BINDING INTO COUGARNET USING MAC OS AND OS X

Getting Started

Before you can configure your Mac, running MacOS or OS X, to bind into CougarNet, you will need to make sure that your operating system software is up-to-date. To update your software, use the About This Mac menu, located underneath the Apple menu in the upper-left corner, and click Software Update... or get the updates directly from Apple’s website at http://www.apple.com/downloads/.

Also, you will need to get with your local Windows/AD administrator to create a machine profile on the local AD realm for your Mac that you wish to bind. This is the exact same procedure that PC users have to do before they can join CougarNet. Have your AD admin create you a machine profile with the default settings and have it directly associated with your individual CougarNet account. You will need to authenticate with your CougarNet username and password when you bind your Mac to CougarNet. Any questions related to the creation of a profile will need to be passed along to your local AD administrator.

Configuring the users and Groups Pane

The Users & Groups preference pane, located in System Preferences is where you will need to go to complete the binding process.

To start, go under the Apple Menu in the upper left corner and select System Preferences:

From there, click on the Users & Groups icon and you will be taken to the main Users & Groups window. Click on the Login Options at the bottom of the left column and you will see a new window appear: Click lock on lower left, enter user login password to unlock. 

You will see a “Join...” button where it says, “Network Account Server.” Press that button and you will see a new pop-up window appear. In the blank that says, “Server,” type in cougarnet.uh.edu

The utility will connect to the server and present 3 fields for configuration. In the “Client Computer ID” field, enter the Computer Name assigned to your machine by your local AD administrator. In the “AD Admin User” and “AD Admin Password” fields, enter in your CougarNet username and password:

***NOTE: Your CougarNet account info will work as long as your local AD administrator has configured the Computer Name in AD to be associated with your login. If not, an AD administrator will need to enter in their credentials to complete the binding process.

After entering in the correct information, press the OK button to continue. Your Mac will now connect to the CougarNet servers and complete the binding process. Once complete, you will be taken back to the main Users & Groups/Login Option window. You will now see cougarnet.uh.edu listed with a green status dot, as the Network Account Server:

Now that the setup process is complete, the last setting to change will be to disable the auto login feature to allow a login window to appear after restart. Change the status to Off and also select the Name and Password option for the login window.

After you make all of your changes to the Users & Groups/Login Option window, be sure to restart your Mac. After reboot, you will be prompted by a login screen asking for a username and password. Type in your CougarNet username and password and you will now be able to login and use a local home folder.

***NOTE: Binding into CougarNet will automatically configure Address Book as well as Mail for use with the UH Exchange Global Address List. No additional configurations are necessary. If you have previously configured Address Book/Mail via LDAP for the UH Exchange Address Book, be sure to remove those settings.

YOU’RE DONE!

This completes the basic setup for binding a OS X Mac to CougarNet. For information about the advanced configuration features, please visit the next section titled, “Advanced Settings Using Directory Utility.”

Advanced Settings Using Direct Utility

Now that your machine is bound to the CougarNet domain, gives computer administrators the ability to customize the Active Directory plug-in to fit their individual needs. To makes changes to the default settings, you will need to open the Directory Utility application. In, the Directory Utility is located at /System/Library/ CoreServices/. Double-Click on Directory Utility and you should see the following:

In the above window, unlock the lock, if not already unlocked, by clicking on the icon in the bottom-left corner and you will be prompted for a administrator username and password. This is the local username and password that you use to administer your Mac. Double-click on the Active Directory listing to configure:

If the Advanced Options area is not visible, be sure to expand the triangle button to make them visible. The options available to configure will be listed in the advanced options section. Here is a description on what the above options in the User Experience Tab do:

-             Create mobile account at login: This option allows anyone that authenticates to their Mac with an CougarNet username and password to be able to take the Mac off the network and still have the ability to login. The password will be cached locally on that machine after initial login. This is the recommended checkbox to enable for laptops and any other portable machines that may be moved from place to place, use wireless connections, and for those machines that get taken off-campus.

-             Force local home directory on startup disk: This will create a local home in your /Users folder that matches the CougarNet username. This will allow a person to store files locally on that computer. This is the recommended checkbox to enable for all machines that use ethernet connections and that stay here on campus, like a computer lab machine or an office machine that never moves.

-             Use UNC path from Active Directory to derive network home location: This will allow an authenticated AD user to use their home folder that is stored on the servers to use as their home folder for their files instead of the Mac local home. Any Mac user needing to use the actual CougarNet home folder/profile will not be able to connect without using third party software. Leave this checkbox unselected is the preferred method, but leaving it selected should not create any usability issues.

-             Default user shell: If you wish to change the authenticated user’s shell, you can do this here.

The Mappings and Administrative tabs can also be configured to meet individual needs. Usually, the “Allow administration by” section of the Administrative tab is the most commonly used. Contact your local AD administrator for information about using the correct OU names for your group, if you wish to grant access based off of groups.

Information and Support

If you have any questions and or comments about using the the built-in Mac OS X VPN Client, submit all discussion to the UH Mac Users Email List. The email address for the list is uh-mac-users@listserv.uh.edu.

For information on subscribing to the list, please read the below instructions:

1) Submit the request using the email account you wish to have LISTSERV messages sent to.

2) The request should be sent to: LISTSERV@LISTSERV.UH.EDU

3) Leave the Subject line empty.

4) Format the body of the message as follows: SUBSCRIBE UH-MAC-USERS

*** Make sure that you do not have an automatic email signature in the body of the message.  Having one enabled will cause problems with the subscription request.

For all additional questions related to your CougarNet account, or any other matter, please submit them to the IT Support Center at 713-743-1411 or via email at uitsupport@uh.edu.

For a pdf version of these instructions, download the attached documentation below. If you are doing this remotely please be connected to UHVPN. 

If you need additional assistance, please contact the IT Support Center at 713-743-1411 or Live Chat.

NOTE: The documents are in PDF format. If you do not have the Adobe Acrobat Reader installed, you can download it from the Adobe Reader download page.