Member Avatar for qlcooper

I've been trying to set up a small network with the Server app on Yosemite. I don't want to do anything crazy with the server, I'd just like to know how I can set up network user accounts so that they can login from other Mac computers on the same network. I already have Open directory set up, the Macs that will be used on the network with the server have already been joined to the server under login options. I have created the network user account, I have also joined the user account to a group that I created. When I try to login to the network account from one of the Macs, it doesn't work. I'm pretty rookie with Mac server, can anyway give me any pointers of what I should be doing? Or if I am doing something wrong. Thanks guys.

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  • Latest Post Latest Post by rubberman

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Generated

(and ) — quick, practical checklist and commands that usually find why an Open Directory network account won't let a Mac log in.

Common causes: DNS/name-resolution problems, client not actually searching the Open Directory node, clock skew (Kerberos), the account is locked or missing a home share, or a stale cache on the client. Run these checks from a client that fails to log in.

Confirm the client sees the network account

id shortname
dscl /Search -read /Users/shortname
dscacheutil -q user -a name shortname

Expected: id returns UID/gids; dscl prints the user record (HomeDirectory, UniqueID, etc.); dscacheutil returns the user record. If these fail, the client is not properly bound or the search path is wrong.

DNS & connectivity

  • Verify the server hostname resolves from the client: nslookup servername and ping servername. Forward and reverse DNS must point to the server used for binding. If DNS fails, binding can look “joined” but authentication will fail.

Time / Kerberos

  • Check both client and server clocks (date). Kerberos authentication used by OD will fail if clocks differ by several minutes. Enable network time on both machines.

Home folders and shares

  • If accounts use network home directories, confirm the File Sharing service and the home-share path exist and permissions allow access. From Finder use Connect to Server to test mounting the home share.

Caches, logs and rebind

  • Clear local caches: sudo dscacheutil -flushcache and reboot if unsure. Check Console.app on the client and server for opendirectoryd, loginwindow or authentication errors; also inspect Server.app’s Open Directory status. If bound but failing, unbind and rejoin the client (Users & Groups → Login Options → Network Account Server → Join).

If the above checks succeed but login still fails, the next step is to inspect the user record on the server (is the account disabled? does it have a valid shell and home path?) and to review the exact auth errors from the client Console logs for targeted fixes.

Member Avatar for rubberman

Have you posted this question on the Apple user forums, or looked on the Apple site for a FAQ about this?

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