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

Troubleshooting with logs

Logs are the most effective and accurate resource to troubleshoot most of the issues you encounter with your Mac and macOS. Take into account that reading and interpreting logs requires more advanced skills and that it's commonly used by experienced support and administration technicians. However, you can still find clues about what could have gone wrong by following a log as it records a specific procedure, such as an installation, and identify key phrases, especially where the procedure stops and shows errors.

The Console app is where you will find all the logs for macOS, including installation, Wi-Fi, and system logs. You can also find diagnostics reports that have been generated by the system here. For example, you will find install.log, which helps troubleshoot installation issues. It shows details such as when and where an application, including macOS and its components, was installed or updated, if authentication was granted (when required), and the...