Mac OS X User Profile Migration

User Migration for OS X Systems

                Outlined below is a step-by-step walkthrough on how to migrate a current user’s files from their old OS X machine to their new one.

 

Prerequisites:

  1. Log in as Agent or Administrator (administrator if on an HLKN machine)
  2. Create a folder in the Temp folder of the Tech share on ed-file

 

Backing Up Local Data:

  1. Connect to ed-file using the following path “cifs://ed-file.ed.tamu.edu/tech/Temp” and log in using your ED credentials.
  2. Once in the correct temp folder for the user, open a second Finder window and navigate to their user folder. Path should be “/Macintosh HD/Users/USERNAME”
  3. Copy this folder over to the temp share on ed-file. Depending on the size of their local profile, this will take anywhere from a few minutes to a couple hours.
  4. If Apple Mail is used, you will need to back up /Macintosh HD/Library/Mail as well.

 

Preparing the New Mac:

  1. Once the new Mac has been imaged with KACE and has been joined to the ED domain and AUTH has been configured for it (ignore AUTH for now, that's a future step), have the user come log in so that their local user account is created.
  2. After logging in, map the Tech share (same as above) and copy the data contained in their old user folder into their new folder. Again, this will take a while.
  3. Once complete, make sure that all of the transferred files have the correct permissions. This can be checked by right clicking on the user folder and selecting “Get Info”. From here, you can see the permissions for the directory and all subdirectories. The user should have full control and ownership of the files transferred. If they’re not listed, add them and assign the proper permissions.
  4. Once this has occurred and all of their software licenses have been transferred, the Mac is ready to be deployed to the user.
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