Articles by: pmbuko

If you've ever tried using the command line to change the defult NetBoot image on your OS X Server, you know that it can be a pain in the butt and have probably resigned yourself to just using the GUI — even though it takes seven clicks (from initial launch of Server Admin) to do it.

Because of the numerous times I've wanted to change the default NetBoot image while away from my admin tools — not to mention my increasing distaste for those seven clicks — I came up with a script that makes switching the default NetBoot image from the command line dead simple.

You can read more about it here (including how to install and use it) or download it directly here.

In 10.3 and later, Macs bound to and and autheticating against AD kindly warn you when your password has expired and allow you to change it at the login screen. If you're like me and would rather have more control over that process — in other words, you'd like to choose the time, manner, and place in which your users are warned about approaching password expirations — then the default behavior leaves much to be desired.

Googling for other admins' solutions to this "feature deficit" didn't reveal what I was looking for, so I decided to write my own password expiration warning script and make it as universal as I could. By universal, I mean you shouldn't have to change a single thing in the script to get it to work at your site. It looks up everything it needs using various command line utilities.

Read on for more…