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created 11 Feb 2001

Preparing for Mac OS X

Now that the GM release of MacOS X is only about six weeks off, network administrators are now faced with how to really handle this new OS. A lot of them are quite concerned with how to handle it. If you are in a pure desktop environment, you have more ways to control the roll out of new environments, those of us with laptop users have to face the fact that some of our users simply will not be able to keep their hands off a new sparkily toy.

So we have to start planning for March 24th now. This means a lot more to administrators with hundreds, or even thousands of Macs than it does to one with only thirty or forty. But nonetheless, there are still some things that apply equally to all.

First of all, recognize that this OS will require more training than any previous release since perhaps System 7. The UI is different, the operational modality is different, the way it's designed to be used is different. Whether you like what has been done to the interface or not, the fact is, OS X is not the same OS we are all used to, and if you are one of the companies that is using NeXTStep or OpenStep, it's not the same interface you are used to either. So you are going to need to take special care to remind users that simply slapping this OS on their Mac is not going to be like going from OS 8.5 to OS 9.0. Ask them to be patient, so that you will have the time you need to deal with all the new issues that OS X is going to raise, and help ensure that they will have a smoother transition to the new OS.

You are going to need to inventory the applications you and your users depend on, and find out what those vendors are doing as far as Carbon, and / or Cocoa versions of those applications. One of the best resources for checking on updates to Mac applications in general, but OS X applications in particular is VersionTracker's OS X page. If an application is running native in the public beta, then start working with it now, see what's changed and what hasn't. As an administrator, you are going to be a, if not the focal point for questions on the new OS, so the more knowledge you have, the better off you are. If you can, start accumulating applications that will help you now, so that you are ready to go when March 24th rolls around. If you have a good relationship with a software vendor, see if you can get on any beta teams for the OS X version of their products. It may not seem like a good use of your time at first, but having hands on experience with a beta release often gives you not only a heads up on any changes in the new version, (and there will always be changes; as a certain science fiction doctor once said, "I know engineers, they just love to change things."), but quite often gives you a chance to find the lesser known features of a product that really take it from merely handy to indispensable. This in turn, helps you help your users get the most out of the new release sooner than they normally would have.

You are also going to need to review your procedures that deal with backup and recovery of user systems. With any new interface, people are going to make the 'newbie' mistakes that they wouldn't normally make. They're going to lose or delete things, or do other minorly catastrophic things that they wouldn't normally do. So if you've been getting by with minimal backups, this is perhaps the time to rethink that. Get familiar with not only the traditional MacOS ways of doing things, but take a look at Unix-based ways of accomplishing the same tasks. While no one way is absolutely perfect, clever combinations of methodologies can produce excellent results, in ways you may not have anticipated.

When I said that OSX will require more training, I wasn't only speaking of user issues. Adminstrators as well are going to have to get at least comfortable, if not adept at using the functionality provided by the BSD plumbing in OS X. While users should never have to use a command line, or the Unix layer directly, as an Administrator, you are missing out on a lot of features and time savers if you do not start learning how to use these things. Remote administration, in OS X, is a lot more capable out of the box than the current MacOS. The first time you are easily able to SSH into a box, and kill a runaway process, so that the user doesn't have to reboot the Mac, you'll know what I mean. (If you don't know what SSH stands for, or how it is used, that's an excellent starting point.) Things like 'top', and 'ps -f |more', and 'kill -9' are going to be a part of your vocabulary. You can resist them as alien concepts that Mac administrators have no need to know, or embrace them as valuable new additions for your toolbox. Personally, I think the latter is the better way to go. You also will find new ways to use existing tools. Those of you familiar with AppleScript are going to find that you have a new world to work with, as you find ways to link the power of AppleScript and shell scripts to get things done. Is it going to be like falling off a boat? Nope, but it'll be worth the work in the end. Change is happening, and we need to start planning for it, not avoiding it, or hoping that it will fix itself for us.

In the next couple of columns, I'm going to start presenting things that administrators need to look at for OS X, and the new challenges it will present us with.