Best Imaging Software License Beyond The#

As with many aspects of IT, having the right tool for the job is the key to managing a new or existing population of Apple desktops and notebooks.Here is our list of the 10 best OS imaging and deployment software: ManageEngine OS Deployer (FREE TRIAL) This service works offline as well as online and protects devices by managing OS. It is no longer in active development and Pixelmator Pro is our latest and greatest Mac image editor.Deploying and supporting Macs presents distinct challenges, particularly in organizations where Macs are in the minority or are being introduced for the first time. Powerful, full-featured image editor for Mac. With Technological Advances in raster to vector conversion, this best Image Vectorizer program for Mac does an impressive job of vectorizing raster bitmap images and convert them to crisp, clean, scalable fine line art illustrations and. Super Vectorizer Pro for Mac is used to vectorize image for personal and professional projects alike, whether you are a hobbyist or an graphic design company.

For monolithic imaging, the process by which you create a snapshot of one workstation and copy it to others, nothing beats Apple's Disk Utility and Apple Software Restore, both of which are included free with every Mac OS X install.Disk Utility comes as both a GUI tool and the diskutil command-line option. 1 and 2: Disk Utility and Apple Software RestoreIf you have more than a couple of Macs to deal with, you'll need an easy way to configure them. If I missed a favorite free Mac tool, please highlight it in the comments below.Essential Mac tools Nos. As you'd expect, the list focuses on the core areas of systems administration: deployment, client management, and directory integration. The better news is that many of the best are available for free, whether from Apple, as open source projects, or as free/donationware creations of other Mac administrators and IT professionals.Facebook, Flickr, 500px, and Picasa Web Albums sharing (Mac OS X 10.5 or later required) Where It Excels Lyn is a very versatile photo manager that works the way you want to work.Here you will find the top 22 tools - most of them free - for managing the Macs in your IT environment. The good news is that there are many tried and true solutions for handling common Mac deployment and management tasks.

When used for multicast streaming, one Mac hosts the stream via asr commands for others to join. It can be used to image a Mac from a disk image on a local drive, a network share, or a multicast stream (the best option for mass deployments). Dmg format, which makes it perfect for capturing a configured volume for monolithic imaging.Apple Software Restore, which is available only from the command line as asr, allows you to locally or remotely deploy disk images to one or more clients. It also offers the ability to clone volumes and create disk images using the.

Best Imaging Software License Beyond The

As with NetInstall, many deployment-related tasks can be included in the NetRestore process.Both NetInstall and NetRestore come with the current release of Lion Server and require no client or usage license beyond the cost of Lion Server (a $49 add-on to the $29 Lion).Heterogeneous organizations looking to standardize on a single deployment tool should check out DeployStudio, a freeware monolithic imaging solution for Mac and Windows clients.DeployStudio offers local disk deployment, network deployment, and multicasting. It can be configured to automatically deploy specific images or to allow clients to select from available images. (It is not monolithic imaging per se, though that is possible.) It also performs pre- and post-install tasks such as disk partitioning, directory binding, and application installation.NetRestore is designed around ASR and provides a broader range of options for monolithic imaging. 3 and 4: NetInstall and NetRestoreBuilding off of Apple's free image-based offerings are two features of the company's Mac OS X Server: NetInstall and NetRestore.Network booting has been a staple since OS X Server debuted, and Apple has built off the NetBoot concept with NetInstall and NetRestore, both of which allow servers to host boot volumes, thereby enabling clients to boot directly from the network based on your deployment options.NetInstall is designed for booting into the OS X installer utility and allows admins to configure options for a traditional OS X install. Be sure to check out SuperDuper and Carbon Copy Cloner for image capture and basic single-Mac deployment, and Blast Image Config for setting up ASR sessions.Essential Mac tools Nos.

Coupled with StarDeploy or Munki, this method makes it easy to add, remove, or update almost any item over the network, including browser bookmarks, security certificates, and default system or application settings.(Note: Adobe doesn't use Apple's package format, but Munki does support remote install of Adobe applications.)Essential Mac tools Nos. These network-based solutions, along with the commercial Apple Remote Desktop, allow admins to deploy packages in the background they're excellent updating tools as well.Because packages are simply a series of files along with instructions for their ultimate location in a Mac's file system, you can easily configure non-application packages for deploying configuration files and documents. While these are typically installed by a user, OS X supports package deployment without user intervention - for example, by adding packages to a NetInstall workflow.Organizations looking to deploy packages over a network should check out donationware StarDeploy and open source Munki. 6 and 7: StarDeploy and MunkiApple's package (.pkg) and metapackage (.mpkg) files are the primary software installation mechanisms in OS X. The biggest drawback - if you can consider it a drawback - is that it relies on OS X Server to create a complete network-based solution, including both boot and deployment.Essential Mac tools Nos.

A similar free tool, Plist Editor, is available for modifying these files from Windows machines. 11: Property List EditorAdmins looking to edit system and applications preferences will want to turn to Property List Editor, a GUI tool for editing the XML. As noted above, these packages can be almost anything you want to deploy to a range of client devices, including documents.Two free alternatives are openly available, but not quite as developer-friendly: the open source Iceberg and the free InstallEase, which was developed as a companion to the Absolute Manage client management suite.Essential Mac tool No. Apple's PackageMaker is a great tool for this, and it is included with the company's Xcode developer suite, which is free and available via the Mac App Store.Intended for use by developers to create install packages, PackageMaker provides admins with an easy way to build packages to push out to clients on their network.

This Mac/Windows tool can be used to dynamically manage application installations across your network. This is particularly helpful if you are using network home directories and need to deploy documents or configuration files across multiple user accounts.Another deployment tool worth investigating is the commercial FileWave. You can even make use of wild cards to specify multiple locations. It allows admins to replace files at various locations within a file system. 12: File DistributorFile Distributor is a slightly different form of deployment tool. Plist files an easier process than using these tools.Essential Mac tool No.

Thankfully, many worthwhile tools for integrating with Active Directory are available, beginning with Apple's Active Directory client and Directory Utility.OS X's built-in Active Directory client allows you to join an Active Directory domain, and it supports secure access to resources and single sign-on via Kerberos. The undisputed leader in directory services, even in Mac environments, is Microsoft's Active Directory. Global accounts stored in a secure directory service, single sign-on, the ability to secure network and local resources, and the ability to preconfigure and manage the user experience on any workstation is critical. 14 and 15: Apple's Active Directory Client and Directory UtilityCreating a functional, secure environment requires more than just rolling out computers and software.

16, 17, and 18: OS X Server, Apple's Open Directory, and Profile ManagerOS X may support Active Directory, but Apple's native directory is an LDAP-based solution called Open Directory.

Best Imaging Software For Mac Os