PresSTORE has a Synchronize module, that can be used to copy data from one location to another. This is done by the use of synchronization plans, or sync plans for short. Each plan is given a name and has a number of attributes associated with it, such as whether it is enabled or disabled. PresSTORE has a command line interface called nsdchat that is available at /usr/local/asw. To run it in interactive mode you can run the following command: /usr/local/asw/nsdchat From here, you can use the SyncPlan command to interface with the plans that you have created. To see a list of plans you will use the SyncPlan command from…
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LoginHook Bonjour
Want users to be able to use Bonjour at home without having their systems registering with Bonjour when they’re on your network? Many environments have taken to wholesale disabling Bonjour. This can be done by augmenting the LaunchDaemon that invokes Bonjour, com.apple.mDNSResponder.plist that is located at /System/Library/LaunchDaemons. You add a -NoMulticastAdvertisements to the ProgramArguments array. This can be done with the defaults command as so: defaults write /System/Library/LaunchDaemons/com.apple.mDNSResponder ProgramArguments -array-add “-NoMulticastAdvertisements” This can then be undone by writing the contents you want back into the array without the -NoMulticastAdvertisements: defaults write /System/Library/LaunchDaemons/com.apple.mDNSResponder ProgramArguments -array /usr/sbin/mDNSResponder -launchd This is somewhat well documented, initially appearing as an Apple kbase article. However, we…
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More Collaboration (Teams) Customizations
The article I did a few weeks ago on customizing the Mac OS X Server Wiki banner seems to have been a little incomplete. I discussed customizing the banner for a full web browser. However, the banner looks differently when viewed from an iPhone. I’ve had a couple of questions about how to customize the banner for iPhone so I figured I’d finish what I started. As I mentioned in the last article, you can simply customize (or replace) the banner-bg.png file located in the /usr/share/collaboration/css/serverhome_static/img directory. This will alter the appearance when viewed from a full web browser. You can also simply edit the following files (same directory) to…
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Running TFTP on Mac OS X
TFTP, or Trivial File Transfer Protocol is a protocol that can be used for quickly shuttling files about. While similar to FTP, TFTP has no username and password (in most cases) and should not be running when you do not need it. It’s still in use today for a number of appliances such as routers and switches, to get firmware and occasionally configuration files. There’s a nice little GUI utility that can be used to house a TFTP server on Mac OS X. It’s funny enough, called TFTPServer. You can obtain it at http://ww2.unime.it/flr/tftpserver. Once you have downloaded it, you can open the application and you will be placed into…
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Import ARD Information Using jamf
It’s pretty common to use keys for ARD for shuttling data back and forth. In an environment where you’re using one tool to image computers and another tool to then perform patch management, the Computer Information fields in ARD are a place where you can keep this information and not run the risk of it getting overwritten with a software update. In the past few weeks we’ve looked at importing information into DeployStudio, using a csv file and from the command line. We also looked at populating those ARD fields with scripts, using an example of populating the information with the username or computername and then keying administrative users from…
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Exporting Service Settings on Windows Server
The netsh command can be used to manage network interfaces, control routing and one of the lesser-used features that I’ve seen are to import and export service settings with Windows Servers. This can be especially helpful if you need to normalize data for import into another Windows server or to be normalized for use with another server platform. To export your DHCP information, from a command prompt in Windows you would run the netsh command along with the service you are exporting settings for (WINS, DHCP, etc). After the service identifier you would indicate the action being performed (ie – import or export in this context), followed by a file…
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DeployStudio From the Command Line
Recently I did a little article on importing computers into DeployStudio lists. I got an overwhelming number of email requests to go a step further and look at importing computers into DeployStudio from the command line. I’m guessing lots of people want to bolt some middleware onto their mass deployment tools (can’t say I blame ’em). The first thing to know is that DeployStudio stores most everything in standard property lists. This includes workflows, computer groups and computers. When you install DeployStudio you selected a location to place your database. For the purpose of this example, we’re going to use /DSDatabase as our location. Within this directory is a folder…
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A Little Light Reading
The last book (far right, Enterprise Mac Managed Preferences) is fresh, exciting (to me at least) and unique in that it is the most comprehensive information regarding managed preferences you can find. Management en masse of Mac OS X is very lucky to have this compendium. If the chapter in our Enterprise Integration book left you wanting more information about managed preferences then this book is for you!
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To The Jerk Who Broke Into My Car…
It’s not so much that I am angry about having my car broken into. Oddly enough, my annoyance that my privacy was invaded is offset by my acknowledgement that I left my doors unlocked. However, I am annoyed. And the reason is because you left my door open. I’m actually somewhat glad that you stole the Jack’s Beef Jerky from my car as I would have eventually eaten it if it were there, thus bringing out my demise a few minutes quicker than I otherwise would have done. I’m also not angry that you stole the pack of cigarettes in the console of my car. In fact, considering the fact…
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iTunes and Mass Activation
In order to use an iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch, you need to activate the devices. If you are setting up a large number of mobile devices, this can be a tedious process. When you start talking about thousands of them, it can be down-right overwhelming. However, you can reduce the number of clicks, taps and touches by telling iTunes not to synchronize devices with the iTunes Library following activation. This is done using what is called iTunes Activation Mode. Activation-mode will instruct iTunes to eject a device once it’s been activated rather than trying to synchronize music, photos and other media that may be on your system. By setting…