Tag Archives: Mac

Update for Self Service App on College-owned Macs

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Does your college-owned Mac have the latest and greatest version of the Self Service application?  It’s easy to tell…  just launch Self Service located in the Utilities folder.  If you see the Middlebury logo in a dark blue band across the top — you’ve got the new version which offers not only our latest installers, but also access to many installers from off-campus.

If you don’t have the updated version, you’ll only see one featured piece of software to install — the new Self Service utility.  We encourage you to install this update as soon as possible so you’ll be able to install updated software, printers, and drivers when you need them.  Here’s how to proceed:

Important! If your computer is running macOS 10.9 or older, please update the OS to 10.12 (or newer) before attempting to update Self Service.  10.12 (“Sierra”) is available in the old Self Service to computers that are eligible.

  1. The Mac needs to be connected to Ethernet on the Middlebury campus network to update Self Service.
  2. Open Self Service, then look for ”’JAMF Cloud”’. This is a “featured” install, so it should appear on the main screen.
  3. Read the installation instructions before proceeding.
  4. When the installation has completed it may report a ”’failure”’ — this is normal — just close then re-open Self Service.
  5.  There should be a visual difference (as well as a new version number) to Self Service.  You are done – except…
    • for macOS 10.13.2 or higher, re-opening Self Service will prompt you to ”’Approve”’ the MDM profile in System Preferences.  Please follow the link then click the ”’Approve”’ button.  This helps enable various security & conveniences for your computer, including pre-approval of third-party kernel extensions for common software (ex. Sophos or Google Drive File Stream).

Important Info about Apple’s Latest OS Offerings

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Apple recently released a new iOS version for use on iPads and iPhones, iOS 11. You may experience difficulty connecting to Middlebury College email hosted by Microsoft when using the native iOS Mail and Calendar Apps. ITS recommends you use Outlook for iOS available free in the App Store. Apple and Microsoft are working on a solution.  UPDATE: this issue was resolved with iOS 11.0.1.

Apple also announced the next version of macOS, High Sierra, available 9/25/17. ITS has instituted a block on the installation of this OS on college managed computers until it can be tested with college systems and software. Our High Sierra webpage (http://go.middlebury.edu/highsierra) will provide updates as they become available, including notes about any known issues and resolutions.

New Mac OS 10.10 (“Yosemite”) Released

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Mac OS X Yosemite (10.10.x), released on 16 October 2014 and is available as an upgrade for faculty and staff who are currently running Mavericks (10.9.x).  If your machine is running Mavericks (10.9.x) or Mountain Lion (10.8.x) the upgrade will appear automatically in Software Updates under the Apple Menu.  If your machine is running Snow Leopard (10.6.x) or Lion (10.7.x), you will need to contact the Technology HelpDesk to discuss upgrade options.

As with all operating system upgrades, there are potential issues of compatibility with applications and services and we are currently neither promoting nor discouraging the upgrade.  New computers provided for faculty and staff will continue to have 10.9.5 (Mavericks) installed for now; public labs are not scheduled to be updated to Yosemite at this time.  Knowing that there will be “early adopters” who opt to upgrade right away, we have created a site to share known issues and areas of concern.  Visit go/yosemite/ to view — or add to — this work-in-progress.

Yosemite has several improvements, including better support of multiple monitors, handoff capabilities between Yosemite and iOS8 devices, and enhanced iCloud Drive capabilities.  See Apple’s complete list of what’s new in Yosemite or take a personal tour using lynda.com’s new, hour-long course, Mac OS X Yosemite New Features.

Macintosh – Middfiles – Mmmmm… News You Can Use

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Mac users…  Are you having the best possible experience with Middfiles?  It may be time to update how you connect to Middfiles, as well as create some useful shortcuts!

First, check your connection.  In the Finder, click on the Go menu, then click Connect to Server.  You should use cifs://middcloud.middlebury.edu/middfiles and remove any “smb” middfiles favorites you may have stored, as shown.

Go>Connect to Server

Removing outdated SMB favorite

Now it’s time to create some powerful Sidebar favorites for easy access to your frequently-used folders (see sample below).  Sidebar favorite locations are visible in all your programs!  Refer to our wiki article for complete details on how to create these favorites & get rid of outdated ones.

Sidebar Favorite Sample

Sidebar Favorite Sample

Technical stuff:  We use the SMB protocol to connect to Middfiles almost exclusively on campus and the latest revision is CIFS.  To use the most current version of SMB you must specify CIFS in your connection.  Outdated connections may results in errors when saving to Middfiles or be slower.