plz help! joining domains.

[jenkins]

i did a search for this and came up with nothing, so im sorry if this has been here before.

i just received my new 15' powerbook 1.67ghz G4 with the works.

its running v10.4 of OSX.

now, here is my problem. at my workplace they use a domain and proxy to access the network and the internet. i found the area on my mac (by using these forums + search) to setup my proxy and put in my password. the problem is, i dont think i can get internet access unless my computer is added to the domain. on a windows machine its just my computer->properties->join domain. i cant find anywhere on the mac where i can enter the domain and join it. im not interested really in sharing files or anything like that, i just want internet access on my powerbook while im at the office.

every bit of information ive found online has just been completely overwhelming with running scripts and all that other junk. this seems to be a simple and necessary operation, i refuse to believe there isnt some easy way to do it on a mac.

Thank you,
Ryan

 

[Xiabelle]

If this is like my network at work, your computer has to be registered on the domain to be able to use the network. This will require adding it in -- and it's not quite as easy as you might think.

Does your domain policy allow you to put other computers on the network? My network admins would freak if I tried to put a mac on their precious network (and since I have high level security access, I don't even want to try it...)

I'm not sure what you do for a living, but at least at my workplace, only certain people have access to join computers to the domain. You might not have the access to do it.

Regardless, I suspect you'll need to authenticate off of active directory, if your workplace is a windows 2000+ shop. You can find the checkmark to authenticate against it at Applications. Utilities > Directory Access.

http://www.infodiv.unimelb.edu.au/lansg/osx/os-x3-ad.html

That has some good instructions for how to do it all.

But... your computer will probably need to be registered onto the domain already. I know that when we set up new PCs at my office, we have to add them in. When they fall out of the domain, we have to add them back in.

 

[jenkins]

thank you for the response, i was afraid nobody was going to give me some input.


i am actually a college summer help employee at the company, but i work directly with the local ADMIN. i am allowed to add computers to the domain and i have the domain username and password to do this.

im really good with PC's, but they suck. im glad i switched to mac, but i just feel so inferior suddenly when it comes to debugging and setup.


ill test out the link today while im at work and i will post back if i get results.

Thanks!

~Ryan