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...