• Articles and Books,  iPhone,  Mac OS X,  Mac OS X Server,  Mac Security,  Mass Deployment

    My OS X Server Book From O'Reilly On Amazon!

    I usually don’t like to discuss books (except in person with friends/colleagues) very much until I have an ISBN number. Well, here it is! My next book is going to address what I consider the most important challenge to Apple Server nerds like myself: can a server really be installed off the app store with no technical skills? I also tackle the meaning of life (somewhere on page 42) in this book, but that’s not nearly as interesting a topic… I am about 80 percent done with it and it should be out within the next 5 to 6 weeks. One of the things that really impresses me about O’Reilly…

  • Mac OS X,  Mac OS X Server,  Mac Security,  Mass Deployment,  public speaking

    https://krypted.com/ is a sponsor of MacTech Conference 2011!

    As a https://krypted.com/ reader, we’ve arranged for you to get a special discount … on us … for this year’s event.  Just a couple of weeks away, MacTech Conference 2011 is November 2-4 at the Sheraton Universal in Los Angeles.  This is an amazing event that is very well regarded in our industry not just for the content, but also for the opportunities to meet and interact with others. The hotel block is almost full, and there’s a limited number of discounts that we have available, so you need to act quickly to get the $799 deal (Save $500 off the onsite registration price). Simply use this link to register: http://www.mactech.com/conference/special-reg_Krypted Want…

  • Mac OS X

    Suppressing the iCloud Dialog During Imaging and Through ARD

    The latest update of Lion for Mac OS X 10.7.2 comes with an interesting new option, where it prompts users to log into iCloud. This setting is stored in com.apple.SetupAssistant.plist in the DidSeeCloudSetup key. Configuring the boolean with a positive value then suppresses the prompt for the user: defaults write /System/Library/User Template/Non_localized/Library/Preferences/com.apple.SetupAssistant DidSeeCloudSetup -boolean YES If you have configured it and you want to run it again, just revert to NO: defaults write /System/Library/User Template/Non_localized/Library/Preferences/com.apple.SetupAssistant DidSeeCloudSetup -boolean NO These commands can be sent out through Apple Remote Desktop, or some other patch management system.

  • Mac OS X,  Mac OS X Server,  Mac Security,  Mass Deployment,  Windows XP

    And The Badass Award Goes to CrashPlan…

    Over dinner one night, Matthew Dornquast, the CEO of CrashPlan, was running something by a few of us sitting around the table. Basically, giving access to files that are backed up in CrashPlan to other systems. I don’t think I fully understood what he was talking about (I mean, you can already restore data on any system you install CrashPlan on, right?) and didn’t pay much mind to it. Then, I heard about the CrashPlan app for iOS (iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch). After downloading the app, I realized it wasn’t just showing me when my machines last backed up (which it does very nicely). It’s more than that. You can…

  • Mac OS X,  Mac OS X Server,  Mac Security,  Mass Deployment,  public speaking

    MacSysAdmin Videos Available

    I really had a great time at MacSysAdmin 2011 in Gothenburg, Sweden. The videos of the sessions are now available at http://documentation.macsysadmin.se. The Swedes, Danes, Norwegians and even the Finns are great hosts. And getting to meet people from so many countries in one spot is always fun. Tycho and his cohorts at Apoio just do such a great job planning and thinking every detail through. Since my demos were a fail (note: you need Internet access to restore iOS devices), I’ll be publishing an article that outlines each of my demos that weren’t able to be delivered at some point in the near future. Also, congrats to all the…

  • public speaking

    MacTech Conference 2011 Advanced Registration Closing Soon

    Looks like MacTech Advanced Registration is about to close: Now is the time to register for MacTech Conference, save with advanced registration andjust pay $899. Advance Registration ends October 14th. Register here. Our large initial hotel room block has already sold out for all nights.  We’ve managed to add some more rooms but only a handful of those remain for the main nights. More… Hope to see you there!

  • Mac OS X,  Mac OS X Server,  Mass Deployment

    Hacking Around in Lion's Recovery Mode

    Boot holding down the R key and you are placed into Lion’s Recovery Mode. From inside Recovery Mode, you can select a number of options. Many are helpful, especially for road warriors. But in a centralized environment, not everyone should be able to perform potentially dangerous operations. One way to eliminate such an option is to just wipe the Recovery Mode, but what if you actually wanted to leave Recovery Mode… To see the Recovery Partition, check out this article. Once you are in the Recovery Partition, there are lots of nifty little toys. For example, to see the menu of options shown in Recovery Mode, run Mac OS X…