Operating System Info

Owned by Dylan Nigh
Apr 05, 2023
2 min read

Each computer on the Internal Network can be customized at the Operating System level to provide greater security and usability. This information is only a recommendation. Additional Operating System questions should be addressed to Apple Support or the Network Administrator. Due to the unique needs of each office, MacPractice Support cannot assist with configuring your office's Operating Systems.

Each of the following settings can be found under the Apple menu, within System Preferences:

Users & Groups: The Mac OS X Administrator user account should not be used as a general login account for any user. Instead, create standard non-administrator user accounts.

  • Standard user accounts remove administrative privileges. The administrator's password will be required to install any new software, updates, or make administrative changes.

  • Deactivate any User accounts that aren't used.

  • Create a strong password for each user account, with at least eight characters and a combination of lowercase, uppercase, numbers, and special characters.

Security & Privacy: Security settings that require User passwords can be set to restrict unauthorized access from your computers. MacPractice recommends the following settings:

  • Disable automatic login: requires the Mac OS X username and password after restarting the computer.

  • Require password for sleep and screen saver: requires the Mac OS X username and password after waking the computer from a screen saver. The computer should not be set to sleep.

  • The Operating System firewall may be set to On within the Firewall tab. Incoming traffic from MySQL (port 3306) and the MacPractice Server will need to be manually allowed within Firewall Options.

Desktop & Screen Saver: A Screen Saver can be set to trigger after a defined period of time with the Start screen saver slider.

Sharing: It is advisable to disable File Sharing, if it is not specifically required. Enable as few services as possible. In most cases, all services should be off.

Mission Control: Set up Hot Corners to activate the screen saver when the cursor is in the selected corner of the monitor. This can be used to quickly lock the screen.

Please contact a local Networking professional for more information on how best to secure any computers on your Local Network.