Posts by Category

Tech Article 43
Race Report 43
Photography 18
Random 9
Tech Presentations 8

Tech Article

MacDMV Regex-101 Presentation (Part 2)

NOTE: Again, I was going to give this presentation for MacDMV this month, however, due to unannounced circumstances I won’t be able to present. Here is what I was going to post immediately followi...

MacDMV Regex-101 Presentation (Part 1)

NOTE: I was going to give this presentation for MacDMV this month, however, due to unannounced circumstances I won’t be able to present. Here is what I was going to post immediately following the ...

Using mcxToProfile With the Casper Suite for Advanced Configuration Profiles

JAMF Software’s Casper Suite has the ability to use Configuration Profiles (Apple’s preferred method for managing OSX and iOS) since version 8.0, and introduced Apple Push Notification Service (APN...

Resizing a VMware Fusion Ubuntu Server Logical VHD (via Guided Partitioning)

In my previous article Resizing a VMware Fusion Ubuntu Server Virtual Drive (via Easy Mode), I described what was needed to enlarge your Virtual Drive (VHD) on a VMware Fusion VM that was setup by ...

Resizing a VMware Fusion Ubuntu Server Virtual Drive (via Easy Install Mode)

Let us pretend that you have an Ubuntu Server which has been running for several years and it has been doing it’s assigned task(s) nicely, until one day you make a change to your methodology/assump...

Generic Ubuntu Server Setup Scripts for Networking and VMware Tools

Lately I’ve been doing a lot of Ubuntu Server installs for JumpStarts with their intended use to become a JSS or JDS server. It’s easy to spin up a full clone or linked clone on my laptop, but whe...

Integrating (and Debugging) Windows Active Directory LDAP Connection With JAMF Software’s JSS

I’m guessing you are looking at your JSS screen trying to connect an LDAP server, specifically Active Directory (AD), but things are not going well. First of all, breath. There have been countles...

Bushel: ‘You put your Apple things in here’ for small businesses

Bushel is an Apple device (OSX and iOS) management tool that will assist with items that would normally frustrate people once you try to deploy/issue more than three devices. So I’m please to shar...

New binaries in Yosemite

Every year I like to dig a little around some default paths to see what new binaries will be available to assist in deployment or troubleshooting. I use a simple easy script that generates a list ...

Sending Mail from OS X Server on Verizon FiOS via Gmail

Yes I know this is a lengthy… long… and very specific post title, but I hope it helps someone else in the same predicament.

Quick Step-by-Step Guide for AutoPKG and JSSImporter

This is a quick step-by-step instructions to get AutoPKG and the JSSImporter to work so Mac Admins can begin testing and evaluating the two products, and see how these tools will help automate the ...

DEP and VPP Notes from MacDMV Group Meeting

On May 1st, MacDMV’s second “tech” session took place covering Apple’s Device Enrollment Program (DEP) and how it relates to JAMF Software’s Casper Suite, a little about VPPMD (because once you sta...

Working with VPP and DEP Apple IDs

These are notes about getting the Apple IDS and their two-step verification authentication ready for Apples Volume Purchasing Program (VPP) and Device Enrollment Program (DEP). WORST case give you...

Using .p12 or JKS files with OS X

My test CrashPlan PROe (CPPe, a.k.a “Black”) environment has been troubled with this VMware Fusion bug where linking a shared folder has some issues with read/write. The result was anytime a clien...

VPP 2.0 Presentation

Yesterday I was able to present to the local DC, VA, MD Mac User Group MacDMV on VPP. I felt it was a great success for our first knowledge focus event, and glad things are now in-gear. As I ment...

MacDMV: New DC, MD, VA Mac Admin Group

Last Friday I was feeling a little jealous of the San Francisco area Mac Admin’s group Macbrained on getting a group of individuals together to discuss new items in the Apple world (Mavericks and i...

Casper Suite 9: JDS Ubuntu Server Install Example

In the last article Casper Suite 9: Cloud and JDS Distribution Points I gave you information about things to take into consideration before installing a JAMF Distribution Server (JDS) into your Cas...

Casper Suite 9: Cloud and JDS Distribution Points

The Casper Suite has been able to provide installation packages to Managed OS X clients by AFP, SMB, and/or HTTP(s) for a long time, but now JAMF Software has introduced two new methods to provide ...

Debug APNS issues for JAMF Software’s Casper Suite

For this post, it is a good idea to review my last article on how Apple’s Push Notification System (APNS) works when managing OS X and iOS devices. It’s not required reading to comprehend, but it ...

How APNS works with MDMs that manage OSX and iOS

Classic Environment

Updated XProtectWatch now with terminal-notifier

XProtectWatch 1.1.0 (now with terminal-notifier support) I have updated XProtectWatch to now utilize terminal-notifier “a command-line tool to send Mac OS X User Notifications, which are available...

It’s (Log)^2, it’s big, it’s heavy, it’s wood [Mac OSX Server Edition]

AFP

JAMF Software Casper Suite in an Amazon EC2 Cloud

I had the interesting opportunity of installing the Casper Suite on an Amazon EC2 Cloud server and wanted to post my findings on the subject for other future “cloud” users. Overall the process is ...

XProtect updated - 2013.02.26

On Feb 19, 2013 11:48 PM Topher Kessler releases his article for CNET that New Mac malware opens secure reverse shell is out, “but has not yet been determined to be much of a threat”. His article ...

‘The Switcher Chronicles’ - Screen Shots

Confession, I FORCED my wife to be a “switcher”. Yes, I forced her to start using OS X, because Christmas 2012 I purchased a new laptop for her at her request (she didn’t specify a brand… and um… ...

Migrate OSX 10.6 Wiki to 10.8 with lost Directory

This title is very specific and may not be everyone’s exact scenario, however, there was plenty of beneficial items in my latest exercise with Wiki data on OS X; specifically taking old 10.6 Wiki d...

10.8 Mountain Lion Server: What Changed?

I’ve posted several docs already on what I see as big changes from a Server Admin point of view which includes moving the rest of the supported applications from Server Admin to Server.app. With th...

10.8 Mountain Lion Server: Websites and Wiki

Websites (f.k.a Web) and Wiki have already been moved to Server.app when Lion Server was released, so I didn’t expect much to change, but upon review there is a twinkle of Advanced option for Mac A...

10.8 Mountain Lion Server: Software Update

In the beginning of Mt Lion, there was a large scare that Apple was going to remove the current process of Software Updates (where in an enterprise environment has control of which update is made a...

10.8 Mountain Lion Server: Open Directory

The concepts for installing Open Directory is exactly the same as previous versions of OS X Server. Select whichever you want (Master or Replica) and walk through the assistant to get your ODM/ODR ...

10.8 Mountain Lion Server: NetInstall

From a pure functional standpoint, I don’t see any major difference between what is available in prior versions of OS X Server in terms of NetBoot service to the Mt Lion version; other than it is n...

10.8 Mountain Lion Server: Install

When first viewing Mountain Lion (MT Lion) Server, you can understand that Apple had a long-term goal of making the most common things VERY easy and simple to administer. Consolidating service func...

10.8 Mountain Lion Server: File Sharing and FTP

In terms of File Sharing, there is really nothing different from Lion to Mt Lion. There is a bonus for iOS users in EDU in that you can now create a WebDAV “DropBox” for students submitting their a...

10.8 Mountain Lion Server: DNS

You have just installed Mountain Lion Server, now what!? Going on the assumption you are staring at Server.app right after a clean install, the first thing that needs attention is DNS!

Configuring IPv6 DNS on Mac OS X Server

Over the past several months, my company has been dealing with AD/OD integrations with Lion 10.7.2 and the customer’s environment is using “.local”. If you are not familiar with the history between...

Working With IPv6 and Mac OS X

I don’t feel that anyone reading this in 2012 has never heard of IPv6. The easiest way to put it it’s a combinations of HEX values to make a big ugly “thing” that represents your computer. IPv4 was...

Apple’s Built-in Anti-Virus: XProtect

Today, Intego announced of a new trojan designed for the Mac dubbed “DevilRobber”.

Remove Diginotar CA Certificate

First, I want to say thanks to Edward Marczak for his original post on how to remove the Diginotar CA Certificate, and his forward thinking about how to do this from a System Admin perspective. I w...

Built-in Hidden Command Line Tools: Stroke and Airport

These tools are nothing new as they were available in Snow Leopard (and I believe Leopard, just can’t check), but they are fun little tools just in case you don’t have Apple’s Xcode installed or Ma...

Using S/MIME With Apple Mail

Most likely you have already figured out how to use your new email certificate in Mail as my article on How to get a free S/MIME Certificate was posted almost a month ago.

S/MIME Email Certificates in-Depth

We have discussed the basics of S/MIME in my post What Is S/MIME Email and Why Should I Be Using It, and from the last article Acquiring a S/MIME Certificate for Free you should have your S/MIME ce...

Acquiring a S/MIME Certificate for Free

From the last article, I hope you are now wondering “where do I get this awesome thing called S/MIME certificate!”, and the other kicker “What’s it going to cost me?” Well you are in luck because e...

What Is S/MIME Email and Why Should I Be Using It

During the WWDC 2011 keynote, Apple announced that iOS 5 was going to have the capabilities of S/MIME. With that new feature announcement, it becomes a perfect topic to kick off my Foundations segm...

Race Report

Toronto Triathlon Festival Olympic Race Report

This is going to be a short and sweet race report judging Toronto Triathlon Festival (TTF) race course and as a destination race.

IRONMAN 70.3: Augusta GA 2022 Race Report

Another race, another Ironman 70.3 but this time in Augusta, GA! I really want to say that I was 100% prepared for this race and was confident that I gave my best possible effort… well home and wo...

IRONMAN 70.3: Virginia Blue Ridge 2022 Race Report

I’m happy to report I’ve done my first triathlon in almost three years, and I returned to the sport by completing the Ironman 70.3 Virginia Blue Ridge (VBR) race. I’ll be forthcoming, I was a litt...

Luray 2021 Olympic Duathlon Race Report

Can you believe your eyes?! Yes a Race Report! First one in almost two years, as the last time I wrote anything was in 2019 for the TIN 14.06 Sprint! I wish this race report was full of accolad...

Tri It Now: 14.06 Sprint 2019 Race Report

This race report will be quick, as it should for a Sprint Triathlon!

Reston Olympic 2019 Race Report

Every race is unique to its own. I’m learning that more and more as I’ve now documented nearly 40 race reports, and this is the first time that I (successfully) completed the same race three times...

CMS: XTERRA Charlottesville 2019 Non-Race Report

2019 was already starting as a very odd year in terms of competing in races, but now things have gone completely upside down after I crashed on my mountain bike. To recap let me start from the beg...

eco-x: MMTR 2018

Mountain Masochist Trail Run (MMTR) is a point-to-point 50 mile course of roads, jeep trails, and single track with perfectly timed aid stations to help support as you travel through George Washin...

Vacation Races: Great Smoky Mountains Black Bear Double 2018

The “Black Bear Double” (BBD) is a double race event hosted Vacation Races, where on Friday night you are participating in the “Great Smoky Mountains 5K” and Saturday morning you are also in the “...

USAT National Championship 2018

For the past couple of years I’ve been doing pretty well in the local triathlon races by placing 1st or 2nd in my age group (AG), which qualified me for the USAT Age Group Nationals Championship ...

CMS: XTERRA Charlottesville 2018 Race Report

This is a race report for the XTERRA Charlottesville Sprint. I chose the sprint distance as I was also traveling for work to Costa Rica and wasn’t sure how well the hotel gym accommodations would...

XTERRA Myrtle Beach 2018 Race Report

After having a great time completing the Pocahontas Run and Ride, my Speed Sherpa teammate asked me if I also wanted to register for XTERRA Myrtle Beach. This was definitely not in my 2018 race pl...

Adventure Enablers: Pocahontas Run and Ride 2018

It’s another race weekend and once again I find myself participating in a well organized Adventure Enabler event! The weather was MUCH better when compared to 2018 Early Mountain Vineyards cold ne...

Adventure Enablers: Early Mountain Vineyards Run and Ride 2018

First two races of the year are already in the bag with Adventure Enablers Run/Ride events at Early Mountain Vineyards. I did not perform very well last year, so I had a lot of personally imposed...

Adventure Enablers: Resolution Trail Run 2018

Short Race report, as I was able to participate in Adventure Enablers’ Resolution Run for the second year in a row. The original goal was to run with the family like last year1, so I wasn’t thinki...

EX2 Adventures: Fall Backyard Burn - Riverbend 2017

Not really a race report, more of just letting people know I am still functioning after Ironman Louisville (IMLOU) and that I’m out having fun! Trying to get outside to enjoy the lovely Virginia t...

IRONMAN: Louisville 2017 Race Report

It is impossible to describe the feeling when crossing the finish line of your first IRONMAN. The sense of accomplishment is obvious, along with the overwhelming joy of finishing a race. There is...

Reston Century Ride 2017

On Sunday I completed my first Century (100 mile) ride! Just one more step closer to getting ready for my long race this October, but has boosted my confidence that I may actually complete the ra...

Rev3: Sizzling Sprint 2017 Race Report

Rev3 Sizzling Sprint is the last sprint race hosted by Rev3, and my last Sprint for 2017. I was hoping to have an improvement since May where the Salute Sprint was held and is the same course, pl...

Rev3: Williamsburg Sprint 2017 Race Report

Rev3 Williamsburg Sprint was a VERY last minute addition to my race schedule as I officially didn’t register until Wednesday July 5th for a race that was on the 8th. I originally paid for four Re...

Rev3: Montclair Sprint 2017 Race Report

Rev3’s Montclair is the only race this year that I have previously participated in 2016, which make it a great opportunity to compare and see how I am improving. Training has been going well for t...

Rev3: Salute Sprint 2017 Race Report

Rev3’s Salute to the Military Trithlon is the second race of the 2017 Rev3 Virginia Sprint Series. Sprint races that allow a quick recovery fit in perfectly as short fun events, as my two main go...

Adventure Addicts Racing: XTERRA Charlottesville 2017 Race Report

I’m not sure when I first heard about XTERRA races, but most likely it was from Dave sometime last year when team members were discussing what events everyone was thinking about for 2017. When XT...

Rev3: Westfields Sprint 2017 Race Report

The 2017 race season has officially started!!! This one was close as it almost didn’t happen. Ever since Cherry Blossom 10 Mile Run my left calf has not been the same. Then, when you combine a ...

Conquer the Hill at Miller School of Albemarle 2017

It is very humbling when you think of yourself as a decent “age group” athlete, but then you step into someone else’s playground and you quickly discover your skills at this new sport is average a...

Cherry Blossom Ten Mile Run 2017

In preparation for some longer events towards the end of this year, I decided to sign up for a couple of fun non-triathlon events to get myself mentally ready to endure what my mind may provide whi...

Adventure Enablers: Early Mountain Vineyards Run and Ride 2017

Let the 2017 Race season begin! This year I only registered for a few races when compared to last year, but with some high goals in terms of PRs, new event venues, and distances. To get my mind a...

Adventure Addicts Racing: ‘the Chill’ 2017

It was great to get back into Adventure Racing as I wasn’t able to do any in 2016. This time I stepped outside my comfort zone and registered for a race that was local vs. being dependent on my b...

Adventure Enablers: Resolution Trail Run 2017

For the past few months during the triathlon off-season, I’ve been drawn to running and biking outdoors in trails around the area to just “have fun”. I knew I needed a break from racing and simply...

EX2 Adventures: Rendezvous Run and Ride 2016 Double Race Report

Sometime early September I was looking for events that would complete my 2016 race calendar that was NOT a triathlon. I had already lined up the 2nd annual Family Duathlon and the family 5K charit...

Wisdom Oak Winery Sprint 2016 Race Report

Last year I had such a great time at Wisdom Oak Winery Sprint Triathlon that I decided to do it again this year in hopes to podium at least one more time this racing season. Once again, Race Dire...

Culpeper Sprint 2016 Race Report

This is event number five on the 2016 VTS/MTS Series which brings me to be competitive for series points awards at the end of the year. Any events done after this race will either be ignored or ma...

Colonial Beach Sprint 2016 Race Report

Colonial Beach Sprint is the only race this year where I get to compare myself and see my accomplishments for the amount of training I have done since December, as this is the only race that I hav...

Rev3: Montclair Sprint 2016 Non-Race Report

After last week’s poor swim performance at Jamestown International, I decided I need more opportunities for Open Water Swim (OWS) to get out of this head funk I have for swimming. Fortunately ther...

Jamestown International Triathlon 2016 Race Report

VTSMTS Jamestown International Triathlon is the place to go when you want to PR your International race distances (1500m Swim; 40K Bike; 10K Run)! That is unless the heat out side has raised the ...

Kinetic Half 2016 Race Report

There are simply too many words to describe the past couple of months, but the final result is I finished my first “Half” (70.3 mile) triathlon. Mental toughness is required, as the numerous temp...

Smithfield Sprint 2016 Race Report

Apparently VTS/MTS races and myself have an issue, and the issue is RAIN! Similar to last year’s Colonial Beach Sprint (although not as bad of a downpour and no open water swim with gasoline fuel ...

Reston 10 Miler 2016 Run Report

This is a long over due race run report for the “Reston 10 Miler” as this took place on March 5th, 2016. The primary goal for this event was to get my legs used to a long run for the upcoming tria...

Reston Triathlon Olympic 2015 Race Report

Amazing what one year makes; for the good or bad. This is the second time I’ve raced the Reston Triathlon, so I’m going to compare my numbers to see where there was any improvement.

Wisdom Oak Winery Sprint 2015 Race Report

Wisdom Oak Winery (WOW) Sprint is a 750 meter open water swim (OWS) in a lake, 16.6 mile bike, and 3.1 mile run that is hilly.

Colonial Beach Sprint 2015 Race Report

I know my usually audience is not interested in Triathlons, however, still not sure how to incorporate knowledge gained at my new job to my past audience. So, to make sure everyone knows I’m still...

Bonk Hard Racing: The Perfect 10 Rogaine 2014

This is a much delayed postmortem race report after noticing that I did publish an article about the Berryman race in 2013, I should only do the same service to The Perfect 10 Rogaine in 2014! Unfo...

Bonk Hard Racing: Berryman Adventure Race 2013

Over the weekend of September 28th, 2013 I had the opportunity to do the Berryman Adventure race with my Brother-in-law Shawn which is a multi-sport race for Run, Bike, and Canoe… BUT you have to t...

Photography

Great Smoky Mountains

Wow! It has been a long time since I’ve posted a photography article only! I didn’t do any image modifications (Curves, saturation, vignette, etc) to these pictures as I wanted to keep the beauty ...

Harpers Ferry Photography

Over the weekend my parents decided drive the 600+ miles to visit us in Virginia. When my parents do make the trip, we usually visit one new tourist attraction and one new winery to serve as subtl...

Spearville and Mullinville; With a Dash of Pink

time since I’ve posted any photography pictures as lately I’ve been traveling without my DSLR. These photos were taken with my iPhone 4s because they were completely unique I HAD to pull over and s...

Macworld 2012 Recap and Review

Wow, I can honestly say that this year’s Macworld was awesome! The fans and sponsors were great, but I must give my biased applause towards the speakers and MacIT Advisory Board for their superb j...

MacTech Conference 2011

Wow… I’ve been slacking off on writing posts. I know I’m highly overdue on S/MIME on iOS, I’ll be working on that soon… just finding a few snags and using MDM deployments. For now here are severa...

Kiana and Buckland Alaska

During the week of November 14th, 2011, through the combination of Qivliq Village Partnerships and the NANA BWISE program I was able to visited two villages within the Northwest Arctic: Kiana and B...

Niagara Falls

For the past couple of weeks, I’ve been in Niagara Falls, NY for a client. I have never seen the falls or have been to Canada, so it was fun to check both of those items off my life’s to-do list, a...

Santa Catalina School

I spent two days working at Santa Catalina School, (Monterey, CA), and at the end of the second day I went out and capture some pictures of their facilities because I have never seen a K-12 school ...

Squirrel River

This set contains pictures during my Alaska trip in 2011. My Alaskan family flew me out (along with a camera crew from National Geographic) out to their camp down the Squirrel River. It was a wonde...

Sunrise in New Mexico

I was recently in Las Cruces, NM for two days for work. On the first day while driving in to the clients location, I was amazed with the beautiful sunrise over the San Andres Mountains. I left the ...

Macworld 2011 Pictures

Pictures from Macworld 2011 in San Francisco, CA.

MacTech Conference 2010

Pictures from the MacTech Conference in Los Angeles, CA. It was a great time!

Palm Roses

While walking around Savannah, GA after a Podcast Producer Installation, I found a guy making these palm roses and was immediately impressed with his craftsmanship. I took this picture, then purcha...

Kotzebue Breakup

I returned to the Northwest Arctic to assist in additional server updates, create a Podcast Producer Lab, and mentorship… and to my luck I was able to watch “Breakup”. This is the quick period of t...

Northwest Arctic Alaska Vista

This picture was taken while traveling to Kiana, AK to perform Teacher Laptop and server updates from Leopard to Snow Leopard. This picture only captures a small fraction of the beauty in this regi...

Global Village - Discovery Center, Americus, GA

To better understand the beauty of the first couple of pictures, please watch the Stephen Colbert store of Americus, GA while working on The Daily Show.

Macworld 2010 Pictures

Here are some of the pictures that I took during Macworld 2010.

Macworld 2009 Pictures

Here are some of the pictures that I took during Macworld 2009.

Random

New Site Redesign

Over the past week I’ve been fighting an infection that was draining all of my energy, rendering me incapable of working out1. This left me with some extra time on my hands to address that this si...

New Adventures

Some of you may have seen on either Twitter or IRC that my consulting company and I parted ways at the end of February. It has taken me six weeks to find new employment and I’m very excited about ...

Using Octopress 3 With Secret And/or Key API Tokens

One thing that I love about Octopress is the support is GREAT! I’ve posted several questions in the past month in troubleshooting new features with Octopress; with Brandon Mathis providing quick, ...

Google Domains Now Does Dynamic DNS

So I was really hoping for some invite codes from Google Domains while it was still in private beta. This way everyone would shower me with love and affection, and in return for I would provide my...

Migrating From Octopress 2 to Octopress 3

I’ve been using Octopress 2 since February of 2013 and I’ve learned a little about ruby (not that I’ve programed any), updated my knowledge about current website frameworks, and have seen what it t...

I moved my domains to Google Domains, and you won’t believe what happened next

OK, that title is COMPLETELY intended for click bait. I just think it’s funny how “online news sites” use this to get people to click on things.

Octotransfigurator-inator: Migrating from Wordpress

Let’s face it, this site has become stale over the winter months… but largely due to dedicating time to researching, writing, practicing for my two MacIT presentations that happened from Jan 30 - F...

Flying TSA Pre Check

The TSA Pre Check program is the background security checks performed by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) for their Trusted Traveler program. This “Trusted Traveler” is the key because the ...

Hey Look… This Thing Works!

I have had intentions for some time on using my site for something other than announcements of Macworld/MacTech sessions, photographs while traveling for my job, and a simple resume placeholder. No...

Posts by Category

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