into the new system worked flawlessly, but I courageously and foolhardily chose to "Transfer" my files and settings from my backup disk. Voila, the the problem of the "blue screen of death" (not really death, just long delay) was restored, along with all my data. So I did another "Erase and Install," and this time only manually restored my user accounts--and I'm happy to report: ALL IS WELL....
    I'm thinking that the troublesome application that was conflicting with Leopard was the "Boot Picker" pane that I had trouble disabling or deleting from the previous installation of Tiger. I do have a Windows partition, but apparently Boot Picker should not be used with Leopard. I did go through the "Boot Camp" installation process in my first upgrade to Leopard, but that process didn't remove the earlier installation of Boot Picker.
    This is still just a guess, and I'm hoping, as I continue to reinstall miscellaneous application on my newly re-installed system, that the problem doesn't come back (or if it does, it comes back at a clearly-identifiable moment).
    Message was edited by: Angelo -B

  • Fast User Option Disappeared

    With one of my family users, the fast user switching option doesn't appear. That is, the current user's name doesn't appear in the upper right corner of the menu bar at the top of the screen. I have looked through system preferences and can't see how to turn this on (or off). I trashed her plist file for the finder, but that didn't do any good.
    Any suggestions?
    Thanks!

    I've been seeing this also - and there's a thread with others seeing the same: http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=697541&#697541 - with the subject of "Fast User Switching icon missing".
    So far, the only work around so far seems to be to go to the System Preferences, Accounts Prefs - the Login Options, and turn off, then back on the check box for "Enable fast user switching". But even that seems to be temporary. You might need to be an admin user to do this, I haven't tested the non-admin side yet.

  • Launchd - can it run a script when users log in OR switch?

    I'm hoping to find someone who knows all the gory details of launchd. Here's the why and what: I'm trying to coerce Aperture into letting two users on the same computer share the same Aperture Library, both able to import photos and see and use what the other has done. Initially it is no problem, change the permissions so everyone has read/write/execute, put the Library in a common area, and point both person's Aperture at it. The problem is that Aperture changes permissions of things inside the Library as you use it, and especially when one person imports, the other person can't see that stuff.
    So I want to run a script whenever someone logs in or becomes the active user by fast user switching; the script will simply change ownership and permissions of the library and everything in it to restore full access.
    After days of research and testing, I made a test launchd plist file (this is the configuration file or agent that launchd looks at and runs your script when criteria are met). It sits in /Library/LaunchAgents/, here it is:
    <?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
    <!DOCTYPE plist PUBLIC "-//Apple//DTD PLIST 1.0//EN" "http://www.apple.com/DTDs/PropertyList-1.0.dtd">
    <plist version="1.0">
    <dict>
    <key>Label</key>
    <string>org.jim.test</string>
    <key>LimitLoadToSessionType</key>
    <string>LoginWindow</string>
    <key>ProgramArguments</key>
    <array>
    <string>/Library/Scripts/testscript.sh</string>
    </array>
    <key>RunAtLoad</key>
    <true/>
    <key>StandardErrorPath</key>
    <string>/Users/jim/Desktop/test.err</string>
    <key>StandardOutPath</key>
    <string>/Users/jim/Desktop/test.out</string>
    </dict>
    </plist>
    The actual test script is sitting in /Library/Scripts/:
    #!/bin/bash
    echo "org.jim.test.plist was run at `date`"
    So if the plist is loaded and the script run, the date and time are written in the test.out file on my desktop. This thing runs great when a user logs in. The problem is, it doesn't run when users switch by fast user switching. In reading the documentation, it was vague about this, whether that could be done; I thought it could.
    Can anyone help with a way to get the script to run when any user takes control by any means? As an added complication, which I'll worry about later, the script has to run as root because it's the only way to get the ownership and permissions changed.
    Thanks,
    Jim

    BobHarris is the MAN. ACLs seem to have worked. I put the Aperture Library in /Users/Shared/ApertureLibrary, restored the regular permissions as best I could (me as owner, staff as group, 755), pointed each person's Aperture to the library, then proceeded with the ACL magic. First I created a group for my wife and I, called 'aperture', in the Accounts preference pane. That was to simplify the ACLs (one entry instead of 2) and so that other users (son) aren't able to muck it up.
    It took one stinking Terminal command (note that 'aperture' at the beginning of the quote is the group, not the program, folder or library):
    chmod -R +a "aperture allow list,addfile,search,delete,add_subdirectory,delete_child,file_inherit,directoryinherit" ApertureLibrary.aplibrary
    I was unsure whether this list of permissions was necessary or sufficient, but it seems to have worked so far. Both users can access the library. I imported a different picture by each user, and the other user could then see and delete the picture imported by the other. This was not possible before.
    Bob, thanks for the great idea. After a little more testing I'll post a complete how-to in the latest "how do we share Aperture" thread, and give you due credit. The bad news is all the launchd fun is over
    Jim

  • How to get "fast user switching" and network shares playing nice

    I've been alternating between banging my head against a wall and reading every forum I could find to try and get a reasonable compromise between using "Fast user switching" and sharing a folder from a file server.  It baffles me how the network share/mount model of OSX/AFP is completely killed by fast-user-switching; this is a big problem with Apple requiring users to be actively logged in to share music/video from iTunes which therefore essentially requires fast-user-switching if anyone else wants to use the computer.  (anyone find it odd that you can share files without being logged in, but sharing songs requires an active login for each user who is sharing?  Apple: time to make iTunes sharing a service!)
    For the sake of example, lets just say I want to share my /Groups folder from my desktop and have it be accessible to my laptop.  Here are all the things that I tried:
    Apple Method 1) Share /Groups in the Server.app on the desktop (running Lion Server), use finder on the laptop and drag the share icon to "Login Items", alternative use a startup Apple script using "mount volume"  Both of the options work and will mount the /Groups folder under /Volumes/Groups, of course when the second person logs in via fast-user-switching (and occasionally the first person for no apparent reason), they will get /Volumes/Groups-1 since /Volumes/Groups is already taken.  Tomorrow we log in a different order and now the previously /Volumes/Groups-1 user has their mount at /Volumes/Group and vice versa.  Any links, aliases, finder sidebar references, and application settings which pointed to yesterday's location are now BROKEN.  Not very user friendly to my mother-in-law who is trying to find those pictures of the kids and doesn't know anything about mount points. I also can't reasonably mirror the file location structure on the desktop so that application preferences that are synced between the two (portable home directories) work.   fail.
    Apple Method 2) Use automounter and set up by hand direct maps for /Groups or an indirect maps for the children of /Groups.  Now it will automatically get mounted to /network/servers/SERVER/Groups/ on the laptop and on the desktop it will automatically create a similar symlink structure so that the same path (/network/servers/SERVER/Groups) work both on desktop and laptop.  Cool.  Except when the second person logs in, the /network/servers/SERVER/Groups/ mountpoint is already owned by the first user and they don't have any permissions to access it.  Fail.
    Apple Method 3) Use mount_afs and specify directly the mount-points.  Have each user have their own startup AppleScript which mounts /Groups to a different location (e.g. /Users/Shared/username/Groups) that way they don't conflict with multiple users.  On the desktop, set up symlinks from /Users/Shared/username/Group to /Groups so that it will be the same as the client and applications settings will work when synchronized back/forth by portable-home-directories.  Will it work, yes it does, but what a bear to maintain.  Is this really what I should expect to do just to have multiple users on my desktop and laptop (which again is essentially required now if I want to do any type of iTunes sharing).  This can't be what apple expects.
    What I ended up doing - the "not quite apple" solution.
    Non-Apple Method 4) After a read of "Autofs: Automatically Mounting Network File Shares in Mac OS X" (http://images.apple.com/business/docs/Autofs.pdf) at the very end there is a single paragraph  of "Kerberized NFS": "A Kerberized NFS mount can have multiple connections from multiple users, each using the correct user’s credentials for each transaction. This allows administrators to support multiple users, each authenticated with their own credentials to the same mount point. This is very different from AFP and SMB mounts," (emphasis mine)
    It appears that by using good 'ole NFS (abeint with Kerberos for security!) you can actually have multiple users on the same mount point.  Roughly following the guidance at https://support.apple.com/kb/TA24986?viewlocale=en_US.  What I needed to do was:
    1) create /etc/exports on my desktop and add a single line "/Groups -sec=krb5".  The existence of /etc/exports triggered a start of nfsd which no longer has any GUI options in Lion.
    2) Add a line to /etc/auto_master on my laptop "/-  auto_mymounts" to reference a new direct map.
    3) Create /etc/auto_mymounts and add a single line "/Groups         SERVER:/Groups" to create the direct map.
    THAT'S IT.  Three lines in three files.
    Now when I log into my laptop, there is a /Groups that is a network mount of my desktop's /Groups, same location AND it works for all of my users, even simultaneously. 
    In the end I'm happy with what I've got, but man was this a difficult path just to support fast-user-switching.  In Lion, Apple appears to be getting away from NFS (no longer turned on by default and remove from the GUI controls) but clearly this really useful functionality which doesn't exist in AFP. 
    I'm really curious, after all this work.  Any other ways to accomplish this?

    In my example above, yes I chose to mount the share "Groups" to the top of the root since that is where I put it on my server and I wanted to keep them similar; but that was just my preference, it isn't a requirement.  You can export and mount from other directories.

  • Fast User Switching with Mounted Network Drive?

    I have a headless G4 Cube running 10.5.8 with a 2TB firewire drive plugged in for storage accessable to any of my macs here at home. I can access it fine with my 2 desktops over ethernet and wirelessly. Recently we decided to consolidate our 2 desktops into one using the muliple users feature. Seems to work fine, and both accounts can access the shared drive. They are logging in with the cube's admin credentials, and the shared drive is set to ignore permissions. I have the drive set to mount on login with a startup item in the system login items prefs. As long as I logout before switching users, everything is good.
    The problem arises with Fast User Switching which we'd love to be able to use. I can't figure out how to connect to the drive in one account without the 2nd account then seeing it as a volume without proper permissions, then that account creates a new volume mount for it (which doesn't work with iTunes properly and seems to cause other wierd issues).
    Example: So say 'user1' logs in, mounts the drive 'Jukebox'. everything seems OK so far. 'Jukebox' is on the desktop and iTunes finds the music. Now I fast user switch to 'user2' and there is a 'Jukebox' on the desktop with the red minus icon indicating I don't have permissions to access it. If I then browse the network and mount the drive, I end up with ANOTHER 'Jukebox' on the desktop. BUT iTunes doesn't see it properly. If I look in the /Volumes/ folder with the Terminal, I see a mountpoint for 'Jukebox' (with the owner of 'user1' group 'staff') and now a new mountpoint called 'Jukebox-1' (with the owner of 'user2' group 'staff').
    It seems when you mount a AFP drive, it creates the Volume with the current user and staff group, but switching to another user then can't access that when it sees it in the /Volumes folder. You try to mount again and it creates a NEW mountpoint, names it with a '-1' at the end and you can use that (but iTunes cant).
    So... how does one use a shared drive that you want on BOTH users desktops with Fast User Switching turned on? Is there a way to have the drive mounted BEFORE either user logs in, such that it will be seen as any other local drive (which doesn't have the issue)??
    Or is there some other way I can attach to the network volume in each account on login so both have access to music and videos with full permissions?
    I'm really stumped here after 2 hrs of googling, searching here and trying things.
    TIA

    I've not had any luck with the suggestions in the link either.
    Here's two other approaches I've tried and failed with:
    1. Creating a new share point on the cube itself so that one user can mount it as a different volume. Then the issue is that I still don't have a volume named "Jukebox" available to each user when switching. I DO have access now to the data from both accounts, but under 2 different mount points (volume names) and the xml file for iTunes is hard coded with the path for each mp3 including the "Jukebox" volume name... so no go.
    2. Tried figuring out a way I could script a mounting of the share with the terminal thinking I could then run that shell script at startup. Can't seem to get the sytax right. If I create a directory in /Volumes and mount and afp share to it, it takes on the ownership of root/wheel which I can't access in the finder and can't seem to change.
    BUT I'll keep playing with both these ideas a bit... the first one might be overcome with a bit of logic and the 2nd if I can get the syntax right to mount the share with afp_mount and give it the correct ownership/permissions such that when a user logs in she/he sees the volume on the desktop and has full r/w access to it.
    thanks again. if you offhand know the syntax for that, let me know

  • Network Drive problems with Fast User Switching

    I have a USB drive connected to my Time Capsule and shared to the network. On one of my computers (Mac Pro) I have 2 user accounts which access the data (music, photos). The first one to access the drive after a power on has no problems, and everything works perfectly. However, if I Fast User Switch to the other account, it can see the drive but cannot access it (permission problem apparently). I then have to click the disconnect button in finder, and reconnect, and then can use it again fine. Then when I switch back to the first account its the same deal, having to disconnect and reconnect. It is really annoying, since it marks all my itunes songs as missing and whatnot. Does anyone know how to fix it?
    Thanks!

    Yes, under Sharing in System Preferences both users have been added to full access of the drive. I had to do that for the non-admin account to be able to access it at all.

  • Why are deleted user accounts showing up in login window and fast user switching menu?

    There are several old user accounts, just test accounts when I was studying for ACSA that I deleted, which continue to show up in the login window and the fast user switcher menu. I deleted them before upgrading to Lion (I think it was before). The accounts do not exsist in the /Users folder, nor even the /Users/Deleated Users folder. Additionally they do not show up in the list of users in System Preferences. Can anyone give some advice on how to remove these "ghost" accounts from the login window and drop down menu?
    Thanks
    dc

    Hi. Thanks for the link. Sorry it took me a while to get to this, the problem is not a show stopper, so to speak, so tried your advice when I had the time. Unfortunatly it did not work. Any other suggestions? Thanks.

  • Fast user switching menu - how do I have icons for all users?

    I'm setting up a new computer for three users. I have enabled the fast user switching menu. I set the menu to 'Icon'. However, it only shows the icon for myself, the admin. For the other two accounts, when they log in it remains as their (rather long) real names. The same thing happens if I select 'Account Name': it only shows the 'Account Name' for myself. When I switch to the other users, it is still their real name.
    How can I have icons (or account names) for ALL users??

    See CCK Wizard: https://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/addon/cck/
    You can use a mozilla.cfg file in the Firefox program folder to lock prefs or specify new (default) values.
    Place a file local-settings.js in the defaults\pref folder where you also find the file channel-prefs.js to specify using mozilla.cfg.
    pref("general.config.filename", "mozilla.cfg");
    pref("general.config.obscure_value", 0); // use this to disable the byte-shift
    See:
    *http://kb.mozillazine.org/Locking_preferences
    These functions can be used in the mozilla.cfg file:
    defaultPref(); // set new default value
    pref(); // set pref, but allow changes in current session
    lockPref(); // lock pref, disallow changes

  • Fast User Switching Menu Disappears

    On my G4 PowerBook 17", the fast users switching menu keeps "disappearing" in my standard account. This means that I have to go into preferences with my admin user and just open the fast user switch preference section and it is already checked and it will appear. Anybody else seen this and know a fix?
    John

    I think I might have been the first one to notice weird interactions in Tiger between menu extras, Spotlight, and SystemUIServer, sending Dr. Smoke into "serious investigation" mode on the issue. I finally ended my major problems by deleting dang near everything, except wClock, Scripts and Input menu. Now it no longer hangs Spotlight, but often the items are rearranged upon restart. At first I kept a copy of com.apple.systemuiserver.plist, that had everything listed and arranged correctly, in a folder on my desktop. When I restarted and things up there were wrong I would put the "good" copy in the Prefs folder and then use Activity Monitor to force quit SystemUIServer, which would then immediately restart and consult the correct plist, thus displaying the items I wanted in the order I wanted. I have since discovered that it isn't even necessary to swap out the plist file--simply restarting SystemUIServer does the trick. It is almost as if it does not always consult its own plist file when starting, but when restarting it does.
    Francine
    Francine
    Schwieder

  • Sharing Itunes library with another User Account & Fast Switching

    Hi. I recently purchased a new iMac G5 and am in the process of setting it up to be used by 2 separate users (girlfriend and me). I apologize in advance if this is more of an Itunes issue and not solely an Administration issue.
    My question deals with creating a new user account on my Mac (with Fast Switching) and allowing my girlfriend to share my iTunes library with the ability to transfer music to her ipod when she is logged into her own unique account. I will be the Administrator on the Mac.
    We are trying to avoid loading our music two times into the Mac under each of our logins. Is there a way that we can share the music I have already loaded into my Itunes library when she is logged into her account so that she can transfer to her ipod and create her own distinct playlists? If so, any advice on how to enable this would be greatly appreciated.
    Thanks.
    Seth
    iMac G5   Mac OS X (10.4.3)  

    Unfortunately, baltwo's solution will not allow your girlfriend to create any playlists or copy songs to iPod.
    The easiest thing would be to share the entire music folder, so anyone of you can listen to your music.
    You'd have two options.
    If you want to be using the exact same library, so any playlist you created can be edited by your girlfriend and vice versa:
    1. Go to yourusername/Music/iTunes. You'll find two files called "iTunes library" and "iTunes music library" Copy them to your desktop, so you'll have a backup just in case.
    2. Move your yourusername/Music folder to computer/users/shared. (The folder will be copied ONLY in case your using FileVault, so you'd have to delete the original User/Music folder after making sure you'd got a functional copy at computer/users/shared) Select users/shared, press "apple+i" to get the info window, go to "Ownership" change all permissions to "read & write" and hit "apply to enclosed items"
    3. In case you're using FileVault, either delete or rename the original Music folder within your own account. Again, not necessary as long as FileVault isn't enabled.
    4. Select computer/users/shared/music, hold down "ctrl" while clicking on it and choose "create alias" from the contextual menu. Copy that alias into your homefolder as well as your girlfriend's account (need to log in) and rename it to "music" without the "alias" at the end.
    5. Launch iTunes. Done.
    6. Don't worry, in case you don't see your music. I've used a slightly different approach, yet this one should work totally fine.
    If you want to listen to the same music, yet be able to set up your own playlists, ratings etc.:
    For your account:
    - go to yourusername/Music/iTunes, move "iTunes Music" to computer/users/shared and change ownership according to #2.
    - If FileVault is enabled, check #3. Of course, you want to rename the original "iTunes Music" in this case.
    - create an alias for computer/users/shared/iTunes Music and copy the alias to yourusername/Music/iTunes. Rename it to "iTunes Music" without "alias".
    - Launch iTunes. Should be working the way it used to. Quit.
    For your girlfriend's account:
    - log in, copy alias to username/Music/iTunes, rename alias.
    - Launch iTunes, go to File-> Add to Library, select username/Music/iTunes/iTunes Music, choose.
    That's it.
    The only downside is, only one user at a time can access the music folder, so if you're logged in and running iTunes, you're girlfriend, logged in via fast user switching, won't be able to open iTunes until you quit it for yourself. Haven't found a way around this yet.
    Fell free to report any issues.
    huhh...rather long posting...

  • Shared Disk - can't connect with Fast User Switching

    Hi,
    I've created a Disk on my Time Capsule, and shared it via "File Sharing", it's secured "with a disk password", and is working well ... sort of. I can connect to it with no issues, and so can my wife via her MacBook Pro. However, if I'm signed into my account, and she accesses her account using Fast User Switching, she can't connect to the shared volume. She has to Disconnect, and then reauthenticate, and after doing so, I can't connect to the shared volume. I must Disconnect, and reconnect. Why is this? Is there an authentication file that's set up some where on the root of the shared computer, that's preventing us from being able to signin to the shared volume? Or is something broken?
    Thanks!

    Complete uninstallation and reinstallation of network adapter drivers has been reported to resolve this error in some cases. Open
    Device Manager and select Show Hidden Devices from the
    View menu. Expand the Network Adapters category and delete all drivers under this category. After the devices are removed right click and select
    Scan for hardware changes.
    Brandon
    Windows Outreach Team- IT Pro
    Windows for IT Pros on TechNet

Maybe you are looking for