Installing Software on All CCIC Macs Using the MacAdmin Server

Installing software on all of the CCIC Macs involves many steps. Basically, you are placing software files in either the "Common Files" folder or in the folder specific to the machine group that the affected PC or PCs belong. Loading software files to a machine group file is only necessary if a software package or any file is not part of the "minimal" software image. That is, it is not part of the base collection of applications and files that can fit on the machines with the smalest hard drives. Currently the smallest hard drives are the Power Macintosh 7100/66 PCs that have only 500 MB available. Software that should go on all PCs other than the small hard drives should be loaded to the "Standard PCs" folder in the "Machine Groups" folder. only supposed to go into a limited number of PCs, instead of all of the PCs. Both the "Common Files" folder and the "Machine Groups" folder are located on the PC serving MacAdministrator in the "Network Files" folder, in the "MacAdmin Server" folder in the "MacAdministrator" folder on the hard drive.

Rather than load new applications on the server and take chances that a conflict will arise or some other calamity befall the server, you should install any new software titles on a "guinea pig" Power Macintosh PC that is not part of the CCIC lab. This machine should not have the CCIC protection scheme installed but it should be connected to PittNet. Important: The prototype (guinea pig) PC should NOT have file sharing enabled prior to installing any new software. This can be assured by selecting the "File Sharing" command under the "Control Panels" option under the Apple menu. In the "File Sharing" window, file sharing should be listed as "off."

  1. On the prototype PC, take an inventory of the "Preferences" folder and the "Extensions" folder. Both of these folders are located in the System Folder. Before taking an inventory, note the exact time and date that both of these folders were last modified. A good way to take an inventory of the contents of these folders is to open the folder, select the display to "View: as List" and then make sure the list is sorted "by Name." Then select the "Print Window" command under the Finder's File menu. With a hard copy of the inventory of both the "Preferences" and the "Extensions" folder, you should be able to tell what files have been added after the installation. If you are only updating a single file or a series of files that you know exactly where to place, you need not worry about this step. This step, however, is extremely crucial if you are using a software company's installer utility. Also, take a minute to write down the last date and time that the PC's "Extensions" folder has been modified.

     

  2. Load the CD or the first floppy disk containing the new software and begin the installation process. When the installation is finished and the PC has restarted (if the installer required it) look on the hard drive of the PC to locate the name of the folder containing the new application.

     

  3. Move the newly-created folder to the "Applications" folder of the prototype PC. The Applications" folder should be on the main hard drive directory just as any CCIC machine would have.

     

  4. Open the application folder and locate the application icon. Make an alias of this file and place the alias on the desktop of the prototype. Edit the name of the alias file so that " alias" is removed.

     

  5. Run the application by double clicking on the icon. Since this is the first time the application has been run on the prototype machine, you may be prompted for registration information. Have this information - especially serial numbers - handy and enter it when prompted. Even if you are not prompted to register, this session with the application is your opportunity to set default preferences for the application as it will run on all machines in the CCIC. Even if you change nothing in how the application runs, you need to open it at least once so that a preferences file is created.

     

  6. Exit from the application. This is where the process gets tricky. In order to sucessfully transfer the installed application from the prototype PC to the server image and all of the CCIC PCs, you have to determine exactly what files were loaded on the PC. The most likely locations are in a folder for the application that can be moved en masse to the "Applications" folder on the server image, the "Preferences" folder in the system folder and in the "Extensions" folder. Many applications write to a preference file once certain settings have been established. Therefore, locating an application's preference file should be relatively easy by using the "View: as list" command and then setting the "Arrange" command to "By date modified." A recently created of modified preference file should be at or near the top of the list.

    Looking for extensions and/or libraries that have loaded can be more difficult since Macintosh file names can be transferred via a copy procedure without modifying the dates of any individual files. However, any folders that files have been installed into should have a modified date. So to make sure that an extension has been loaded to the "Extensions" folder, keep careful track of the "Extensions" folder's modification date before and after an install. If an extension existed before and after the installation but has a different size and/or date, keep track of this extension or extensions. Many applications will load different, often newer versions of Macintosh system extensions in order to assure that there software will run as expected. This is usually not a problem except for the rare conflict that may occur between an updated extension and another extension.

     

  7. Other applications (such as the Claris suite) use an entirely separate folder within the system folder for settings and libraries. It is a good idea to take a look at the contents of the system folder arranged by "Last modification date" just to make sure that no files or folders have been overlooked.

     

  8. Once you have identified all of the files that you think are part of the software's successful installation, you may bebefit from trying an experimental load of the software onto a second prototype (test) PC before loading everything to the server for CCIC consumption. This is beneficial since you can then interactively test the application and determine whether it has all of the files that it needs to run. If it doesn't, many applications will let you know which files are missing.

    Before loading the new application's files on the test PC, take note of any extensions that you know were replaced with newer versions on the first protoype PC. Go onto the test PC and move the old versions of these extensions to someplace outside of the "Extensions" folder, just in case a conflict arises and you need a copy of the old extension.

     

  9. You don't have to use MacAdmin to get software to the test PC. Just set up file sharing on the test PC so that you can mount its hard drive from the prototype PC. This can be done in several quick steps:

     

  10. One point of evaluation to keep in mind is the overall size of the software that you will be loading in relation to the amount of space available on the smallest of the CCIC hard drives. One way to calcualte the size of the application is to load all of the files into one temporary folder and then click once on the folder and select the "Get Info" command under the File menu.

     

  11. When you are ready to load the software to the server, keep in mind what time of day it is and any classes scheduled to use the CCIC class area. Remember, any software that you add to the image will load automatically to any machine that restarts in the lab. The best time to move over software files is later in the day when a class is not meeting.

     

  12. Moving software to the PC running MacAdmin involves using AppleShare to mount the hard drive of "Frippery" in the "SCHED" AppleTalk zone. The password for the PC should be accessible in the server room or attached to the PC itself. Loading should be from the prototype PC or the test PC, whichever was working better.

     

  13. Move the software and all associated files to the server. If the software is part of the base (minimal) image, move the application folder to the "Applications" folder under "Common Files" and the extensions and preferences to the "Extensions" or "Preferences" folder within the system folder of "Common Files." Please note that some library files may also need to go into the extensions folder. Software that should go on all PCs other than the small hard drives should be loaded to the "Applications" and respective "Extensions" and "Preferences" folders that are located within the "Standard PCs" folder in the "Machine Groups" folder. Accordingly, software designated for a smaller machine group should be copied to folders within the appropriate folder within the "Machine Groups" folder.

     

  14. Once the software and all the associated files are on the server, any PC that re-starts will (via the Common Restore MacAdministrator agent) receive all of the files before presenting a usable desktop. Common Restore can also be set to initiate automatically to any PCs on in the middle of the night or some other time when the lab is closed. This however, only seems to work for 25% of the PCs when it is tried with all of the PCs on. One solution is to have a lab consultant re-start one fourth of the PCs two hours prior to closing, another fourth an a hour prior to closing, a fourth before leaving and then letting the timed "Common Restore" take care of the remaining fourth overnight. NOTE: new software should never be attempted to load if there is an early class scheduled for the lab the next morning since there is too much risk that the machines will be hung up trying to load software while an instructor is stuck trying to illustrate something with no available PCs. Therefore, insist on at least 48 hours notice for new software installations for any classes.

     

  15. The last step involves going onto the MacAdmin PC and setting file sharing on any new folders that are appearing for the first time on the server PC. This can be done quite easily: