26.7. The Bottom Line

Prepare Active Directory for Mac OS X clients

Although Mac OS X can join Active Directory domains, you must take some preparatory steps to ensure they can communicate with Windows Server 2008 R2.

Master it

You want your Active Directory users who have Mac clients to connect to your Windows Server 2008 R2 servers using a single Active Directory logon. What network security feature of Windows must you change to permit Mac clients to communicate with your Windows Server 2008 R2 domain?

Connect a Mac to the domain

Mac OS X can connect to Active Directory and join domains. SMB protocol support is provided by a built-in version of Samba, letting OS X connect to Windows for file shares and printers.

Master it

You want to add your Mac OS X client to your Active Directory domain. Which OS X utility should you use?

Connect to file shares and printers

OS X connects to Windows file shares and printers using the SMB support provided by Samba. Because support is integrated, you can use the Finder to connect to Windows resources directly rather than adding additional software.

Master it

You are trying to access a network folder that is shared on a Windows Server 2008 R2 computer from your domain-joined Mac client. How can you use the Finder to connect?

Use Remote Desktop from a Mac client

Microsoft created the Remote Desktop Connection for Mac to provide Remote Desktop connectivity for Mac clients. Using RDC, you can access the functionality of your Windows computer directly from your Mac clients.

Master it

You are using RDC to connect to your Windows Server 2008 R2 server computer and want to save your network credentials so that you don't have to enter them every time you connect. How can you do this?