Book Image

The macOS User Administration Guide

By : Herta Nava
Book Image

The macOS User Administration Guide

By: Herta Nava

Overview of this book

Apple is pushing the capabilities of its technologies to help users achieve high performance, including improvements in its OS running across all Mac systems, macOS, and new technologies such as M1 Silicon chips. This book walks you through macOS from a system administration and support point of view, exploring its latest features. The book starts by explaining macOS architecture, installation, and startup processes to enable you to get started with the OS. You'll learn how to manage users and discover techniques for user security and privacy. Moving on, you'll get to grips with the macOS file system and learn to manage disks, volumes, and partitions for effective file management. Most of the examples covered in this book are from an administrator's perspective; however, when relevant, a standard user's perspective is also presented. You'll find illustrations for Mac systems running macOS 11 (Big Sur), and when necessary, for macOS 10.15 (macOS Catalina). Finally, you'll explore advanced topics such as networking and using command-line tools for administration tasks. By the end of this macOS book, you'll be well-versed with macOS features, administration tasks, and best practices. You'll also be able to apply the concepts to increase your chances of success in obtaining Apple certifications such as Apple Certified Support Professional (ACSP).
Table of Contents (19 chapters)
18
About Packt

Summary

In this chapter, we explored tools, measures, technologies, and features macOS offers to help you protect your security and privacy, as well as your users'. We saw them grouped into five main areas: system, hardware, application, data and encryption, and user security. You are now aware of which macOS security features protect the system, such as System Integrity Protection (SIP), and the recommended security measures that you should implement to promote a safe environment, such as always requiring the use of secure passwords. At the same time, you know how to enable a firmware password for extra security to avoid unauthorized users bypassing the system startup through keyboard shortcuts. You also know how to use FileVault for full-disk or full-system encryption to protect your data. Finally, you are now aware of the extra features that help you and your users be more secure, such as Screen Time and Find My.

In the next chapter, we will explore some advanced techniques for...