Replacing a windows server with a Mac server

Hi all,
So this is a big company with about 150 employees using PC's (win xp and 7), considering replacing the current Windows server with a Mac server.
Is it possible to give users profiles once they log in like Windows server does? So when the user logs in they get to their own personal stuff? Can Mac server do that?
Can the user also get to the default printer and send prints to it regardless where they log in from inside the company?
And can the home directory to each user NOT be copied anywhere on the local machine where they log in? Meaning that after they log out there will be no traces to their files on that local PC..
Thanks a lot in advance!!

By some standards, 150 is not "big" but a large small business :-)
Regardless, please plan and test and plan some more, very carefully !
The picture for what you want to do once looked far better with 10.6 server but that had its limitations as well.
With 10.6 server, Apple was using Samba - they are no longer doing so,
but/and the version of Samba they were using only provided NT-Domain level support.
So that would not work with your Win 7 stations either. But could be made to work relatively well with XP workstations. You can no longer buy any new Mac that runs 10.6 server and 10.6 server would be hard to obtain.
Not a great route to go.
Bear in mind that the key problem with Apple's Samba was that Samba changed their licensing,
and there's not a thing in the world Apple could do to implement a current version of Samba without violating their own operating principles and the licensing requirements.
You'll be heading into heavily uncharted territory here. Odds are good that any desired domain-functionality is not going to work for you.
Honestly, Apple appears to have thrown in the towel on directory-level support for Windows,
and the best way to support Windows workstations in that regard is with Windows server and AD.
Basic filesharing works, with some caveats.
If there's no AD involved at all, then have a look at my earlier post,
https://discussions.apple.com/thread/3206725?start=47
Which worked a-ok for me but your mileage may vary.
Samba new current versions and GPL3 licensing issue:
https://discussions.apple.com/thread/3206725?start=75&tstart=0
"GPLv3 makes it impossible to provide signed binaries without also providing the signing keys. A few seconds of thought will reveal why Apple is unwilling to provide copies of the keys they use to sign system software. Part of locking down OS X security profile required removing anythign that used GPLv3.
Short version: GPLv3 is specifially desinged to be anti-company, and you are going to see a ever widening schism in the FSS/OSS community between GPL and all the other licenses, and you will be seeing less and less GPL code in commercial OSes and more BSD/Apache/&c code."
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=12494378

Similar Messages

  • Is it possible to run a Windows domain with a Mac Server?

    Looking for some advice on getting rid of our Windows domain controller (DHCP server, AD, etc.) in favour of a Mac Server (which we own).  Is it possible to run a Windows domain with a Mac Server?

    Snow Leopard Server (10.6) and earlier included Samba which supported acting as an NT Domain Controller (this pre-dates Active Directory). Lion (10.7) and later as standard can no longer act as an NT Domain Controller nor can they act as an Active Directory server.
    So the short answer is no.
    Theoretically you could port Samba4 to a Mac and Samba4 can act as an Active Directory server. In reality this is not going to be easy but is theoretically possible.
    An easier option might be to run a copy of Linux (e.g. Ubuntu) in a virtual machine e.g. using VirtualBox and then run Samba4 in that and configure it to act as and Active Directory server. Then you could connect the Mac side to the Samba4 Active Directory server. This approach would use all Mac hardware, and not have any extra costs of licenses to buy and as far as all the rest of the network is concerned would be a standard Active Directory server environment.

  • We just moved from a Windows server to a Mac server with our Macs -problem!

    We just moved from a Windows server to a Mac server with our Mac Network!!!
    Problem:
    Now, when we create files from our personal computers, no one else can write them. We can all read these files, but when we make changes we have to save a version! This wasn't happening on the Windows server, so I can only guess that it's a setting on the Mac? (G4 Laptop running 10.4.5)
    Can anyone help me figure out what setting needs to be changed?
    Thank you very much in advance!
    -Alex

    This is normal behavior, and is a result of the POSIX umask. Newly created files have their POSIX permissions (owner, group, and everyone fields) set such that only the owner can read and write.
    The best way to solve this problem is to use an ACL entry to define desired permissions for a folder, specifying inheritance (e.g., permissions apply to this folder and any newly-created files or folders inside of that).
    Please see my ACL Tips version 2 link for more information, including a more detailed explanation of POSIX and ACL permissions and how they work together: http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=1732788
    --Gerrit

  • When I access a windows files server with the mac I am adding .apple (hidden files). How can I prevent this.

    When I access a windows files server with the mac I am adding .apple (hidden files). How can I prevent this?

    Look for a program called BlueHarvest. I'm not sure if it still works with Mountain Lion.
    I believe your file server can be set up to handle the metadata files, but I suppose that would depend on the Server software and your IT staff.

  • How do I connect to a terminal server with my mac book pro

    How do I connect to a terminal server with my mac book pro

    Use the Remote Desktop icon on the tray and make sure to use the Fully Qualified Domain Name (FQDN) on the 'name of server' field.  If that does not work then use the IP address to connect.

  • Replace KMS server with same-named server

    I need to replace my KMS server (win2008r2) with a new server (win2012r2), but with the original server’s name.
     This is my plan:
          Shutdown the current KMS server and remove it from AD, WINS & DNS
          Rename the new server with the old server’s name
          I have already added the VAMT role to the win2k12 server, but not configured it
          Install our KMS VL & run the office 2013 volume license pack on the new server
      Does anyone see any problems with this plan? 
    Do I need to uninstall the KMS key from the original server first?
     What kinds of issues will the users see before the 25 client activations happen?
     Thanks!

    This is fine.    
    KMS is resolved via a DNS Service record: _vlmcs._tcp.<domainname>
    Whenever you are finished installing KMS on the new server, ensure the SRV record is correct.
    NOTE: Remember the new KMS server will not start to activate clients until the thresholds are met.  (5 servers or 25 clients)
    - Chris Ream -
    **Remember, if you find a post that is helpful, or is the answer, please mark it appropriately.**

  • How to Manage Pcs with a mac server mini?

    one of my missions is to manage Pcs with a mac  server. But since my searches are not fruitful. It is the reason why I would like to obtain from the help. Very cordially to you..

    See Meraki MDM, has administration for many platforms including PC.
    https://meraki.cisco.com/products/systems-manager

  • When I replaced my PC desktop with a Mac Mini and hooked up my HP printer to it, I discovered my other computers on the Wi-Fi network could no longer access the printer.  The manual says Maverick OS will not allow PC's to access the printer. Any thoughts?

    When I replaced my PC desktop with a Mac Mini and hooked up my HP printer to it, I discovered that my other computers on the Wi-Fi network could no longer access the printer.  The manual says Maverick OS will not allow PC's to share the printer. Does anyone else have this problem?  My printer does not have on-board Wi-Fi but, otherwise, works fine.  I shouldn't have to buy a new one.  Is there a OS patch out there that would open the printer port for my PC computers?

    I'm assuming that on the Mac, the System Preferences -> Sharing -> Printer Sharing -> [X] HP printer -> Everyone can print is selected?  That is to say, the Mac will allow anyone to print using the printer, and that you did not try to restrict who can print.
    How is your network configured?  Bonjour as a protocol will NOT cross a router boundary.  If you have 2 or more subnets active with the PCs on one subnet and the Mac on another, that would block the PCs from seeing the Mac.
    You could have multiple subnets if you have more than one router, such as an ISP provided broadband modem/router and another WiFi Router.  If the PCs are talking to one router and the Mac is talking to another, that could be a 2 subnet situation.  The additional routers must be put into bridge mode, which is done differently depending on the router.  But the basics are to diable DHCP and NAT services on the secondary router(s) having just one active router on the network.
    Also, using Bonjour Browser on my Mac, it is showing me that the printer is being advertised as using Internet Printing Protocol, so if that is something selectable on Windows, maybe you can bypass Bonjour on Windows.

  • Issue listeneing queue from Weblogic Cluster server with multiple managed server

    Haveing issue listeneing queue from Weblogic Cluster server with multiple managed server.
    Weblogic Cluster structure is like
    Weblogic Cluster01
      --ManagedServer01(http://server01.myhost.com:7001)
      --ManagedServer02(http://server02.myhost.com:7001)
    JMS Servers
      JMSserver01 targeting: ManagedServer01
      JMSserver02 targeting: ManagedServer02
      JMSmodule
      ConnectionFactory01 targeting:JMSserver01,JMSserver02
      UDQueue01 targeting:JMSserver01,JMSserver02
    Uniform Distributed Queue in Monitoring tab showing like this
      mysystemmodule!JMSserver01@UDQueue01
      mysystemmodule!JMSserver02@UDQueue01
    So when I am sending message to any Host(by specifying the provider URL) its distributing equally on both server like
      mysystemmodule!JMSserver01@UDQueue01 10
      mysystemmodule!JMSserver02@UDQueue01 10
    But when try to listen message from these queue, it is listening from one server, for which URL given to connect.
      mysystemmodule!JMSserver01@UDQueue01 0
      mysystemmodule!JMSserver02@UDQueue01 10
    untill I connect to other server by giveing its URL, will not able to access other message left on the queue.
    Solutions that tried
      1) we have tried give both server URL coma sparated in provider URL
    we need to configur same scenario for 5 managed server with 3 listener on other servers.
    Do any one have solution for this.

    You need to have:
    1. Consumers connected to each UDQ member
    OR
    2. If no consumers in some of the members is expected, you can configure Forward Delay (specify the amount of time, in seconds, that a queue member with messages, but with no consumers, will wait before forwarding its messages to other queue members that do have consumers):
    http://docs.oracle.com/cd/E12839_01/apirefs.1111/e13952/taskhelp/jms_modules/distributed_queues/ConfigureUDQGeneral.html
    For example you can set it to 10 (10s)
    Additional Information here:
    http://docs.oracle.com/cd/E23943_01/web.1111/e13727/dds.htm#i1314228
    http://docs.oracle.com/cd/E23943_01/apirefs.1111/e13951/mbeans/DistributedQueueBean.html?skipReload=true#ForwardDelay
    How Does JMS Load Balancing Work with Distributed Queues and Uniform Distributed Queues? (Doc ID 827294.1)
    I hope this helps
    Best Regards
    Luz

  • Using a Mac on windows network with a proxy server

    Hi I’m very new to Macs to apologies if this is a really silly question. I’m
    trying to setup a Mac on our network and I’m having an issue getting it to work
    properly with our proxy server. I have connected the Mac to the network and
    selected automatic proxy configuration in the network settings using the URL of
    our Pac file. I am asked for a proxy username and password when I initially try and
    access a website but once I have entered my credentials they are saved in
    keychain and anyone coming after me can browse using my account. I work in a
    hospital so there are many different people accessing different devices. We
    monitor and trace all users internet browsing so my question is can I configure
    the Mac to ask for proxy credentials for different users? On our windows devices
    a login box will appear if the browser has been closed and reopened. Can I do
    this with the Mac?????
    Any help you can offer will be very much appreciated.
    Thanks

    The short answer is that the IT department is a strict Microsoft shop and also incompetent. Almost everything in that message is patently false. Unfortunately, when accessing Microsoft Server services like this, you will need the support of the IT staff to tell you various settings to use. I think it is pretty clear that they have no intention of doing that.
    There is nothing "special" about bootcamp. It is just a boot loader. A Mac running Windows via bootcamp is a Windows PC, not a Mac. As such, it will work perfectly fine in the network. You could also try running Parallels. I believe Parallels can be configured to use a bootcamp partition so you could run Windows via either bootcamp or Parallels.
    One of the few things that is correct is that Apple does have to provide driver support for bootcamp and there is the possibility of random incompatibilities - but no more so than any other PC manufacturer. Parallels/VMWare may work around that with a different set of incompatibilities. Don't be too worried about this part. These "incompatibilities" are minor and almost always with funky hardware devices. What you want to do should work perfectly with either Parallels/VMWare or Bootcamp.

  • How to configure a Windows machine with any vnc server software for ARD

    I need someone to direct me in the right direction to configure and install any vnc server software so that I can control a windows machine with ARD like I control the rest of my macs in the lab. I need some suggestions as to the best and easiest software to configure and the correct settings to get the machine to be able to show in ARD. Thanks

    Sort of. I found this article below that helped me to connect to the remote CF server using MXML. It seems that you have to create a regular project in Flex with Aplication Server Type set to None and connect to CF using the endpoint attribute of the RemoteObject MXML tag or via AS.
    http://www.aliaspooryorik.com/blog/index.cfm/e/posts.details/post/200
    However I found out after getting error using the AS3 code to use the endpoint property that
    mx.rpc.remoting.RemoteObject does not support  the "endpoint" property
    whereas mx.rpc.remoting.mxml.RemoteObject does. See link below
    http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/msg101439.html//www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/msg101439.html
    So I had to change my AS3 code by adding a new channel to my RemoteObject using a code similar to the one on the link below (Note that this code uses PHP, when I instantiate myRemoteObject, I do so informing that the destination is "ColdFusion" [new RemoteObject("ColdFusion")], so no need to set destination as in the code on the link below
    http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/flexcoders/message/120115
    I hope that helps you.

  • Windows files on a Mac Server

    I have a Mac Mini running as a server. I would like to connect to the server with a PC running XP Pro. First, can this be done? Second, if it can what do I do to accomplish this?

    Is it running Mac OS X Server, or just Mac OS X client?
    If running Mac OS X Server, just start up the Windows sharing daemon via Server Admin, and use Workgroup Manager to define which directories should be shared.
    If you're not using Mac OS X Server you can either edit the Samba configuration files by hand or get a copy of SharePoints which puts a GUI on the process.
    Either way, once the server is running it should be a simple matter of telling the Windows machine to connect to the server at your Mac's IP address, typically via something like: smb://ip.address.of.mac/sharename

  • Windows cannot connect to mac server

    Hi,
    I have  problem with a clients windows laptop. It used to be able to connect to their companies mac server. But since he got back from a trip the laptop doesn't connect anymore. I can ping the server. And when I try to redo the network drive I'm promted to enter my credentials. But whatever I enter it doesn't work.
    I already tried to use SERVERNAME\user.... and also checkt sercurity policies.
    Any Ideas? Thanks

    If it worked before but doesn't now something has changed either on the laptop or the Mac server.  Do you have access to the Mac server?  If not, either you or your client should contact the server's system administrator about the problem.

  • Replacing windows desktop with a mac

    I currently have a macbook pro, 2009, and a windows desktop.  I'd like to replace the desktop with a mac, but will need to run windows on it for Quicken.  So, what would be the most economical alternative? A mac mini? I also have Fujitsu scanner for mac which the new computer must support.  I would consider a new or used mac.  Also, is Bootcamp the best way to plan on doing mac and Windows?
    Thanks!

    The Fujitsu ScanSnap works great on the Mac and is accessible through its own software, VueScan, or EverNote among many other software packages. As far as using Windows and Quicken, Bootcamp is an either/or proposition and not both at the same time. On the other hand Parallels Desktop will run Windows and Windows applications on the OS X desktop and happliy transfer data from one environment to the other. In eithercase you will need to purchase and install a copy of Windows and while Windows is running your Mac will be as vulnerable to Windows malware as any Windows computer so you will also need a good security suite that would otherwise be unnecessary. A Mac mini or an iMac would be a more thqan adequate desktop computer. If you are buying an new monitor for the Mac Mini the final price will be pretty close to that of an iMac. If you are planning on using the monitor from your PC then the Mac mini will save you anywhere up to $1,000 or more. I switched from an iMac to a Mac mini when I got tired of essentially buying a new monitor every time I upgraded my computer and I am very please with the performancek of my mini. The Fusion drive helps -- a LOT.

  • Help with a mac Server password to get into mac os 8.6

    how would i get rid of a server password in mac os? Is it the same in all mac os's? After mac os starts, it asks for a password. Is this possible to get rid of it? Any suggestions??
    Thanks,
    Sean

    Is it the same in all mac os's?
    No, in fact there was no OS support for passwords in OS 8.6. In OS 9 this was only available if you enable the Multiple Users function.
    In OS 8.6, they must be running a 3rd party application to provide security.

Maybe you are looking for