Client

Refresh MCX Remotely
If you are testing changes to managed preferences or want to force a managed preference update, you can use the mcxrefresh command to force a client to re-read its managed preferences from the server (or directory service) without needing to log out and log in.

Here's how to refresh managed preferences for OS X 10.6 clients:

sudo mcxrefresh –n or sudo mcxrefresh –u

mcxrefresh must be run as root or via sudo.

If the managed preferences data is coming from an Active Directory server, add the –a flag, which will ask for authentication to pass to Active Directory:

sudo mcxrefresh –n –a

If there are no errors, mcxrefresh silently returns without printing anything to the Terminal.

Apple Remote Desktop, Casper or ssh can be used to send this command.

External Mobile Homes
External mobile homes are a great way to provide non-1:1 users mobile homes, e.g. grades 2-5 using mobile carts. The only requirement is that each user have some form of external storage, typically a thumb drive, to store their home.

Here's how to setup external mobile homes for OS X 10.6 clients and OS X 10.6 server:

In Workgroup Manager create a computer group named “Prefs - Login” Select the Login computer group Click Preferences Click the Overview tab Click Login Click the Options tab Click Always manage Check Enable external accounts Click Apply Now Nest appropriate computer groups within this computer group to apply settings

In Workgroup Manager create a computer group named “Prefs - External Mobility” Select the External Mobility computer group Click Preferences Click the Overview tab Click Mobility Click the Account Creation tab Click Manage Always Select “Create mobile account when user logs in to network account” Deselect “Require confirmation before creating mobile account” Click the Options tab Click Always manage Select "Home folder location: user chooses:" any external volume Click the Rules tab Click the Preference Sync tab Click Always manage Uncheck Sync: • at login • in the background • manually Click the Home Sync tab Uncheck Sync: • at login • at logout Select “~” Click Delete (–) Click Browse (…) Select the “Documents” and “Desktop” folders for the current local user Click the Options tab Click Always manage Select Sync in background: Every 7 minutes Click Apply Now Nest appropriate computer groups within this computer group to apply settings

Hint: On the OS X Server hosting mobile homes, check “Server Side File Tracking for Mobile Home Sync” to increase user sync performance (Server Admin > Server name > Settings > General). For this to work, all user mobile user accounts must have a valid shell assigned to their network directory (/bin/bash for example), assigning /dev/null will not work. SSH on the OS X Server hosting mobile homes must not have a SACL applied, see Apple Knowledge Base article TS3241.