Managed Client: How to customize the Computer Name screen saver message for the login window

With OS X v10.6 or later, you can use the Computer Name screen saver at the login window to display a custom message.

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Use the following steps to manage and enable the Computer Name screen saver to display at the login window. 

Tip: If you use browse to /System/Library/Screen Savers/ you may see other screen savers such as "FloatingMessage.saver". This screen saver is not designed to be used at the login window. Use "Computer Name.saver" instead.

Using Profile Manager

  1. In Profile Manager, select the Device or Device Group you wish to manage.
  2. Click the Settings tab.
  3. Click the Edit button to edit the profile.
  4. Select the login window payload from the OS X section.
  5. If you have not configured settings for this payload, click the Configure button.
  6. Click the Options tab.
  7. Enable the checkbox next to the "Start screen saver after: X minutes" option.
  8. Enable the checkbox next to the "Use screen saver module at path:" and enter the following path:

    /System/Library/Frameworks/ScreenSaver.framework/Resources/Computer Name.saver
     
  9. Click OK to dismiss the edit view.
  10. Click Save to save the changes.

To customize the message displayed by the Computer Name screen saver, execute the following Terminal command on the system: 

sudo defaults write /Library/Preferences/com.apple.ScreenSaver.Basic MESSAGE "Math Lab"


Replace "Math Lab" with your custom message.

Using Workgroup Manager

  1. In Workgroup Manager, select the Computer or Computer Group you wish to manage.
  2. Click Preferences in the top toolbar.
  3. Click the Overview tab.
  4. Click the Login button.
  5. Click the Options tab.
  6. Choose to manage the settings "Always".
  7. Enable the checkbox next to the "Start screen saver after: X minutes".
  8. Enter the following path to use the Computer Name screen saver module:

    /System/Library/Frameworks/ScreenSaver.framework/Resources/Computer Name.saver
     
  9. Click Apply Now to save the changes. 

To customize the message displayed by the Computer Name screen saver, execute the following Terminal command on the system: 

sudo defaults write /Library/Preferences/com.apple.ScreenSaver.Basic MESSAGE "Math Lab"


Replace "Math Lab" with your custom message.

Configuring locally

You can execute the following three commands on OS X v10.6 or later to set the idle time to 5 minutes, specify the Computer Name screen saver module, and customize the message as "Math Lab", respectively (replace Math Lab as needed):

sudo defaults write /Library/Preferences/com.apple.screensaver loginWindowIdleTime 300
sudo defaults write /Library/Preferences/com.apple.screensaver loginWindowModulePath "/System/Library/Frameworks/ScreenSaver.framework/Resources/Computer Name.saver"
sudo defaults write /Library/Preferences/com.apple.ScreenSaver.Basic MESSAGE "Math Lab"


Notes

  • loginWindowIdleTime defines the time in seconds.
  • loginWindowModulePath defines the file system path to a screen saver module.
  • MESSAGE defines the custom message.
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