System information
83Chapter 6 Managing Users
Imported User Accounts
Imported user accounts remain in your organization’s directory server. You can
supplement imported accounts with contact information, group membership
information, and so forth. The supplemental information is stored in your server’s
directory. When someone uses an imported user account, your server automatically
combines the account information stored in the directory server with supplemental
account information stored in your server’s directory.
If your server has imported user accounts, you can use Server Preferences to edit an
account’s supplemental information in your server’s directory, but not the account
information in your organization’s directory. An administrator of that directory can edit
its account information using tools for the directory server.
Local User Accounts
Users with administrator privileges on their Macs can create local user accounts using
the Accounts pane of System Preferences. These local user accounts are stored on the
user’s computer. Local user accounts have home folders on the computer and can
be used for logging in to the computer. Users can’t use their computers’ local user
accounts to access the server over the network.
Like users’ Macs, your server has local accounts in addition to server accounts and
possibly imported accounts. Your server’s local accounts can be used to log in to it, and
a local account with administrator privileges can be used to administer the server. For
information about administrator privileges, see “About Administrator Accounts,” next.
Types of User Accounts Compared
The following table summarizes key dierences among server accounts, imported
accounts, and local accounts.