Create a user account on OS X that will be a template for every other user of that computer. I usually call it “profile” and make it an administrator account for the time being.

1. Install and configure all applications as desired. It is important to run each program under the profile account. This will skip many of the annoying first-run prompts users will see with things like iCloud and Mozilla Firefox. Be patient with this step and take as much time as it needs.

At this point, a substantial amount of work has been invested in the Mac. I take some time to backup the work and create a disk image of the hard drive.

2. Make the “Profile” account the default profile for all users on the Mac.

3. While logged-in as “Profile”, empty the trash and delete the application caches. Delete the "Login" keychain.

4. Enable the built-in root user account, from the Directory Services console.

5. Log in as the root user (Be very careful while using the root user account).

6. Show all files in the Finder ( Terminal.app / sudo defaults write com.apple.Finder AppleShowAllFiles YES ).

7. Also from the terminal, make a backup copy of the existing default user profile ( cp -R /System/Library/User\ Template/English.lproj/ /System/Library/User\ Template/English.orig ).

sudo su

Remove old default profile:

rm -rf /System/Library/User\ Template/English.lproj/*

Add custom profile from user [Profile]:

rsync -av /Users/[Profile]/* /System/Library/User\ Template/English.lproj/

chown profile to root:

chown -R root /System/Library/User\ Template/English.lproj/

Remove Keychain:

rm -r /System/Library/User\ Template/English.lproj/Library/Keychains/*

IMPORTANT: Repair Permissions:

diskutil repairPermissions /

Then upload the image.



Ian Zavardino
Systems Administrator

IT Support Center
Mount Saint Mary College
Newburgh, NY 12550
Phone: 845-569-3620
ITSC: 845-569-3491
Email: it.support@msmc.edu