cojaxx8
Level 1 (4 points)
Mac OS X

Q: Network Accounts are Unavailable

Hello,

I work in an enterprise environment that is mainly Windows based, but also have a handful of Macs and a Mac Server. The issue I have is the MacBooks display the "Network accounts are unavailable" prompt at login. This message goes away when I exclude the VLAN the MACs are in from requiring authentication to our Firewall appliance.

 

I got told my our firewall support company that Macs perform some sort of test at startup. If they don't have full access to the internet the wireless NIC goes into a semi working state. It is only when they have internet access that it goes into a fully operational.

 

This makes sense as when the "network accounts are unavailable" message pops up, I can SSH into the Mac, but can't ping the IPs of our DC, ping any FQDN or ping any devices outside of the VLAN. Basically exactly the same as this http://apple.stackexchange.com/questions/231290/mac-unable-to-login-network-user -after-reboot-no-route-to-host

 

Our Firewall company just can't remember exactly what service performs this function on the MAC. Does anyone know what it is called?

 

Regards,

Peter

MacBook Pro, OS X Mavericks (10.9.5)

Posted on May 20, 2016 1:03 AM

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cojaxx8

Q: Network Accounts are Unavailable

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  • by BDAqua,

    BDAqua BDAqua May 20, 2016 3:10 AM in response to cojaxx8
    Level 10 (123,489 points)
    May 20, 2016 3:10 AM in response to cojaxx8

    Any help here...

     

    http://osxdaily.com/2007/01/22/what-happens-in-the-mac-os-x-boot-process/

     

    During its execution, rc.bootand the other rcscripts source /etc/rc.common, a shell script containing utility functions, such as CheckForNetwork()(checks if the network is up), GetPID(), purgedir()(deletes directory contents only, not the structure), etc.

    • rc.bootfigures out the type of boot (Multi-User, Safe, CD-ROM, Network etc.). In case of a network boot (the sysctlvariable kern.netbootwill be set to 1in which case), it runs /etc/rc.netbootwith a startargument.

    /etc/rc.netboothandles various aspects of network booting. For example, it performs network and (if any) local mounts. It also calls /usr/bin/nbstto associate a shadow file with the disk image being used as the root device. The idea is to redirect writes to the shadow file, which hopefully is on local storage.

    • rc.bootfigures out if a file system consistency check is required. Single-user and CD-ROM boots do not run fsck. SafeBoot always runs fsck. rc.boothandles the return status of fsck as well.
    • If rc.bootexits successfully, /etc/rc

     

    http://hayne.net/MacDev/Notes/boot_sequence.html

  • by cojaxx8,

    cojaxx8 cojaxx8 May 30, 2016 8:30 PM in response to cojaxx8
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Mac OS X
    May 30, 2016 8:30 PM in response to cojaxx8

    I have the solution to this issue. Turns out a new firewall that got installed was blocking access to certain websites. The solution was to whitelist the following websites so the laptop could reach them.

     

    www.itools.info

    www.thinkdifferent.us

    www.appleiphonecell.com

    www.airport.us

    www.apple.com

    www.ibook.info

    Images.apple.com

    Captive.apple.com


    If these websites aren't reachable, it appears the NIC goes into a semi working state and displays the symptoms as mentioned above.


    Hope this helps someone.