Mac OS X: How to Disable NetInfo and LDAP Connections at Startup

Symptom

If you have your computer configured to connect to a NetInfo and/or LDAP server at startup, you may see these symptoms:

• If your computer is on a network that does not have a NetInfo server, you may experience a startup delay in which a message about NetInfo appears above the progress bar.
  
• Your computer may unexpectedly join a network as a Workgroup Manager client. For further description of this possibility, see technical document 107278, "Mac OS X 10.2: Cannot Change Dock, Burn Discs, or Use Certain System Preferences and Applications".

Note: Only Mac OS X 10.2 or later can be a Workgroup Manager client.

Solution

Any Mac OS X computer may be set up to connect to a NetInfo or LDAP server during startup, but this is a default setting in later Mac OS X versions. If you need to disable these connection attempts, follow these steps:

Note: These steps describe Directory Access as it appears in Mac OS X 10.2 or later. They may vary slightly in earlier versions.

1. Open Directory Access (/Applications/Utilities/).
2. Click the lock button, and type your password.
3. Click OK.
4. If necessary, click the Services tab.
5. In the Enable column, deselect the checkboxes for NetInfo, LDAPv2, and LDAPv3.
6. Click the Apply button.
7. Quit Directory Access.