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

    Yosemite Server And Logs

    OS X Yosemite running the Server app has a lot of scripts used for enabling services, setting states, changing hostnames and the like. Once upon a time there was a script for OS X Server called server setup. It was a beautiful but too simplistic kind of script. Today, much of that logic has been moved out into more granular scripts, kept in /Applications/Server.app/Contents/ServerRoot/System/Library/ServerSetup, used by the server to perform all kinds of tasks. These scripts are, like a lot of other things in Yosemite Server. Some of these include the configuration of amavisd, docecot and alerts. These scripts can also be used for migrating services and data. Sometimes the…

  • Mac OS X Server

    Mavericks Server Logs

    OS X Mavericks has a lot of scripts used for enabling services, setting states, changing hostnames and the like. Once upon a time there was a script for OS X Server called server setup. It was a beautiful but too simplistic kind of script. Today, much of that logic has been moved out into more granular scripts, kept in /Applications/Server.app/Contents/ServerRoot/System/Library/ServerSetup, used by the server to perform all kinds of tasks. These scripts are, like a lot of other things in Mountain Lion Server. Some of these include the configuration of amavisd, docecot and alerts. These scripts can also be used for migrating services and data, such as /Applications/Server.app/Contents/ServerRoot/System/Library/ServerSetup/MigrationExtras/30-ipfwmigrator. Sometimes the…

  • Mac OS X Server

    Setting Up And Using Web Services in OS X Mavericks Server

    Web Services in Mac OS X, Mac OS X Server, Linux and most versions of Unix are provided by Apache, an Open Source project that much of the Internet owes its origins to. Apache owes its name to the fact that it’s “a patchy” service. These patches are often mods, or modules. Configuring web services is as easy in OS X Mavericks Server (10.9) as it has ever been. To set up the default web portal, simply open the Server app, click on the Websites service and click on the ON button. After a time, the service will start. Once running, click on the View Server Website link at the bottom…

  • Mac OS X Server

    Configure Mavericks Server To Be An Open Directory Master

    Open Directory has never been so easy to setup for a basic environment as it is in OS X Mavericks Server (OS X 10.9, Server app 3). It’s also never been so annoyingly simple to use that to do anything cool requires a bunch of command line foo. No offense to the developers, but this whole idea that the screens that were being continually refined for a decade just need to be thrown out and started fresh seems to have led to a few babies thrown out along with them. Not often as I’m kinda’ digging most of the new config screens in OS X Mavericks Server, but with Open…

  • Mac OS X

    Logger In Bash

    When bash scripting, a useful command is logger. The logger command allows you to “make entries in the system log.” When using the logger command, you can write to your own entries to the system log. To show how this command works, we’re going to open two terminal windows, preferably side-by-side. In one window, we’re going to look at the output of the system.log file interactively using the tail command with the -f option tail -f /private/var/log/system.log In the other window, we’re going to simply enter the logger command followed by the word frogger: logger frogger This will show you an entry similar to the following: Jun 3 00:34:44 ce.pretendco.com…

  • iPhone,  Mac OS X,  Mac OS X Server,  Mac Security,  Mass Deployment,  Network Infrastructure

    The New Caching Service In OS X Server

    These days, new services get introduced in OS X Server during point releases. OS X now has a Software Caching server built to make updates faster. This doesn’t replace Apple’s Software Update Server mind you, it supplements. And, it’s very cool technology. “What makes it so cool” you might ask, given that Software Update Server has been around for awhile. Namely, the way that clients perform software update service location and distribution with absolutely no need (or ability) for centralized administration. Let’s say that you have 200 users with Mac Minis and an update is released. That’s 200 of the same update those devices are going to download over your…