Apple Mac OS X Server (Administrator’s Guide) - Manual (Page 283)

Client Management: Mac OS X 283
About the Preferences Cache
Only local user accounts use a preference cache. The preference cache is created on the local
hard drive when a user logs in. The cache stores only preferences for the computer account
to which that computer belongs and preferences for groups associated with that computer,
but this can influence how a user is managed offline.
The cached preferences can help you manage local user accounts on portable computers
even when they are not connected to a network. For example, you can create an account for
the set of computers you want to manage, and then manage preferences for the computer
accounts. Next, make these computers available to groups, then manage preferences for the
groups. Finally, set up local user accounts on the computers, and associate those users with
the groups you already manage. Now, if a user goes offline or disconnects from your
network, he or she is still managed by the computer and group preferences in the cache.
Updating the Managed Preferences Cache
You can update a user’s managed preference cache regularly. This setting applies only to
computer accounts. The computer checks the server for updated preferences according to
the schedule you set.
To set an update interval for the managed preferences cache:
1 Open Workgroup Manager.
2 Use the At pop-up menu to find the directory domain that contains the computer account
you want to modify, then click Preferences.
3 Click the lock and enter your user name and password.
4 Click the Computers tab and select a computer account in the list.
5 Click Cache.
6 Type in a number representing how frequently you want to update the cache, then choose an
update interval (seconds, minutes, hours, days, or weeks) from the pop-up menu. For
example, you could update the cache every 5 days.
Updating Cached Preferences Manually
When you need to, you can manually update the managed preferences cache for every
computer in a selected computer list. When the cache is updated manually, it will not be
updated again automatically until the set interval has passed.
To update the managed preferences cache:
1 Open Workgroup Manager.
2 Use the At pop-up menu to find the directory domain that contains the computer account
you want, then click Preferences.