How do I verify that MCX settings are in effect on a network account?

[#1]

Greetings, all.

There are two ways that I'm familiar with to check if MCX settings are
taking effect.

1. Go to System Profiler (Apple Menu -> About This Mac -> More Info) and
   choose "Managed Client" under the "Software" disclosure triangle.

2. Run `mcxquery` in a Terminal window

I've managed the background screen for a couple of test computers, using
different types of accounts. Here is what I'm finding.

In the Accounts pane of System Preferences, I see entries that indicate
"Admin, Managed" (cool), "Network" and "Mobile"

When I log in as a local admin,
- the preference takes effect
- System Profiler has no idea about the managed preferences
- mcxquery shows the managed preferences

When I log in as a network user,
- the preference takes effect.
- System Profiler still has no idea about the preference
- and mcxquery does not show any managed preferences either.

When I upgrade the network user to use a mobile account (note that
authentication is done using OD),
- the preference does not take effect, [This is disappointing, but not
unexpected, as the documentation says as much.]
- System Profiler and mcxquery don't show that any preferences are being
managed.

Aside from using a really obvious setting (like the background), how can I
verify that preferences are managed, especially for a network user, where
the setting did take effect but none of my diagnostic tools said that it
should?

Cheers,
Clinton Blackmore

[tlarkin]

You are using Casper or OD for MCX?

[tlarkin]

MCX is applied at several levels, Always, often, once. Always is machine level, and applies to the computer and all users, often should apply to all users but not machines, and once should only apply to that particular user account.

If these are OD accounts, I can only assume they are perhaps getting over written with OD MCX, or perhaps not applied due to it not being set to always manage in your MCX file in Casper.

If you refer to page 310 in the Casper manual it goes over this

[#4]

The documentation is quite clear on when settings are applied (specifically
p 326-327 of "Casper Suite Reference Manual" (a.k.a. "Casper Suite 7.21
Administrators Guide"), but does not (seem to) indicate how one can verify
that the settings have actually taken effect.

The methods I normally
use<http://serverfault.com/questions/153762/managed-clients-on-os-x>to
verify that settings are taking effect do not work as expected (as
detailed in my first message).

Clinton