Setup guide

• Remote Apple Events: This service enables the machine to respond to

Apple events from other computers, which may present security risks.

Configuring this capability is out of scope for this guide and it should remain

disabled.

3.5.9 Accounts

The Accounts option in System Preferences allows administrators to create and

configure local user accounts. On a Mac OS X Server system, the only accounts

configured here should be for the system administrators. To edit Accounts settings:

1. Open System Preferences and click on the Accounts icon.

2. Click on the Login Options item.

3. Select Name and password as the setting for Display Login Window

as:. This causes the login window to require both a user name and a

password to be entered. If the List of users option is set, the system will

provide a list of all valid user accounts. Such information should never be

automatically displayed.

4. Uncheck the box for Automatically log in as: if it is checked. If this box

is checked, no login is required for the machine; the user selected in this

option is always automatically logged in. A user should always be required

to authenticate to gain access to the system.

5. Place a check in the Hide the Sleep, Restart, and Shut Down

buttons checkbox to prevent a user from attempting to reboot the

machine into single user mode without first logging into a valid account.

This will not prevent a user from pulling the power cable to abruptly shut

down the computer, unless the power cable is inaccessible to the user.

Further protection for this problem will be discussed later in this chapter.

6. Uncheck the box for Enable fast user switching to disable it.

3.5.10 Date and Time

Some system services, such as the Kerberos authentication system and some e-mail

servers, require that the system keep correct time. To configure date and time:

1. Open System Preferences and click on the Date & Time icon.

2. Click on the Date & Time button at the top of the panel.

3. Set the date and time for the machine.

4. If a local, trusted NTP server is available, enter it into the text field and

check the box for Set Date & Time automatically. Otherwise, uncheck

the box.

5. Click the Time Zone button at the top of the panel and select the

appropriate time zone.

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