Montreal : 4 technical days on macOS

Duration : inis
2 days + 2 optional
Cost : Days 1+2 :  650$/student including lunch
Days 3+4 (optional) :  900$/student including lunch
Where : Lab ____, INIS (métro Berri-UQAM)
301, blvd Maisonneuve Est, Montréal H2X 1K1
Capacity : 15 students
Dates : April 25-28 2017, 8h30 to 16h30
… and Sherbrooke on May 8-11
Infos : Contact  marioblais@me.com or dpvilleneuve@me.com
Formateur agréé Emploi Québec (C.P.M.T.)
Apple Certified Trainer

– – this course is delivered in french, trainer is bilingual – –

Brief

(This is not an Apple Certified training) You’re a technical staff providing IT support to many users, all levels, but your actual real-time experience with macOS on Macs is either minimal, none, or you’ve been forced to learn this “other” OS on the fly to get your users back on track.

Here’s a dynamic 2-day training (+2 optional on server/deployment) that covers essential concepts, tools and tasks you need to know in supporting and troubleshooting this modern operating system.  These workshops were created for people with years of tech support with other systems and now need to get a “kickstart” on macOS to learn how it thinks, where are its tools, their names, fix disks, get network information, lock the BIOS…  Answers to your questions, demonstrations and workshops that provide immediate feedback to students.  The admitted goal here is to give you confidence facing this “other OS” and to help you provide the best user support on macOS systems.

At 1/3 of certified class cost, this is one great occasion to add technical expertise to your knowledge library even if Macs only make up a small portion of your inventory.  The City of Kingston did provide all of their support staff macOS training with days 1+2 simply because of the diversity of devices being brought in through all their service points every day.

Pre-requisite

  • Technical support staff, level 1 and 2.
  • You already work in tech support on Mac, Windows or Linux.
  • Working with macOS less than a year…

Day 1 :

  • Installation, Recovery HD, firmware locking,
  • File System, Disk Utility, invisibles,
  • Users and Keychain, FileVault,
  • Managing Apps, troubleshooting,
  • Networking & tools, config files, AirDrop and AirPlay

Day 2 :

  • Boot sequence, why all those startup keys?
  • launchd, your first malware creation,
  • MacOS’s built-in security, new SIP protection,
  • Terminal (command-line), Automator, first scripts,
  • Some macOS features,
  • Troubleshooting overview,
  • End of day (if optional days 3+4 are running) :
    • Create a disk image of a Mac with intent to clone it on another (task is done overnight)

Days 3+4 (optional) :

  • Server.app :
    • Introduction to the 20$ Server.app;
    • Creating an Open Directory domain;
    • Configure and use of the software/app/item Caching service;
    • Comparing the Caching and (deprecated) Software Update services;
    • Review of Apple’s DEP and VPP programs;
    • Review of SSL certificates usage;
    • Review of network routing (firewalls vs routers vs open ports);
    • Configure Profile Manager in Server.app (MDM);
    • Strengths and weaknesses of Profile Manager;
    • Demystify per device, per device group, per user and user group management;
    • Managing devices with useful payloads;
  • DeployStudio, free deployment software for Macs;
    • Introduction to DeployStudio
    • Different operational modes (standalone, USB key, server, server farm…);
    • Setting up global essential services :
      • DHCP, DNS, BSDP
      • AFP, HTTP, NetInstall
    • Deploying images vs thin deployments;
    • Creating then deploying images;
    • Dealing with installation packages (.pkgs);
    • Automating deployment workflows;
    • Managing DeployStudio’s internal database for device personalization.

Activities for days 1 & 2 have been tried and tested on humans with the following university support staff members with high satisfaction evals :

  • Ottawa University
  • Carleton University
  • Université de Montréal
  • Bishop University
  • Université de Sherbrooke.

Workshop schedule

  • 8h30 to 16h30, or your preferred times,
  • muffins/donuts offered by the trainer,
  • one Mac per student,
  • concepts shown in front, participants will learn as they discover and practice,
  • personalized interventions, answers to all questions.

Hardware used

A Mac lab is provided for this workshop.

  • Internet access is supplied, wired and Wi-Fi,
  • Bring your own 16 GB USB key, or greater, to create a startup install disk,
  • Bring your own USB/Firewire/Thunderbolt peripherals.

Documentation

Students will have access to a Moodle site with all contents, their login being open for the next 3 weeks.  The website’s contents will also be given to students in PDF form for future reference.

You are invited to get Apple’s official technical reference guide if you wish to prepare to pass a certification test later.
– macOS Support Essentials 10.12 (Peachpit, Feb. 2017)

Enrolment

Information requests and enrolment via email please.

In Québec, I always hand out attendance certificates from Emploi Québec (C.P.M.T.), and modify it slightly for Ontario and other provinces.

Assured fun and creativity in technical learning.


Mario BlaisCert_Trainer_Blk_1ln
Apple Certified Trainer
Apple Certified Technical Coordinator
Apple Certified Support Professional