There is no single dialogue box that strikes fear into systems administrators like a user being prompted to update their own software. Whether it’s the Mac OS itself, Adobe’s Creative Suite, or Microsoft’s Office products, updates have a history of breaking almost as many things as they solve.

It’s been a year since Apple first shipped “Leopard”, its fifth retail version of OS X. Which means it’s been about a year since I started hearing people complain about Leopard’s truncated printer controls. Many users still haven’t discovered that the printing options in 10.5 are hidden behind that unlabeled blue arrow, and those that have are tired of constantly expanding the print dialog just to do their jobs.

Last week, in part one of this article, we took a look at configuring basic IP failover features on Mac OS X to provide high availability. This week, we’ll take a look at building on the process with custom shell scripts, and the secret to successful AFP setup for failover systems.

For companies that have grown on an assortment of mismatched machines, the efficiency and flexibility of a server-based workflow can be liberating. Open Directory, managed services, portable home directories, and many other features are impossible to use without a server to to drive them. This dependance on a single, central system can be a detriment as well. After all, what can you do when your all-important server inevitably fails?

Anyone who supports graphic designers learns to hate fonts. As tiny pieces of software loaded directly into the operating system, they’re responsible for more than their fair share of system issues. So it goes with users whose systems freeze up on login, displaying nothing but their desktop background and a lonely spotlight icon in the upper left corner of the screen. The issue is so common, there are a myriad of third-party tools to address it. And like so many common problems, this one comes down to fonts again.

Aside from the files an OS X Server shares across your entire enterprise, there’s often the desire within individual workgroups to have private storage areas for their own projects. These group folders are essential for departments like HR and Accounting, but they can also be helpful for less security-conscious groups as a staging area before sharing their final work company-wide. Fortunately, while the process of creating these file shares isn’t obvious, it also isn’t complicated.

You’ve just installed a new hardware firewall with the same IP as one that’s being replaced. Your routers can all see it, but traffic from your Macs seems to just disappear. Or you’ve renamed a series of servers the whole company uses, and the Macs can only find them by IP now. You know you can just reboot the problem machines, like you’d power-cycle an unmanaged switch, but that solution is impractical during business hours (and time-consuming on nights or weekends). How can you force a couple hundred Macintosh computers to update their network caches?

One of Leopard’s less beloved security features is the warning that appears when users first open downloaded applications. Given that most software now comes from the internet, this dialog has become a common part of the average Mac user experience. In some cases, though, that one-time process never ends, displaying the same dialog at every launch. The problem is especially common when applications are installed (but not run) by an administrative user.

The Kerberos authentication protocol is an encrypted ticketing system at the heart of Apple’s Open Directory. It is the basis for Mac OS X’s “Single Sign On” features, and a required component for integration with Windows Active Directory domains. Unfortunately, it’s possible for the Kerberos service to stop functioning properly, and when it dies, a good number of your network services die with it.

When you’re at your desk, or have your laptop with you, remote control of other Macintosh computers is easy with Apple Remote Desktop. When you’re running from desk to desk, trying to solve everybody’s problems before their next big deadline, remote support can be a little trickier.