MacTech Group Agenda
Tuesday, April 12, 2011
2:30 to 4:30 pm
Room B3 Hillsborough Bld.
1) Announcements – 5 min
- OIT will support only version 10.5.8 or newer of Mac OS X after Dec 31, 2011
- Apple Education Support Line 800-800-2775 use this number only. Always verify Apple Care Coverage with purchase info.
- OIT does not have a support policy for Boot Camp. & OIT does not support Classic mode at all.
- Mac Collection Licenses and Media info at www.ncsu.edu/software/available-software/product.php?software=106
- Trend Micro Office Scan for Macintosh – www.ncsu.edu/it/antivirus. Managed antivirus for campus.
- OIT Macintosh Support Web Site go.ncsu.edu/mac for updates.
- Unity Macintosh Kit uses /Users/$uid$ in the Active Directory configuration to create a local home on each machine at login
- Modified Unity Macintosh Kits are supported by the unit which has made the modifications.
- OIT supports only Apple, Intel (i386) hardware for Mac OS and software. Only unmodified iOS is supported.
- Please remember to check prices at www.apple.com/education/pricelists/ to verify best price with NC State Marketplace
- Anyone wanting to get access to training and tools for Apple Certified Technician should register at gsx.apple.com Email Everette_Allen@ncsu.edu for Sold-to Account number and approval.
- UNC Combined Pricing Initiative (CPI)
- Casper Suite Server Beta
- Everette and Hal attending sold out WWDC 2011 June 6-10, 2011
2) 3rd Casper Suite License Purchase Done – 5min.
OIT has purchased 2300 seats for MacOS and 300 for iOS of the full Casper Suite for use by partners on campus. The 3rd bulk buy is complete. OIT contributed the initial purchase cost and setup cost of the first buy but funds are no longer available to supplement purchases. There is no commitment from OIT management to cover any cost for the additional seats. The total per seat cost for Mac OS clients is $26.40 and $22.50($13.50 license w/ $9.00 maint.) for iOS to add seats in the 2nd year starting Nov. 30, 2011.
OIT has also purchased the SCCM Plugin which will allow read only inventory data from Casper as a source in SCCM reporting. Discussion.
NOTES: No discussion. Everette announced that OIT had purchased the SCCM Plugin for Casper and would be working with the WolfTech teams to get this set up for read only access to Casper inventory data.
3) Review of Casper Guidelines- 30 min.
Review and discussion of:
General – oit.ncsu.edu/macintosh/casper-suite-nc-state
Smart Groups – oit.ncsu.edu/macintosh/best-practice-using-casper-smart-groups
Packaging – oit.ncsu.edu/macintosh/macos-software-packaging
NOTES: Some discussion around use of the Organization extended attribute. Request to add Apple’s disk image format (DMG) to the approved installer types for Campus delivery. Discussion about pros and cons. Group liked having the option but wanted descriptions of preference and other changes included in the DMG packages. Everette will add DMG to draft rules with language for descriptions of changes. Group will be looking at approval of the draft at May 2011 meeting.
4) North Carolina Casper User’s Group (NCCUG) Formed -10 min.
The North Caroline Casper Users group has formed. Meeting will be quarterly via video conferencing with annual face to face at UNC CAUSE. Web site at go.ncsu.edu/nccug. Email list is subscription by approval only at
http://lists.ncsu.edu/cgi-bin/mj_wwwusr?user=&passw=&func=lists-long-full&extra=nccug.
The first meeting will be April 19, 2011 in B3 Hillsborough Video Conf. Room from 2:30-4:30 pm. Topic for the meeting will be MDM with Casper. Discussion.
NOTES: No discussion.
5) Pad 2 Demo – 30 min.
Quick demo of iPad 2. Discussion.
NOTES: Questions about “killer” features and apps.
6) Q&A – 20 min. You ask we try to answer.
NOTES: Some adhoc discussion about application updates for Fall 2011 delivery came up. PAMS had already requested update of VPython to the latest version (3.x series). Design is interested in Adobe CS 5.5 and Autocad if they are covered at no extra cost under the campus licenses and available by July 1, 2011 for quality assurance. Everette will coordinate with Bill Coker and report back at May meeting. OIT also intends to try to have all software currently in the spring 2011 image available as individual packages for use in Casper by July 1, 2011 if possible.
Also Joe M. from Design suggested that folks have a look at Disk Drill from Clever Files (www.cleverfiles.com/) as he had recently had very good luck recovering a key drive with the software.
Next meeting – Tue. May 10, 2010 in Room B3 Hillsborough from 2:30-4:30 pm.
MacTech – 2nd Tuesday each month 2011: Jan 25, Feb, Mar, Apr, May, Jun, Aug, Sep, Oct, Nov, Dec
MacPolicy – 2nd Tuesday of every other month: 2011: Jan 25, Mar, May, Aug, Sep, Nov.
Neither MacPolicy or MacTech will meet in July 2011.
All meetings will be held in B3 Hillsborough Bld unless otherwise announced.