macospreferences
I'm working on creating a NetRestore Golden Image that will be used on about a dozen computers across our organization.
I need EVERY account to boot up with the same baseline preferences (screensaver, desktop, dock applications, etc).
What is the easiest way to replicate account preferences across each account?
Try using Mac OS X Server installed on the Mac Mini. Technically you should be able to install configure and mange users, applications etc all on the Mac Mini. Then you should be able to login via the MacBook Pro as a user on the server and pull down a configuration of Apps etc that you set up on server for your user accounts. See Considering OS X Server for home users.
This is just one example and it may be irrelevant to some people, so to understand the scope of what OS X Server has to offer it is best to look at all of its services lumped into four general categories: Account Management, File Sharing, Network Administration, and Web Services.
User account management
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Beyond the directory itself are the domain management features of OS X, with which you can bind client Mac computers (such as your desktop iMac) to the server so the usernames and passwords in the server can be used to log in to the client Mac system. With this setup, you do not need to make new accounts on a system every time you want to allow someone to use a computer. Instead, you can go to the server and enable an account for a workstation, and that user can go log in to that system and use it. Additionally, if you purchase new systems all you need to do is bind them to the server and users can then log in to them with the same restrictions that they have on your other Macs (such as access only to certain applications, and only specific settings being available to them).
Also check out On Mobile Accounts and Syncing where there is more research to be done at on how well OS X server does mobile accounts. It looks like Apples Offial name is Portable Home Directories as referenced from OS X Lion server spec under Client Management, this should allowing syncing to occur for your files in your home directory.
Open preferences and check the box marked "Load preferences from a customer folder or URL""
You can browse to your Dropbox folder and the click "Save Settings to Folder"
Best Answer
As Robin says, most people would go for OS X Server, because it has tools specifically built to do just this, providing you bind the clients to LDAP.
Aside from that, OS X is designed hierarchically. You could try just adding the desired .plist files in /Library/Preferences instead of ~/Library/Preferences and then deleting said files, if they already exist, from ~/Library/Preferences (since files in ~/Library generally override those in /Library )
There is also the default "User Template" hiding in the System Folder, from which all new users' home folders are created. You could edit this, but the change would only affect accounts created after the imaged machines have their first boot.