Salt Lake City User Group

Let's take a step back and look at what we have accomplished so far. We have figured out how to silently install and configure Firefox. Using scripts, and without lifting a finger) we can install a pre-configured version of Firefox with all of our favorite Add-ons.

The internet and access to the internet is the life-blood of business today. Without access to the world wide web we would be unable to get work done. Firefox has been gaining market share and is gaining more legitimacy in the market over the past few years. Its speed, ease of use, and small thumbprint has been a hit in the IT world. So far in this series we have discovered how to use a script to install Firefox with custom settings. We have also learned how to install Add-ons using a script. Finally, we have learned how to configure and secure Firefox in multiple environments. Using the steps that I have already discussed will make deploying a fresh copy Firefox a breeze.

Part of the system admin gig is protecting the end users information. We have to make sure that they can safely do their work without worrying about their identity being stolen. We also have to take certain measures to make sure that the less savvy users are protected as well. In the previous articles I have talked about how to setup and configure Firefox on a computer that your average employee would use. In this article I would like to discuss how to configure a computer for a public setting. On a public computer the security needs to be a little tighter, things need to be more locked down. We have to make sure that the novice user and the expert are protected from others (and from themselves).

In the last article we started with the Firefox setup basics. We downloaded the Firefox setup file and extracted its contents. We also found all of the Add-ons that we need to have as part of our basic Firefox install. We also started to customize Firefox. Finally, we found the files that we need to include in our Firefox setup to make sure that those customizations get installed as part of our custom install.

In this article we will continue finding the files that we need to include in our custom Firefox install. We will also talk about how to sliently install Firefox and our favorite Add-ons.

Recently I became very excited about creating layers. I decided to start on something easy and work my way into hard apps. I thought that Firefox would be a great place to start. I was able to very quickly create the layer. I was pretty excited, so I decided to try something more challenging. I thought that it would be nice to include some Add-ons as part of my newly created layer...

Right after I got Application Metering up and running I started to check what programs were being run on the computers that I manage. I noticed a few that looked a little fishy. I decided to block them, just to see what would happen. I noticed that every couple of days someone would install the software and try to run it over and over. This week I decided to take a closer look.

A few weeks back I needed to figure out how to add some computers to our domain. I did not want to go to every computer. There are a couple of ways to add a computer to the domain. The first is a VBS script. I am not sure where I found this script, but here it is:

I work at a college, and there is a need to have students who are registering or applying to our school to use computers. The problem is that they usually don't have a user name or password. In the past we created an account they could use to log in to a computer, but we discovered that everyone ended up knowing the user name and password. It became a security risk.

There are several different ways to update Windows computers. Most people use Windows Updates. That doesn't work well in a corporate environment, especially if you need to make sure that the computers get updated. Another useful way to update your computers is to use Altiris Patch Management. There have been a few great articles on Patch Management lately:

Recently I have been flooded with frustrated calls from my users. They are all complaining that their computers are running really slow. Before I checked their computers I developed a plan. I decided to remove the "extra" software that seems to creep on to their computers, run a virus scan, and defrag the hard drive. I noticed that on many computers that "extra" software seemed to creep its way in. This software caused the computer to slow down, caused annoying popups, and were security problems. I also found that some people had software that I was unaware of. I decided that I need to have a little better feel of what was going on in my environment. Application Metering has helped me keep better tabs on the computers I manage. In this article I will talk about the benefits of Application Metering and how to configure this great solution.