Author: aucadmin

Adrian Johnson, Code42Part of XW14

In this talk Adrian will discuss the value of an endpoint data protection and management platform, and how businesses can tap into an enterprise platform to meet e-discovery and compliance needs. He’ll also explain how IT should leverage enterprise-grade tools to enable employees and eliminate “the shadow IT, consumer tools problem.” By reference to Code 42’s global customers and their experience, he will provide practical examples of how effective management of data on the edge can lead to enhanced productivity while ensuring the protection of valuable IP.

Intended Audience: IT administrators, security manager/administrators, infrastructure & desktop managers who have responsibility for end user experience & security.

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Adrian Johnson is the Managing Director of Code 42, Australia & New Zealand,
focused on delivering customer delight and building a thriving community of channel partners.

He holds a master’s degree in Business and Technology from the University of New South Wales and is a graduate of the Royal Australian Naval College.

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Judit Klein, Auckland University of TechnologyPart of XW14

Managing and deploying iPads in any context can be challenging, but how about doing it in an environment where Internet access is limited and power going out is a very real possibility?

The Digital Learning Room project by Rotary aims to help bridge the digital divide in the Pacific Islands. In February this year, a team from Rotary and AUT University took 70 iPads, Mac Mini servers, Airport Extremes, Apple TVs and other assorted hardware to two high schools on Taveuni Island in Fiji.

This presentation covers how we approached the technical setup and deployment, as well as the challenges faced in implementing the setup on the group and managing iPads in this context: the successes, the pitfalls, the implications for long term sustainability and why sometimes, you just have to break the rules laid down by Apple.

This talk is broadly intended for anyone interested or involved in deployment of iOS devices or from education backgrounds.

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Judit is a student at AUT University, integrating iOS development as a core component of her research for the Master of Creative Technologies degree.

She also works at the Centre for Learning and Teaching at AUT as a Learning and Teaching Technology Enabler (or, LATTE), assisting in the professional development of staff with specific focus on technical literacy and iPads in teaching, research and education.

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Richard Smith, University of WaikatoPart of XW14

This talk covers what we use and support in the Faculty of Education that allows us to continue to provide secure administered Apple gear, while also allowing end users the flexibility to choose for themselves what they want to use, and how they want to use it.

The presentation provides a quick run through of how we deploy an iPad from receipt, through to end user training/setup, including:

• Apple Configurator
• Casper management suite
• iCloud
• Google Apps & 2-step authentication

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Richard is an Apple Technician and Computer Consultant on the University of Waikato’s Innovation & Technology Team.

His job primarily involves dealing with hardware problems and liaising with Apple Service Providers for repairs. He is also responsible for the set up, distribution and support of Apple gear within the Faculty of Education.

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Marcus Ransom and Tania Dastres, Part of XW14
RMIT University

Enterprise IT support has its foundation in providing a managed environment, which users can often perceive as controlling and counterproductive. As Apple devices gain more visibility and popularity in traditional enterprise environments, much more emphasis is placed on user experience than ever before, which can often be at odds with existing policies. How can you maintain the experience that Apple users know and expect while still complying with high level enterprise objectives?

By providing access to tools and services that enable our users to get the most out of their Macs, via Casper Self Service, we have repositioned a managed operating environment to be one that empowers rather than restricts.

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Marcus Ransom has been integrating Apple devices into various enterprise environments for over a decade, from small design studios through to 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.

Tania Dastres has worked in IT for more than 8 years, all of which have been in Apple support. She started in Applecare Tier 1 Support in Brisbane and has spent the last 6 years supporting Mac OS X and iOS users at RMIT University. She is the technical lead for the RMIT MacWorks Project, endeavouring to design and implement a MOE with Casper on 1,200 staff Macs, in what has been a predominantly unmanaged environment. She enjoys using tools like Pashua and cocoaDialog to provide a GUI for scripts that empower and support users via Casper Self Service.

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Dale Hills, University of WaikatoPart of XW14

Is your institution asking you to do more with less? Staff numbers increasing but support staff numbers dwindling? The Faculty of Education at the University of Waikato show you how you can fight back with the Casper Management Suite.

This session will look at the technical aspects of how we have leveraged the Casper to automate as many aspects of Mac administration as we can. I’ll share with you how we’re using Casper for Deployment, Software Distribution, Compliance, Inventory and Reporting, and staff Self Service and demonstrate a few of our own innovations.

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Dale is the Systems Administrator and team leader of the technical support team for the Faculty of Education, Waikato University. Dale spends most of his time managing and tuning in-house computer software systems, applications, and network connections to ensure high levels of availability and security of the supported applications. Additionally, Dale oversees the work of the Technical Support Group staff and his team supports a mixed environment of OS X and Windows.

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Tony Williams, University of New South Wales

As support and sysadmin staff we seem to spend far too much time looking at a shell prompt. There are better ways. An interactive programming language closely coupled to the shell and the system provides a better tool.

In this presentation I’ll show how the features of IPython make it an ideal tool for system administration tasks.

Topics covered wil include:

• Why IPython?
• Installing IPython
• Talking to Active Directory and Open Directory
• Parsing log files
• Reading and writing plist preference files
• Gathering system information

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Tony is currently a Computer Support Officer at the School of Computer Science & Engineering at UNSW Australia. He has previously been an IT Manager, programmer, sysadmin and Desktop Support Officer, working at a number of Australian Universities. He was also Associate Editor at Australian Macworld.

His current duties vary from resetting passwords to babysitting School servers. His current projects include shifting users and their e-mail from School servers to the University’s Exchange system using a number of Python scripts and developing a number of tools to interrogate the University’s Active Directory using bash scripts and Python.

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Jon Rhoades, University of MelbournePart of XW14

Munki has become over the last few year the leading open source Mac deployment and update platform. However it is largely command line/text file based, it has a steep learning curve and is hard for teams to manage.

Munki Taming

This workshop provides an introduction to Munki and aims to take away the pain of the command line and xml files using higher level tools for running a manageable/secure/scalable Munki instance. The workshop requires no previous Munki experience.

Munki Whispering

This workshop focuses on more advanced tools and techniques to improve your Munki workflow and better manage your Munki instance.

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Jon is an IT Officer at St Vincent’s Institute, which is part of the Department of Medicine at the University of Melbourne. He currently manages the service lifecycle of a fleet of Macs – both deployment and ongoing support.

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X World is our annual training event for OS X and iOS system administrators and support staff, and will be held at UTS, Sydney, on the 3rd and 4th of July, 2014.

This year we’re partnering with JAMF Software – developers of the Casper management suite – to bring you an event packed with the latest and best information on deployment and management of Macintosh and iOS devices.

X World is also about how members of our own community are dealing with Apple in the enterprise, and will feature workshops, lecture presentations and a number of social events to facilitate networking. It’s a fantastic way to keep up with others who work with and manage systems based on Apple technology, and a great opportunity to make valuable contacts.

We are now calling for presenters who wish to offer sessions and workshops at X World 2014. If you have a background in the installation, configuration, deployment, or on-going administration of OS X based systems, or experience in iOS deployment, management and app development, or if you work in related areas, we’d really like to hear from you. Presenters will receive free registration to X World and a subsidy of between $250 and $450 to go towards flights and/or accommodation, depending on departure point.

This call for presenters closes Thursday 17 April, 2014, and offers can be made by completing the submission form.

Registrations for X World 2014 will open in May.