Network User Accounts - LDAP

[Yonz]

Hi all,

I finally made the plunge and "Macified" my house. Now I've got 4 Macs (3 x iMac + 1 x Mac Mini) all running Leopard. So far so good.

Is it pssible to setup a directory of some kind, so I only need to create the user accounts once? (Something like an OpenLDAP running on the MacMini)

What about the "Parental Control" options, can I set them up on one machine and have them "served" to other machines on the network? (i.e. if the Kids are roaming around the house, that the "Computer Time" given to them will be counted no matter on which computer they are logged in at)


TIA
Yonz

 

[Makosuke]

Well, the EASY way to do all that would be to buy a copy of OSX server--it is (of course) designed to do exactly the things you're describing, and it does them rather easily in my experience with it.

Problem, of course, is that it will run you $500 for the 10-user version.

Assuming that's outside the amount you're looking to spend (if not, buy it--I would for my home network), being that most of these features are based on open-source or otherwise freely available tools, I'm sure there is a roll-your-own solution that you could put together with enough work. Which would be a lot, I'm guessing, so a free project that offered some of the features would be good.

I'm not aware of any projects that have actually done this--maybe someone else is?