Manage Macs on a Windows-based network

Manage Macs on a Windows-based network

Whether you are the lucky person using a Mac at work amongst a hoard of unfriendly Windows PCs, or the IT guy who has to look after that Mac, heres how to make everything work as it should, and ensure that all the Macs and Windows machines are playing nicely on your network.

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OS X supports Windows file sharing technology known as which allows you to access folders that have been shared on Windows PCs, as well as share folders on your Mac so that PCs can access them. To access a PC's shared folder, open Finder on your Mac then click Go > Network. Double-click the PC if it appears in the list, then click the Connect As button at the top right of the Finder window to specify the Windows login details. If the PC doesnt appear, youll need to manually specify its address by clicking Go > Connect to Server.

It might be possible to enter the network name of the PC (e.g. something like timothy-win7) but a more reliable method is to enter the PCs local network IP address. This can be discovered on the Windows computer by opening the Start menu, typing cmd into the search field, then typing ipconfig in the command-line window that appears.

Look at the line that begins IPv4 Address. If youre using a version of OS X older than , when typing the address on your Mac youll need to type smb:// first in the Connect to Server dialog box for example, smb://192.168.1.2. If the PC has a guest account youll connect to it automatically. To specify a user login on the PC, click the Connect As button at the top right of the Finder window, then type it when prompted. Note that Macs cant connect to passwordless accounts if the Windows PC hasnt got a login password, ask the user to add one (which is done via the User Accounts section of Control Panel).

To share a folder on your Mac so PCs can access it, open System Preferences, click the Sharing icon, then put a tick alongside File Sharing. Click options and put a tick alongside your user account beneath the Windows File Sharing heading, then click Done. Click the plus icon beneath the Shared Folders heading to choose which folders are to be available to PCs. To access them from a Windows PC, open the Start menu and type network in the search field.

The Mac should be listed in the view alongside PCs on the network (itll be identified with the icon for a PC rather than Mac). Double-click the Macs icon, then type your Macs account name and password to login. Incidentally, if youre wondering if AirDrop can be used, youre out of luck. Apple hasnt implemented it on Windows, and nor has anybody else. However, apps such as can be installed on both Mac and Windows computers to implement the same functionality. Read: Some corporate networks may require you login to Active Directory domains provided by Windows Server. To do so, open System Preferences and click the Users & Groups icon.

Unlock System Preferences if necessary by clicking the padlock, then click Login Options at the bottom of the list of usernames. Then click the Join button alongside the Network Account Server heading. Youll need to type the fully qualified domain name (FQDN) of the server, rather than simply the domain. Speak to your IT person to find out what this is. If your Mac isnt using Windows Server for DNS (that is, it a router or gateway handles DNS) then you may need to enter the IP address of the server rather than its FQDN. After clicking OK in the dialog box your Mac will then probe the server, after which youll be prompted to enter your username, password and client ID. Note that you dont need to use the Windows-style username of domain\username or . Just type your username as given. For example, if your Active Directory username is johnsmith then type only that. You might not able to connect if your Active Directory username is identical to your Macs username, so ensure your IT administrator chooses something different when creating the account. With any luck access should now be granted but you may need (with the help of your IT person) to further tweak settings by clicking the Directory Utility button.

In future this app can be accessed by opening Finder, tapping Shift+Cmd+G, and typing /System/Library/CoreServices/Applications. Although you can login to Active Directory, OS X doesnt allow the Active Directory administrator to set restrictions for your Mac. However, add-in software from or can help plug this gap. The best way to connect to a Microsoft Exchange server is using Microsoft Outlook, which comes as part of an Office 365 subscription. Mail and Calendar within Mac can also connect just use the Internet Accounts component of System Preferences to specify the login details. However, Mail is arguably most at home when accessing IMAP or POP3 accounts, and if these arent already enabled on the Exchange server then its worth requesting they are. To add IMAP or POP3 accounts, again use the Internet Accounts section of System Preferences and select Add Other Account at the bottom of the list. OS X natively supports PPTP and IPSec (L2TP and Cisco) VPN technologies, which are the main technologies in use today. To setup a connection, open System Preferences, click Network, then click the plus button at the bottom left beneath the list of network adapters.

In the dropdown list alongside Interface, select VPN and then select the type of technology used beneath this. Then click Create and enter the connection details in the main System Preferences window. Putting a tick in the box alongside Show VPN Status In Menu Bar will allow quick connection and disconnection in future. A (perhaps) surprisingly inexpensive option for using Macs in a Windows environment is to request your network administrator add a dedicated OS X Server (see our ).

OS X Server is installed via the Mac App Store on top of an existing OS X installation. It doesnt feature Active Directory components but is able to sync with some Microsoft services with a . A with 2.6GHz dual-core Intel Core i5, 8GB of RAM, 1TB of storage space and OS X Server upgrade comes in at significantly less than 500 excluding VAT.

Thunderbolt 2 ports allow for essentially unlimited storage expansion, plus the opportunity to add additional gigabit Ethernet ports if needed. OS X Server but licencing restrictions mean it can only be run as a virtual machine on Apple hardware, so cant be run under typical hypervisor setups. However, on a Mac lets you run multiple instances of OS X Server. Read: And have some geeky fun with this