Universal login as Administrator

[typofreak183]

This is a function that was present in Leopard and is now gone in Snow Leopard. Is there any way to enable it?

When I wake up my computer from sleep, there's typically another user who's logged in and I can type in my admin user name in the Username box and my password and log in to their account.

Any help is appreciated

-- typofreak183

 

[angelwatt]

I believe you may be referring to Fast User Switching.

System Preferences > Accounts > Login Options > Check box for fast user switching

 

[typofreak183]

I believe you may be referring to Fast User Switching.

System Preferences > Accounts > Login Options > Check box for fast user switching

No, that's enabled. Here's a better explanation:
When I wake up my computer and it asks for, say, Jane Doe's password, in Leopard I was able to replace her username and password with my administrator account's and log in to her account...

I just need to get into her account to log her off.

 

[jpyc7]

Okay, I've never done it, but some googling shows that the way to do it is to modify the /etc/pam.d/screensaver file.

http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=10701793

Do read the full thread to note the little details that may be important. It is possible to set it so any other user can unlock (using corresponding credential).

 

[spinnerlys]

This maybe?

But that way, you will login as yourself (John Doe), not as Jane Doe.

 

[typofreak183]

Okay, I've never done it, but some googling shows that the way to do it is to modify the /etc/pam.d/screensaver file.

http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=10701793

Do read the full thread to note the little details that may be important. It is possible to set it so any other user can unlock (using corresponding credential).

Thanks. This does seem to solve the problem, but I would love to find a more user-friendly way to do it.

@Everyone: What I mean was when I wiggle the mouse and the screensaver is on, the background will go black and a prompt will show up for a username and password. What I WANT is to be able to put admin credentials in there and be able to login.

 

[typofreak183]

Does anyone known if there is an easier way to implement this? The solution works but is not ideal for dozens of computers.

 

[jpyc7]

Does anyone known if there is an easier way to implement this? The solution works but is not ideal for dozens of computers.

I don't know a specific solution on Mac OS, but I think what you need is the generalized ability to update/modify/deploy a file from one central location to remote machines. If you don't already have support for this, then it will probably require going to individual remote machines to set this up.

In Linux, there is an open source solution called Puppet which uses clients on the remote machine to periodically ask the server if it has any updates. There are other open source solutions; I think another is called netconfig.

I think you should probably ask this question in the OS X Server forum. As I understand it, the OS X Server software is mostly for running typical server functionality like web or file sharing. I would guess people who hang out in those forums might do remote administration and would know of Mac solutions.

 

[ViViDboarder]

I think as Admin you can log the user out from the Fast User Switching screen with your credentials but that you can't log into their account. I could be wrong though. I know you can log them out with your credentials when you try to shut down or reboot.

 

[typofreak183]

I think as Admin you can log the user out from the Fast User Switching screen with your credentials but that you can't log into their account. I could be wrong though. I know you can log them out with your credentials when you try to shut down or reboot.

Is there any way you could give me a screenshot of this in action or describe in more detail (preferably both)? I'm a serious newb here.

 

[spinnerlys]

Is there any way you could give me a screenshot of this in action or describe in more detail (preferably both)? I'm a serious newb here.

http://www.google.com/search?client...oe=UTF-8&redir_esc=&ei=CMPoS-urK5mi_AbUu5nyCg

 

[typofreak183]

http://www.google.com/search?client...oe=UTF-8&redir_esc=&ei=CMPoS-urK5mi_AbUu5nyCg

Thanks for the help, but I already use Fast User Switching. I was asking how to use it to log someone else out as suggested above.

 

[typofreak183]

Oh wait, I think I misunderstood. I know that fast user switching is an alternative to logging out but I don't think it allows me to log someone else out...

 

[angelwatt]

I found this article about using Terminal to logout another user while using fast user switching. It's inelegant, but might be good enough for you. I also found another thread here in the forums that talk about this same topic.