Category Archives: Labs

Posts about computer labs and classrooms at Williams College

Windows – Group Policy Debugging

Posted on May 9, 2018 by

Logged into the computer and/or account that is misbehaving: gpresult  /h <path>outputfile.html (open the resulting html file with a browser …) There are ways to do this remotely as well …  Details at: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-server/administration/windows-commands/gpresult

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Mac – JAMF – Command to delete computer on JSS

Posted on April 30, 2018 by

Commands to remove JAMF management and client from local computer: (you must remove the the MDM management profile BEFORE deleting the JAMF client) jamf removeMDMProfile jamf removeFramework   Command to remove a computer from the JSS: set JSSMAC=$(networksetup -getmacaddress en0) … Continue reading →

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Windows – Creating a Sysprep answer file

Posted on April 19, 2018 by

Sysprep allows you to image a customized windows installation and “clone” that to other similar systems.  It is described in detail by Microsoft at: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-hardware/manufacture/desktop/sysprep–system-preparation–overview I have always used sysprep answer files when using sysprep. The process to create these … Continue reading →

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Mac High Sierra – Imaging APFS formatted disks

Posted on April 6, 2018 by

Back when High Sierra (MacOS 10.13) was coming out we were all told that disk imaging would be dead because of the new APFS disk format.  And, while It is true that you can not/should not apply a High Sierra … Continue reading →

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Mac – Create a NetBoot image

Posted on March 23, 2018 by

To “netboot” a mac, you need to setup a netboot server AND create a netboot image that is capable of running on the macs that you plan to netboot. For a NetBoot server see: https://github.com/jamf/NetSUS/tree/master/docs To create a netboot image: … Continue reading →

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Hardware – Dell model 7050 and legacy boot for PXE network boot

Posted on March 23, 2018 by

The process we have been using to boot Dells to the K2000 imaging server requires PXE boot in “Legacy” boot mode. The optiplexes we received in the summer of 2017 came with “Secure boot enabled” and UEFI boot set in … Continue reading →

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Mac OS – High Sierra – Run installer from command

Posted on March 21, 2018 by

The High Sierra installer not only installs the new OS but it also changes the disk format form HFS to APFS on SSD drives.  Additionally, it does the required firmware updates for the model of mac that the installer is … Continue reading →

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Linux – Install Linux on external disk

Posted on November 20, 2017 by

Note one –  To install the correct boot loaders and hardware drivers,  I recommend doing the actual Linux install on the type of computer you plan to run Linux on. Meaning that, I think, the installer will put boot loaders … Continue reading →

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Mac – Burning ISO to USB disk – use Etcher

Posted on November 16, 2017 by

A great little tool to burn ISOs to external USB disks: Etcher Use Disk Utility to format the external as Fat 32 (may have to format as Mac OS first). If Etcher doesn’t see the drive at first, use the … Continue reading →

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Windows 10 – Check for service status and restart if not running

Posted on November 3, 2017 by

from: https://stackoverflow.com/questions/3325081/how-to-check-if-a-service-is-running-via-batch-file-and-start-it-if-it-is-not-r for /F “tokens=3 delims=: ” %%H in (‘sc query “MyServiceName” ^| findstr ” STATE”‘) do ( if /I “%%H” NEQ “RUNNING” ( REM Put your code you want to execute here REM For example, the following line net … Continue reading →

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