Mac® Security Bible

26.1. Configuring Open Directory

Like so many aspects of Mac OS X Server, Open Directory has a seemingly endless number of configurable options. If you know where to look and you dig deep enough, you can uncover a startling array of preferences and fiddly settings — the better to customize your server's behavior to your exact specifications. Apple's own documentation, the free PDF Open Directory Administration (available at www.apple.com/server/macosx/resources/documentation.html), is about 300 pages long, and even at that, it may not address every single detail you care about — although some of Apple's other guides for Mac OS X Server administrators pick up part of the slack.

Needless to say, given the complexity of Open Directory, I can only scratch the surface in this book. So, I want to look at Open Directory from a relatively high level, concentrating on the basic steps you can take to use this service safely for authentication and directory services on your network. This involves a handful of settings that affect Open Directory's overall functioning as well as the crucial process of setting up users and groups.

26.1.1. Activating Open Directory

Depending on the choices you made when you installed Mac OS X Server, Open Directory may already be active — in fact, that's the most likely situation by far. Unlike most services, Open Directory can't simply be turned on or off by clicking a button. It's automatically active if you've chosen a role other than Standalone Server (as ...