System information

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Parallels Mac Management Features
Some of the items will be populated with the default values, some will be empty. If this is a new
configuration profile, only the Configuration Item and the General payloads will show the editable
fields. All others will contain just the Configure button. Specifying the values for a particular payload
is optional. If you see only the Configure button and no editable fields, it means that the payload is
currently excluded from the configuration profile and will not be evaluated. If you already specified
the values and want to remove the entire payload from the profile, click the red X icon in the upper
right hand corner.
Allowing Users to Specify Mac OS X Profile Settings Interactively
When setting up a Mac OS X profile for multiple users, it may not be possible to specify all of the
settings in advance. For example, when configuring the Exchange payload, the user account, email
address, and password must be specified individually for each user. In a case like this, you may
allow Mac users to provide the required settings interactively when the profile is applied on a Mac.
Some of the editable fields on payload screens are marked in light gray as required, set on device,
and optional. Required fields must have a value or you will not be able to save the profile. "Set on
device" fields can be mandatory or optional and most likely should be set on an individual Mac (e.g.
user names and passwords). Optional fields are optional. The logic that determines whether the
profile is applied on a Mac interactively or silently is as follows:
• To use the interactive mode, enter the %user_interaction_required% tag into a field
instead of the actual value. If a payload contains this tag in at least one field, a Mac user will be
prompted to manually enter all of the missing settings. The interactive mode will be used even if
none of the missing settings are actually required on the Mac OS X side. You can enter the
%user_interaction_required% tag into any field that you want a user to set manually,
including required, set-on-device, and optional fields.
• If a payload does not contain the %user_interaction_required% tag, an attempt will be
made to apply the profile on a Mac silently. If the profile cannot be applied silently (one or more
settings that are required on the Mac OS X side are missing), the interactive mode will be used
and the user will have to specify them manually.
In the interactive mode, a standard System Preferences dialog will be opened in Mac OS X for each
corresponding payload where the user will have to specify the required settings. The dialog has the
Install and Cancel buttons. To apply the settings, the user clicks the Install button. If the specified
values are invalid, the user will have to enter them again. On success, a report will be sent to
SCCM. If the user clicks the Cancel button, the profile installation is aborted and an appropriate
report is sent to the administrator.
Please also note that when you create a Mac OS X configuration profile using the Profile Manager,
you have an option to set the Profile Distribution Type to Automatic Push or Manual Download.
When you use the profile editor in the Configuration Manager console (described in this section),
the distribution type is always Manual Download. The requirements for specifying certain settings
are not as strict with the Manual Download distribution type.