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9:00am - 9:45am | General Session: Things You Should Know: iOS 5
Arek Dreyer, President, Dreyer Network Consultants, Inc.
Ben Greisler, President, Kadimac,Inc.
Dan O’Donnell, Information Systems Security Officer, RAND Corporation
John Welch, Director of IT, The Zimmerman Agency
Kevin White, Apple Authorized Trainer, Macjutsu, Inc.
In this panel-style session, the MacIT Conference committee members share what they think is most important about iOS 5 from an enterprise perspective. The seasoned conference faculty in this session will focus on the most significant IT challenges brought about by new features in iOS 5. With each panelist given only a few minutes to deliver succinct coverage of their topic, this fast-paced session is designed to provide vital information in a short amount of time.
9:45am - 10:15am | Keynote
Sponsored by: JAMF - Lessons Learned from Large-Scale iOS Deployments
Chip Pearson, Managing Partner, JAMF Software
Although it may seem hard to believe when considering the ubiquity of iOS devices, we have barely scratched the surface of potential for iOS deployment on a large-scale. Administrators who anticipated the ability of iOS to transform organizations have often found the deployment process to be both rewarding and, at times, a process of blazing new trails.
In this moderated panel discussion, administrators from commercial and education organizations will share insights gathered in their experiences with large-scale iOS deployments. What worked, what didn’t work, how they adjusted their thinking as they went along, and a few best practice techniques that may make you ask yourself "why didn’t I think of that?"
10:20am - 11:05am
IT851: How Lion has Changed Mac OS X: Services, Features & Capabilities
Justin Rummel, Sr. Project Manager, Qivliq Commercial Group
Randy Saeks, Network Manager, Northbrook / Glenview School District 30
This discussion will review the major changes between Snow Leopard and Lion, and what it takes to configure these services. There are many changes in Lion--some subtle, and some no so subtle. In either case, though, an admin needs to be aware of the changes and how it impacts them. There are changes in Directory Services, Kerberos, Database Services, Server Control, Machine Management and more. Lion is growing to be a major change vs. little differences that was experienced from Leopard to Snow Leopard. It will be easier to grasp seeing what was once performed is now accomplished by "this new process".
Who Should Attend?
Anyone interested in Lion Server
Attendees Will Learn:
- odutil vs. dsconfig: there are many command line changes when configuring and managing Open Directory; the most obvious as of today is the addition of odutil vs. dsconfig[ad]
- MIT Kerberos vs. Heimdal: Review of what is Heimdal and what are the similarities (and differences) between MIT's Kerberos
- PostgreSQL vs. MySQL: MySQL is MIA, and PostgreSQL is now 'available', but what should the plan be if you are currently using MySQL on Snow Leopard. What is PostgreSQL's primary function within Lion (how Collaboration Services are doing calls to the database vs. a full _running_ database).
- Server.app vs. Server Admin.app: There is a new App in town, and you the confusion level can easily skyrocket to the likes of Directory.app in the /App/Utility folder vs. the Directory Utility.app. What does it do, and when should you use it?
IT852: Understanding and Unlocking the Power of Apple's BSM Auditing System
Todd Heberlein, President, Net Squared, Inc.
Firewalls, network-based intrusion prevention systems, and antivirus software have formed the core of enterprise security for over a dozen years. Unfortunately, as can be seen in weekly headlines, these technologies have not coped well with the rise of professional attackers. To address today’s threats you should begin leveraging one of your computer’s most powerful security technologies – its built-in auditing system. This session introduces Apple’s BSM auditing system and shows attendees how to use it to address modern security threats.
Who Should Attend?
Network/system/security administrators tasked with protecting their computers from insiders, sophisticated attackers, and advanced persistent threats (APTs).
Attendees Will Learn:
Attendees will learn what the BSM auditing system is, how to configure it, and how to interpret its raw results. Attendees will also be shown how to use some of the tools available to detect and analyze a number of different threats.
IT853: Case Study: Offering a Platform Choice at Kelly Services
Jeff Stimac, Systems Engineer, Client & Server Engineering - Global Infrastructure, Kelly Services, Inc.
The journey of an IT department providing a Mac platform choice to enterprise users. Our goal was to: extend essential services using our existing infrastructure and management tools; limit platform choice to users with minimum dependence on Windows-specific applications; and minimize support costs by developing a self-supporting user community. We will discuss the challenges overcome, the compromises made, and provide insights on what would improve adoption of the Mac platform in the enterprise space.
11:10am - 11:40am | Special Mobile Product Briefing Sessions
ITMB4: Delivering Windows Applications to the Mac with VMware Fusion 4
Simon Bennett, Sr. Product Manager, VMware Inc.
Users are demanding Macs but need to continue to access legacy applications and tools that depend on Microsoft Windows. VMware Fusion 4 makes it easy to run Windows, Linux and Mac applications side by side with incredible speed and reliability. Made by the world leader in virtualization, VMware Fusion 4 is the best way to empower your employees with all the applications they need to get the job done.
This session takes a deep-dive into VMware Fusion 4 from the point of view of the system administrator. Learn about new features in version 4, mass deployment strategies and a peek under the covers for the Mac and Windows power user.
11:45am - 12:30pm
IT871: Getting Your Users to Care About Security
Alison Gianotto, Director of Technology, Noise
Once upon a time, simply being a Mac user meant you didn't have to worry too much about security. But times have changed, and social engineering, phishing, and other non-OS dependent attacks are taking center stage. You can lock down the network and enforce security policies on office computers, but with more users working remotely and accessing company systems from their home desktops and mobile devices, your company is more at risk and your job is harder than ever.
So as systems administrators, how do you get your users to care about security, and communicate it in a way that is approachable and really sticks?
Who Should Attend?
System Administrators, Technology Managers
Attendees Will Learn:
- How to prioritize the security information that matters most to your users
- How to deliver that information in a way that gets through and is remembered
- How to get users to start thinking proactively about security
- How to get them to know what they don't know, and that it's okay to ask
IT872: Apple Remote Desktop at MGM - Managing Large Scale Deployments of Macs with ARD and Customized Unix Tasks
Sheri Nikishin, Multimedia Systems Manager, MGM Resorts International
Sheri uses Apple Remote Desktop to manage hundreds of Macs over several locations. She has created and uses over 70 saved Apple Remote Desktop Tasks that use command line tools, shell scripts, and Applescript. Come hear about the problems she has solved with Apple Remote Desktop, and how you can apply her lessons to your environment.
Who Should Attend?
Anyone who has more than a handful of Macs to manage, and wants to learn about customized Apple Remote Desktop tasks
Attendees Will Learn:
How to manage large deployments of Macs with Apple Remote Desktop across multiple physical locations, why the Send UNIX Command is so powerful, create and schedule custom UNIX commands to increase speed and ease of Mac management, things to watch out for.
IT873: Virtualization, Paravirtualization, and Simulation: How to Build, Test, & Prepare for Deployment on Your Laptop
Sara Porter, QA Engineer, iovation
How to use a variety of enterprise and local tools to test your applications and integrations using virtualization of OS's, para-virtualization of applications, and simulations of devices all on your MacBook. It's also a great way to make use of those ol' Minis sitting on the shelf scream in joy and terror when you get 6-12 different OS's ready to run on them. Focuses will be on virtualizing Lion & Windows, para-virtualizing IE for local testing, and simulators for iOS and Android.
Who Should Attend?
Developers looking to test their applications, and sys admins getting ready to try out new platforms in their environments.
Attendees Will Learn:
Advantages and disadvantages in running real and pretend hardware and what some good real world applications are.
12:30pm - 2:00pm Networking Showcase / Lunch
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2:00pm - 2:45pm | General Session: Does Deploying OS X Prepare You for the Great Mobile Migration?
Horace Dediu, Founder & Author, Asymco
For over a decade now Apple has nudged its operating system toward a portable and mobile future. It was the first to fold in wireless and power management technologies. It pioneered network services and interaction optimized for constrained devices. This evolution took a giant leap with OS X for iPhone and ushered in a new mobile computing platform that quickly disrupted telecom value chains. As this transition toward mobility benefitted Apple the company, we can now reflect on the analogous benefits afforded to early adopters of OS X. Firstly, the skills developed in writing and deploying OS X / Cocoa applications are easily portable to OS X Cocoa Touch. Secondly, Apple's early emphasis on wireless technologies has encouraged early adoption of more robust portable computing infrastructures. Thirdly, seamless integration between desktop, portable and mobile computers from Apple allows for smooth transitions and low TCO. Finally, looking forward to a more mobile/cloud computing fabric, Apple's ecosystems are well positioned to enable a more productive mobile workforce.
2:50pm - 3:35pm | IT881: BYOD: Bring Your Own Device
John Welch, Director of IT, The Zimmerman Agency
With the explosion in iOS device usage at all levels of business, many companies and their IT departments have been caught off guard. Many are scrambling to find budget to purchase devices, and people to manage them, to avoid an influx of personal devices being used for work.
The question is, why not let people use their own devices? The management infrastructure for iOS is mature enough that with relatively little work on a company's part, and some collaboration with employees, you can allow people to use their own devices in a reliable manner. Avoid the expense of yet another cycle of hardware replacements, and employees carrying multiple identical devices. Everyone can be happy, and it doesn't have to cost a fortune.
Who Should Attend?
Anyone dealing with or trying to deal with users who want to use their own iPhones, iPads and iOS devices for company business. While specific to iOS, the principles we'll talk about can be applied to other platforms as well.
Attendees Will Learn:
What the real options are for managing iOS devices, and why there's no need to ban personal devices from the corporate network anymore.
IT882: DNS in an iOS World
Ben Greisler, President, Kadimac, Inc.
DNS has always been a key technology in the OS X world and continues to be. WIth the widespread acceptance of iOS for mobile devices special attention to DNS needs to be made. This session will review the need for good DNS and how to achieve it for your iOS deployment.
IT883: Log Files: A Field Guide for the Accidental Sysadmin
Andrea Longo, Software Engineer, Splunk
Your system log files will tell you a million things about what your
machines are up to -- if you only knew what you were looking at. Logs
aren't just for when something goes wrong: regular monitoring gives you a
view of normal activity to identify issues before they become problems.
This session will discuss the most common log files, what you can expect
to find in them and how to use system utilities you already have to
examine them. Topics include system errors, user logins, crash logs and
more.
Who Should Attend?
Novice system administrators: anyone maintaining a server or small network and unfamiliar with Unix system administration tasks.
Attendees Will Learn:
Basic log analysis for both routine monitoring and troubleshooting: how to read log files, identify common types of events, and trace issues through the multiple log files generated by system processes. Some of the files discussed: system.log, kernel.log, secure.log, apache access and error logs, CrashReporter logs.
3:40pm - 4:25pm
IT891: Security Primer for Web Development
Alison Gianotto, Director of Technology, Noise
Seems like you can't open your RSS reader these days without hearing about another major corporation whose webserver's have been breached and their user data compromised. The reality is that many of these breaches could have been prevented through better security practices by developers and admins.
Who Should Attend?
System Administrators; Technology Managers; Developers
Attendees Will Learn:
- Overview of common types of attacks and how they work
- How social engineering combined with insecure code can get you pwned
- Best practices for code development and server configurations, and why they matter
- How to test existing web applications for vulnerabilities
IT892: Assignment Submissions for Loaner iPads
John Turner, Chief Technologist, Assistronics, LLC
Everyday more schools are buying iPads to loan out to students. And after deciding what cool apps to install the conversation turns to how are we going to get the students work off the device? At present there isn't a clear way for all applications to share data. Some apps support Dropbox, some printing, but most apps support email. So the question is how to identify iPad users and make sure their email is configured on the devices with the least effort from the user and the IT staff.
We designed an architecture that includes a checkout system that provides email credentials, which are used to build a custom iOS device profile that can be pushed to the device. In addition there is a custom SMTP gateway that filters emails from devices and can be used to support an implementation without custom profiles. The architecture was designed for a K-12 school system to support over 1000 iPads being added during the next school year. The system is still in development and not all components are fully implemented and tested.
Who Should Attend?
IT managers from K-12 or higher education.
Attendees Will Learn:
Several ways to allow students that are borrowing iPads to submit assignments without requiring manual syncing.
IT893: The Lion File Server
Charles Edge, Partner, 318
It's been a long time since anyone at Macworld needed to give a presentation on file services in OS X. But there are enough changes in Lion to warrant such a presentation. The protocols used to share files are different, the way client systems can access those shares is expanded and the way that permissions are managed is a bit disjointed. And best of all, the documentation seems incomplete in the server administration guide.
But it all gets easier if you just have someone take you through it once. That's what we're going to do in this session. We'll start with a freshly installed OS X Server and then enable file services, configure shares and of course, connect to those shares from a couple of clients. By the end, you'll be a master at the new way of doing things, without spending countless hours (when you could be socializing, studying, drinking, etc.) learning the new way of doing things!
Who Should Attend?
New or seasoned administrators of OS X Servers, from the 3 user Mac Mini environment to the multi-thousand user environments using a SAN as back-end storage for the server.
Attendees Will Learn:
- OS X vs. OS X Server
- Setting up AFP
- Setting up SMB
- Setting up WebDAV
- Configuring FTP
- Setting up AFP clients in OS X
- Configuring Windows to leverage SMB
- Getting iOS to talk WebDAV
- Ports to open on routers
- Managing permissions (ACLs and POSIX)
- How many users to scale various servers to
- Impacts of file types
- Basic troubleshooting in Lion
- Guided data distribution via wikis
- 3rd party products
4:30pm - 6:00pm Networking Showcase