7 Click OK.FIGURE 2-9: Joining a domain.FIGURE 2-10: You must provide domain administrator credentials to join a domain.
8 Enter the username and password for an Administrator account when prompted.You’re asked to provide this information only if a computer account hasn’t already been created for the client computer.
9 When informed that you need to restart the computer, click Restart Now.The computer is restarted and added to the domain.
Configuring Mac Network Settings
Every Macintosh ever built, even an original 1984 model, includes networking support. Newer Macintosh computers have better built-in networking features than older Macintosh computers, of course. The newest Macs include built-in Gigabit Ethernet connections or 802.11ac wireless connections, or both. Support for these network connections is pretty much automatic, so all you have to do is plug your Mac into a network or connect to a wireless network, and you’re ready to go.
Most network settings on macOS are automatic. If you want, you can look at and change the default network settings by following these steps:
1 Choose ⇒ System Preferences and then click Network.The Network preferences page appears, as shown in Figure 2-11.FIGURE 2-11: Network preferences.
2 Click Advanced.The advanced network settings are displayed, as shown in Figure 2-12.
3 Click the TCP/IP tab.This brings up the TCP/IP settings, as shown in Figure 2-13. From this page, you can view the currently assigned IP address for the computer. And, if you want, you can assign a static IP address by changing the Configure IPv4 drop-down from Using DHCP to Manually. Then, you can enter your own IP address, subnet mask, and router address. (For more information about IP addresses, refer to Chapter 6.)FIGURE 2-12: Advanced network settings.FIGURE 2-13: Mac network TCP/IP settings.
4 Click the DNS tab.This brings up the DNS settings, as shown in Figure 2-14. Here, you can see the DNS servers being used, and you can add additional DNS servers if you want.FIGURE 2-14: DNS settings.
5 Click the Hardware tab.This brings up the hardware settings, as shown in Figure 2-15. The most useful bit of information on this tab is the MAC address, which is sometimes needed to set up wireless security. (For more information, refer to Chapter 8.)
6 Close the Network window.
FIGURE 2-15: Hardware settings.
Joining a Mac Computer to a Domain
If you’re using a Mac in a Windows domain environment, you can join the Mac to the domain by following these steps:
1 Choose ⇒ System Preferences and then click Users & Groups.This brings up the Users & Groups page, as shown in Figure 2-16.FIGURE 2-16: Users & Groups.
2 Select the user account you want to join to the domain and then click Login Options.The Login Options page appears, as shown in Figure 2-17.
3 If the lock icon at the lower left of the page is locked, click it and enter your password when prompted.By default, the user login options are locked to prevent unauthorized changes. This step unlocks the settings so that you can join the domain.
4 Click the Join button.You’re prompted to enter the name of the domain you want to join, as shown in Figure 2-18.FIGURE 2-17: Login Options.FIGURE 2-18: Joining a domain.
5 Enter the name of the domain you want to join.When you enter the domain name, the dialog box expands to allow you to enter domain credentials to allow you to join the domain, as shown in Figure 2-19.FIGURE 2-19: Authenticating with the domain.
6 Enter the name and password of a domain administrator account, and then click OK.You return to the Login Options page, which shows that you’ve successfully joined the domain (see Figure 2-20).
7 Close the Users & Groups window.
FIGURE 2-20: Congratulations! You have now joined the domain.
Chapter 3
Life on the Network
IN THIS CHAPTER
After you hook up your PC to a network, it’s not an island anymore, separated from the rest of the world like some kind of isolationist fanatic waving a “Don’t tread on me” flag. The network connection changes your PC forever. Now your computer is part of a system, connected to other computers on the network. You have to worry about annoying network details, such as using local and shared resources, logging on and accessing network drives, using network printers, logging off, and who knows what else.
Oh, bother.
This chapter brings you up to speed on what living with a computer network is like. Unfortunately, this chapter gets a little technical at times, so you may need your pocket protector.
Distinguishing between Local Resources and Network Resources
In