OS X Support Essentials is a three-day, hands-on course that provides an in-depth exploration of troubleshooting on OS X Mountain Lion. This course is designed to give you a tour of the breadth of functionality of OS X Mountain Lion and the best methods for effectively supporting users of OS X Mountain Lion systems. The course is a combination of lectures and hands-on case study exercises that provide practical real-world experience.
Who Should Attend?
Help desk specialists, technical coordinators, service technicians, and others who support Mac users, technical support personnel in businesses that use Macs for general productivity or creative design, technical coordinators or power users who manage networks of computers running Mac OS X — such as teachers and technology specialists who manage classroom networks or computer labs.
Prerequisites:
Students should have the following prerequisite knowledge prior to attending this course:
- Basic Mac OS X knowledge or equivalent to Mountain Lion 100
- Basic troubleshooting experience
Itinerary:
Day 1
AM
Installation
- Prepare and partition the drive
- Install OS X Mountain Lion
- Use the installer log files to verify a successful installation
- Configure OS X Mountain Lion with the Setup Assistant
- Update software with Software Update and Installer
- Tips and techniques for troubleshooting an installation problem
User Accounts
- Create and manage user accounts
- Create and manage administrator accounts
- Locate directory attributes
Day 1
PM
User Accounts (cont.)
- Security & Password Selection
- Understanding the Keychain and File Vault
File Systems
- File systems supported by OS X Mountain Lion
- File and directory ownership and permissions
- Disk Utility and file repair
- Using the command line for file management
Day 2
AM
Data Management
- The Root Volume
- File System Layout
- Preferences & Frameworks
- File types unique to OS X Mountain Lion (i.e., resource forks and packages)
- Spotlight
- File archives and disk images
- Archiving and restoring data with Time Machine
- Managing backup data
- How to access the data outside of Time Machine
Applications and Processes
- Applications Supported in OS X Mountain Lion
- Applications Created With Different Developer APIs
- The UNIX Concept of a Process
Day 2
PM
Applications and Processes (cont.)
- Relationship of Processes and Applications
- Tools for Monitoring and Managing Processes
- Application Preferences
- Troubleshooting
- Boot Camp
Network Configuration
- Basic Networking Configuration
- TCP/IP Networking
- Ethernet
- AirPort
- Multiple Network Connections
- Appropriate Use of Network Locations
- Isolating and Troubleshooting Network Elements
Day 3
AM
Network Services
- Connecting to Common Network Resources
- Network Users Accounts With Directory Services
- AFP, SMB, SSH, FTP and WebDAV Connections
- Bonjour, NetBIOS and the Network Browser
- Isolating Client Software Issues From Network Issues
- Enabling Network Services on an OS X Mountain Lion Client
- Peer-to-Peer Collaboration
- Sharing Files Between Macs and Windows
- Sharing Web Documents
- Screen Sharing
- Understanding the Built-in Firewall
- Techniques to Isolate Server Issues From Client and Network Issues
Day 3
PM
Peripherals
- Connecting Peripherals to a Mac
- Cabling & Connections
- Device Drivers for Common Peripherals
- Managing Printers & Print-Jobs
- Printer PPDs and PDF Workflow
- Techniques for Isolating Cabling, Driver, or Application Issues
Startup Process
- Troubleshooting Boot Issues With a Mac at Startup
- Phases of the Startup Process
- Which Part of the System Is Active During Each Phase
- Issues That Can Arise
- Automatic Process Launching With Launchd and Login Window Startup Items
