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Mitch
Asked: 2010-12-13 10:07:28 +0800 CST

Query Mac Computers From Pc

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I'm looking for some advice or suggestions on how to "manage" a small number of Mac computers in a mostly Windows 2003/2008 environment. We have about a dozen Macs used by the web team and I'd like to be able to process queries to find out things like software installed, versions, etc as I would with something like Psinfo against Windows computers. Something I can run from a XP workstation or Windows 7 workstation and that is non-intrusive would be great. I have lots of experience with Windows based machines but none, or next to none, with Macs. Any and all suggestions would be appreciated.

windows scripting mac

3 Answers

  1. About this Mac > More Info > Software > Applications

    Run that with the Activity Monitor open, so you can check where are the binaries or execs.

    Maybe you can write your own script for all Macs. If not, well it's just a small number and I don't think that applications change that often. (weekly?)

    Hope it helps.

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  2. Best Answer

    Apple Remote Desktop does much of what you want, but you need a Mac to run it from. They are scriptable via perl, python, or ruby, but you'll have to install your platform of choice on your Windows box.

    As far as the installed applications, you'd have to walk the filesystem for .app bundles, but the Mac doesn't have an all-encompassing Registry like Windows. (Though you may be able to query Spotlight, the search database.)

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  3. SpiceWorks might be able to do what you need. The SpiceWorks monitoring application runs on a Windows system and should be able to query any IP addressable device. (I've never used SpiceWorks; just heard about it.)

    "Unofficial" documentation on monitoring Macs.

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