kmosx: How to import Locations; Jag-->Panther
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How to import Locations from Jag into Panther
When I upgraded from Jaguar to Panther using "archive and install" my Locations (from Network Preferences) were not installed. The way these preferences were stored changed between 10.2.x and 10.3 and I was unable to figure out how to retrieve the old prefs and so avoid having to recreate 20 Locations from scratch. Following a posting on this forum I have been able to track down the information required and successfully install these Locations.
The steps I used are as follows:
1. Start up computer in OSX 10.2.x. On startup disk containing MacOSX 10.2.x (Jaguar) locate and duplicate the file /private/var/db/SystemConfiguration/preferences.xml, using the "Go to Folder" command from the Go menu in the Finder, saving it to a convenient location. This file contains the Location preferences from MacOSX 10.2.x..
2. Start up computer in OSX 10.3.x. On startup disk containing MacOSX 10.3.x (Panther) locate and select the file /Library/Preferences/SystemConfiguration/preferences.plist, using the "Go to Folder" command from the Go menu in the Finder. This file stores the Location preferences from MacOSX 10.3.x. In the Get Info pane in the file menu of the Finder, change "ownership" to <" to Read & Write.
3. Duplicate /Library/Preferences/SystemConfiguration preferences.plist saving it to a convenient location.This will be the back up copy if anything should go wrong.
4. Using TextEdit open the copy of preferences.xml on the Desktop.
5. Using TextEdit open the copy of preferences.plist on the Desktop.
6. Select and copy all text in the open preferences.xml file.
7. Select and delete all text in the open preferences.plist file.
8. Paste contents of clipboard into the open preferences.plist file.
9. Save and close preferences.plist file
10. Quit TextEdit
11. Restore "ownership" and "access" by reversing steps taken at 2 above.
12. Open the Networks pane of System Preferences to verify that Locations files are now present and available for selection.
Assumption: the separate volumes containing MacOSX 10.2 and MacOSX 10.3 are both connected to the same computer or the duplicate copy of the "preferences.xml" (see 1. above) can be transferred to the disk containing MacOSX 10.3.x indirectly (e.g. using a USB flash memory dongle or via e-mail).
Thanks to Eric and Kappy for the help in resolving this issue.
Hope this is useful info for some people.
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