Mac OS X: The Missing Manual, Panther Edition

Managing Groups

As noted earlier in this chapter, the circuitry of Mac OS X’s file-sharing software doesn’t let you create and manipulate groups. As your networking setup becomes more complex, being able to work with subsets of the people on your network can be a great timesaver.

For example, you might create groups called Marketing, Temps, and Executives. Later, you can permit an entire group of these people access to a particular file, folder, or disk in one fell swoop. (Groups are also the key to letting Standard account holders on your network see and access secondary drives on your Mac OS X computer.)

Phase 1 involves creating and naming the groups you want. It requires NetInfo Manager, an advanced utility program that comes with Mac OS X. Phase 2 involves assigning those groups to individual disks, files, or folders on your system. The following pages walk you through both procedures.

Creating Groups

To set up groups, start by opening NetInfo Manager, which is in your Applications→ Utilities folder.

Defining and naming the group

Here’s how you might go about creating a new group called Executives and then adding the names of three employees to it. (These steps assume that you’ve already created accounts for these people, as described in Chapter 11.)

1. In NetInfo Manager, click the tiny padlock in the lower-left corner.

   A dialog box appears, prompting you for an administrator’s name and password. The Mac is just checking to make sure that somebody with a clue is at the helm. ...