[ANSWERED] Stand-alone Installation Control

Woland

Here's a document I made that outlines the process I follow (and suggest following) when setting up a fresh Apple computer for a project or production: https://docs.google.com/document/d/15erS4vJ0VIkOfA9AaCNfX9v48A3aJ15189RcTFDblhM/edit?usp=sharing

One of the handy things about Google Docs is that anyone can make a copy and use it as a checklist and/or modify the copy for their own purposes.

Note: The yellow parts are not 100% precise yet since I need to walk through them again to get the exact names of things for those.

montana

@woland Thanks much, as usual. I so appreciate the work you put into building "background" materials that help in our processes. I'll get into the dock and back to you if I have questions. All the best!

Videosmith

@woland this is excellent, thankyou for putting this together - is it ok if I share it with my workshop participants (with credit if course!)

I would also add disable mac os updates - App Store > preferences > uncheck 'automaticaly check for updates'

Woland

@videosmith

Lol, I appreciate you asking but it’s totally unnecessary. Anything I post on the forum is for everyone to use for whatever they want.

Give ‘em this one too, it’s my list of online sources for royalty free/public domain media assets (audio, books, pictures, movies, etc.): https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/u/0/d/1vmVMn1ZhNwVGurjQLtATsAEXj55NQ8sJf3bHaSeHCV8/htmlview#gid=517311808

Woland

@videosmith said:

I would also add “disable mac os updates - App Store > preferences > uncheck 'automaticaly check for updates”

thanks, added now :)

Videosmith

@woland blimey that was quick! thankyou!

montana

@woland Only one more question as of now. What about Apple's password login. Does this get around that or do I still have to have a monitor and keyboard somewhere to deal with that?

Woland

@montana

Ah nuts, did I forget to include that?

There’s a setting to make it log in automatically on boot in the same area of system setting where you either can make new users or if not it’s in the startup section near where you define which harddrive will be used for booting.

Woland

@montana

I just checked, it actually is in my list in the “Project-Specific” section

montana

@woland Got it. Thanks.

jtoenjes

@montana I've set up several installations from dance theater works. Here are some things I've learned:

1. Plug your system into an uninterruptible power supply. And use a wired mouse and keyboard.

2. If there are children involved, I've discovered that their one mission in life is to break things. So make sure everything physical is as bullet proof as possible; even if you think they won't be able to break it, think again!

3. Disable energy saving, except maybe for turning off the display on the main Mac.

4. Train gallery staff in basic troubleshooting of/rebooting the system, and create a "how to" document for them. It most likely will fail at some point. Can the installation be rebooted automatically when the Mac is rebooted? Or can it be rebooted from a large, easy-to-see icon on the desktop? Make sure the staff has your contact information.

John Toenjes https://sites.google.com/jtoen...

n.jones

@woland WOW unbelievable , amazing work !! You've probably heard of this ,but think it would be really useful tool for you https://logseq.com/ in terms of your immense amount of knowledge.

Skulpture

@montana It's VERY old but I did a lot of this in my last job. I wrote about it in my blog. There might be one or two things still relevant here: https://vjskulpture.wordpress....

Woland

@n-jones

I haven't used that before. Maybe I'll check it out soon, thanks :)

Woland

@jtoenjes said:

use a wired mouse and keyboard.

I usually have at least two mice and keyboards because I'm paranoid

montana

@woland Hey there. I've been setting up the mac mini for installation and all is going well except--how do I get Izzy to automatically Start Live Capture and Show Stages?

Juriaan

@montana

We have the following two actors for this:

- Show & Hide Stages

- Capture Control

montana

@juriaan Of course. So strange how many actors I don't know because I've simply never needed them. Thanks.

timeg

@Woland

Thanks so much for this.

I am a Mac user but have to set up some Windows stand alone Laptops for an education component of an exhibition.

I don't suppose you or any other kind person has done a list like this for windows (11 in my instance)

Fred

@timeg For windows installations I love to use Always up: https://www.coretechnologies.c... it makes sure you installation is always running even after a crash- it will also handle the start at boot process and run the application as a service. Always up has proven to be amazing and handles machines for me that have run 24/7 for years.

Here are some achieved and old instructions for preparing windows machines for installations: https://web.archive.org/web/20... there is still some useful and relevant information there.

For installations (and any win install for me), I like to run a de-bloater to remove all the stuff you dont need that comes pre-installed on windows Here are a few options

https://github.com/ChrisTitusT...

https://github.com/Raphire/Win...

https://github.com/LeDragoX/Wi...

There are many more, use these carefully - I have noticed that things run smoother and I can remove so many annoying things with tools like this (especially stopping upgrades).

You can also look into kiosk mode tools, these are designed to stop anyone navigating away to a different app.

Between Always up (above) and integrating into an existing control system (like in a theme park or institution) you can do great things - sending commands to shut down the computer via UPD at the end of each day is great, and wake on lan commands to start a machine from off (I wish OSX had this!!! WOL is so useful).

For a installations I have also created an emergency back-up scenario - I have used windows machines with pull out hard disk trays. I setup the installation test it and run it for a few days. When everything is all running smooth I use a bootable version of this https://clonezilla.org/ to block clone the hard drive - this means that the copy is exactly the same as the original and can be booted. Using pull out hard drives, if there is an issue that escapes the simple debugging steps, then the machine gets shut down, the drives trays are swapped and then on startup it boots from the clone.

Fred