Author: aucadmin

Tim NugentPart of XW16

Apple’s new programming language Swift came out of nowhere two years ago to become the most active programming language project on Github. Swift is designed not only to be a great language for writing iOS and macOS programs, but also a great language for server-side programs and scripts.

This workshop will introduce you to the essential features of the language, and demonstrate its use for basic scripting tasks. We’ll also talk about how the language is evolving, and is still very much a moving target.

Tim pretends to be a mobile app developer, game designer, PhD student and now he even pretends to be an author (he co-wrote the latest “Learning Swift” for O’Reilly). When he isn’t busy avoiding being found out as a fraud, he spends most of his time designing and creating little apps and games he won’t let anyone see. Tim spent a disproportionately long time writing this tiny little bio, most of which was trying to stick a witty sci-fi reference in, before he simply gave up.

John KitzmillerPart of XW16

“Oh no… nonononono!” We’ve all been there, deploying a workflow to production and suddenly realizing (often too late) that there are unexpected results. John will share stories of mistakes he made due to a lack of testing, and share some insight into the testing workflows he uses at Fastly.

John Kitzmiller is has helped organizations big and small deploy Apple devices all over the globe. As a Professional Services Engineer for JAMF Software, he deployed Apple devices on 5 continents in some of the largest and most complex environments. As a Senior IT Consultant for The Linde Group, John helped some of the San Francisco Bay Area’s largest and fastest growing companies design their Apple deployments.

John has now taken his skills in house at Fastly, a content delivery network in San Francisco. With some of the tightest security restrictions and privacy concerns he’s ever encountered, John has designed a deployment strategy to support a global user base based on his agile deployment manifesto.

Rich TroutonPart of XW16

OS X has a layered security model, based on the idea that one layer failing should not defeat all safeguards. With OS X El Capitan, there’s a new layer being added called System Integrity Protection (SIP).

This session will cover:

• Apple’s security model as of OS X Yosemite
• Discuss why SIP is being added to the model
• How SIP works
• Implications for managing Macs running OS X El Capitan
• SIP management and reporting

Rich Trouton has been doing Macintosh system and server administration for over eighteen years and has supported Macs in a number of different environments, including university, government, medical research and advertising. His current position is providing support for Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Janelia Research Campus in Ashburn, Virginia.

Rich TroutonPart of XW16

Documentation is many things: surrogate memory, teaching tool, an emergency tool, and vacation-saver. One thing it is not is spontaneously generated; somebody needs to write it! This session will cover why you should have documentation, when it needs to be created, and how to compose documentation to best address different potential audiences.

The session will also discuss tips and tools, with the goal of helping you quickly create documentation that answers others’ questions without their needing to interrupt your train of thought or your vacation.

Rich Trouton has been doing Macintosh system and server administration for over eighteen years and has supported Macs in a number of different environments, including university, government, medical research and advertising. His current position is providing support for Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Janelia Research Campus in Ashburn, Virginia.

Registrations have now closed.

Sessions details for some X World sessions have now been posted, with more to come soon, and registrations have opened for the event. Early-bird registrations close June 8 – be sure to register prior to then to obtain the best rate! If you’re interested in presenting, late submissions may still be considered if submitted via our CFP form.

We have a great X World program this year, and have once again partnered with JAMF Software to bring you the latest information on OS X and iOS deployment.  We hope to see you there!

Marcus Ransom, RMIT UniversityPart of XW16

DEP has revolutionised the way we approach Mac OS X deployment, but there are scenarios when this workflow is not the best approach or we simply do not have access to the required tools or systems. This session will look at the different options we have to get our Macs into production and ready for use as well as some of the tools we can use to achieve this in the most efficient way possible.

Marcus has been integrating Apple devices into various enterprise environments for over a decade, from small design studios through to large one to one iPad programs. In his current role as the Lead Apple Technician at RMIT University, he is responsible for the integration and support of the Apple fleet into the wider University. Understanding the changing Apple ecosystem and developing a community amongst Apple system administrators are two objectives that motivate him to improve the way Apple devices are supported and perceived in the wider IT environment. Marcus co-ordinates Melbourne Apple Admins (http://melbourneappleadmins.org.au) and also co-presents the MacAdmins.org podcast (http://podcast.macadmins.org)

Marcus Ransom, RMIT UniversityPart of XW16

Binding a Mac to a directory service is the traditional way of providing authentication and authorisation in education or enterprise scenarios. Directory services such as Open Directory or Active Directory were designed when computers stayed connected to a domain 24/7 but this is often the exception rather than the rule these days. What are the options for providing integration with corporate directory services for different deployment scenarios and what sort of questions should we be asking when we are deciding on how to set up our fleet?

Marcus has been integrating Apple devices into various enterprise environments for over a decade, from small design studios through to large one to one iPad programs. In his current role as the Lead Apple Technician at RMIT University, he is responsible for the integration and support of the Apple fleet into the wider University. Understanding the changing Apple ecosystem and developing a community amongst Apple system administrators are two objectives that motivate him to improve the way Apple devices are supported and perceived in the wider IT environment. Marcus co-ordinates Melbourne Apple Admins (http://melbourneappleadmins.org.au) and also co-presents the MacAdmins.org podcast (http://podcast.macadmins.org)