Note: This page is historical.
It contains information from MacTech Conference 2019

See MacTech Conference 2019 Videos

Pre-Conference Workshops

All new for 2019 are several optional, certifications and several full-day pre-conference workshops.

All pre-conference workshops take place on Tuesday, October 15, 2019 at the same hotel as MacTech Conference, and should be reserved in advance. The workshops are small group, interactive and hands-on. Student to teacher ratios are typically 15:1 or better.

Where appropriate, instructors may require you to bring a computer with specific, and freely available tools or software installed. See each workshop description for details.

Listed below.

Full-Day Workshops
All take place on Tue Oct 15, from approximately 9am-5:30pm. Lunch included.

• Setting Up a Secured Cloud Server
  Workshop taught by JD Strong, Strong Solutions
   
• How to Implement Continuity of Operations
  Workshop taught by Avery Chipka, Circle Tech Collective
   
• Wi-Fi Security: Design and Troubleshooting
  Workshop taught by Jeanette Lee, Ruckus Wireless
   
• Swiftly Automating Systems and Workflows
  Workshop taught by Scott M. Neal, Mindset Garden/AcmeFoo
   

You can register for the pre-conference workshops when you register for MacTech Conference (it’s an option on the conference registration form). Or, if you are already registered for MacTech Conference, simply contact MacTech customer service to assist you.

Note: Workshops may require minimum participation levels.
All times are approximate. All sessions, speakers and descriptions are subject to change at any time without notice.

Full-Day Workshops

All take place on Tue Oct 15, from approximately 9am-5:30pm.
Lunch included.

Setting Up a Secured Cloud Server

Hands on: Best practices in setting up a hosted Linux server to support services.

Workshop taught by JD Strong, Strong Solutions

For years now, Apple has been moving away from being in the server business. Even before that, many services that Apple technologies rely on have long been better served on a Linux host. Best practices are to host these in a private or public cloud, but it’s important to do that in the right … and secure ways.

Start off with spinning up your own hosted Linux cloud server. We will lock down and secure your server with proper firewall configuration, certificate-secured secure shell access, and fail2ban implementation. With a secure server configured, we will explore hosting a website (or munki repo), VPN, File Server (Private Cloud), Unifi Controller, Email server, XMPP Chat Service, or BlueSky server (remote access). Finally, we will also configure backups of your cloud hosted server.

At the end of this session, you will have a working hosted cloud server along with a step-by-step set of instructions to set up additional servers to fit your future needs.

Which Cloud Providers and OSes? There are a number of providers and flavors of Linux out there, and while we may use one or two as an example, the strategies, tactics and terms you will learn in this session are applicable to any specific solution.

What attendees need to bring: A laptop with any command line interface (e.g., Terminal.app on any macOS) installed. Be prepared to set up an account at a public cloud provider, but the first month is free.

How to Implement Continuity of Operations

How to keep things up and running in the face of natural and manmade disasters.
Workshop taught by Avery Chipka, Circle Technologies Collective International

At some point or another everyone experiences an interruption to operations. Disruptions come in many forms, including both natural or unnatural (aka manmade) events. This workshop will walk you through the planning and execution of continuity of operation plans. In this full-day workshop, each person will be creating a continuity of operations plan for either their own organization, or a fictional one.

The workshop will walk through both the framework and specific subtopics necessary to plan and implement continuity of operations. Included in these areas of focus are responding to network infrastructure attacks, short interruptions to power, extended power outages, proper backup techniques, issues related to staffing, failure vectors, DNS, failover systems, detecting and responding to expected failures, DOS, HostageWare, mitigation of the unexpected, and returning to either functional or normal operational status.

Who should attend? Anyone who is using, or considering preparing their (or their clients) organizations for sustained continuity.

What attendees need to bring: A laptop with macOS installed (Sierra or later)

Wi-Fi Security: Design and Troubleshooting

Best practices in securing and troubleshooting your Wi-Fi network.
Workshop taught by Jeanette Lee, Ruckus Networks

Most devices connect wirelessly either most or all of the time–everything from laptops to wireless thermostats, cameras, doorbells, and more. But how secure are these networks? Most people understand the basics of wireless network security but there is far more that can be done even if you don’t have the budget of the NSA.

This workshop discusses wireless security from the most common threats to the risks of state actors. No security measures are perfect but they can always be improved.

Topics that will be covered include a comparison and analysis of authentication method effectiveness from pre-shared keys to 802.1X certificate-based security, RADIUS server configuration and role-based access and wireless intrusion detection.

The goal is to provide a Wi-Fi system engineer or network manager with advanced practical and effective measures they can take to mitigate risks in their networks. Attendees should have a good grounding in wireless networking and network security.

Topics covered include:

• Everything you wanted to know about wireless security, but were afraid to ask
  
• Review of important wireless vulnerabilities
  
• A critique of various authentication mechanisms: what works and what’s not worth it
  
• How the rest of the network contributes to wireless security or vulnerabilities
  
• Strategies for building a multi-layered approach to protecting critical network assets
  
• Troubleshooting Wi-Fi network security and some of our favorite third-party tools
  

Who should attend? Network integrators, network consultants, school districts, higher education organizations, enterprises looking to up their wireless security game.

What attendees need to bring: A laptop with macOS installed (Sierra or later) and a healthy paranoia

Swiftly Automating Systems and Workflows

Establishing an automation mindset, removing roadblocks in scripting, command line and more.
Workshop taught by Scott M. Neal, Mindset Garden/AcmeFoo

Whether for a specific task, or scripting your system or workflow, automation is the key for admins and consultants looking to create a solution.

You may have seen automation of tasks through scripting (whether command line, Automator, AppleScript, Python, Swift, etc.), and wonder how you can better apply those concepts to your own uses. You may have even tried, but it felt daunting, or you hit roadblocks. You don’t need to be a programmer to be an effective automator. It’s all about the right approach, the right tools, and knowing where to go when you hit a roadblock.

In this workshop, you’ll get a crash course in Automation. At the end of the workshop day, you’ll know not only the basics, but you’ll have worked on your own solutions. As a hands-on workshop, you’re encouraged to bring your own ideas you want to tackle, and/or current scripts that you want to improve; we’ll work through the issues that are holding you back.

In this one-day compressed course, learn the basics of Automation using Automator, Swift, AppleScript, Command Line and Xcode.

We will also be digging into GUI development using Python-ObjC and integrating Swift with AppleScript-Cocoa. We’ll demystify the Unix Scripting Environment and Apple Events, the key to making the computer do what you want it to do.

This session won’t make you a full-blown scripter or programmer in a day, but you’ll be armed with what you need to not only work with other scripts and modify them in useful ways, but also to write your very own scripts from scratch!

Once you’ve got the “Automation Mindset” in your head, which you’ll get in this workshop, you’ll be able to see the big picture about Automation, from scripting to command line to programming (and much of what’s in between those).

Who should attend? Anyone who is using, or considering using automation for systems or processes.

What attendees need to bring: Laptop with macOS High Sierra, Mojave, or Catalina installed.

What attendees are encouraged to bring: Scripts or scripting ideas that you’d like to tackle. Before the session: Install Xcode (not mandatory, but helpful).