• Mac OS X,  Mac OS X Server

    Delete User Configurable nvram In Sierra (10.12)

    A nifty little feature of nvram is the ability to delete all of the firmware variables you’ve created. This can get helpful if you’ve got a bunch of things that you’ve done to a system and want to remove them all. If you run nvkram followed by a -p option you’ll see all of the configured firmware variables: nvram -p If you run it with a -d you’ll delete the given variables that you define (e.g. boot-args): nvram -d boot-args But, if you run the -c you’ll wipe them all: nvram -c

  • Mac OS X Server,  Mac Security

    Enable Push Notifications In macOS Server 5.2 On Sierra

    Push Notifications can be used in most every service that macOS Server 5.2 (for Sierra) can run. Any service that requiring Push Notifications will often provide the ability to setup APNS during the configuration of the service. But at this point, I usually just set up Push Notifications when I setup a new server. To enable Push Notifications for services, you’ll first need to have a valid AppleID. Once you have an AppleID, open the Server app and then click on the name of the server. Then click on the Settings screen and click on the checkbox for Notifications. At the Settings screen for your server, click on the check-box for Apple…

  • Mac OS X Server,  Mac Security

    Use SSH, ARD, SNMP, And The Server App Remotely on Server 5.2

    SSH allows administrators to connect to another computer using a secure shell, or command line environment. ARD (Apple Remote Desktop) allows screen sharing, remote scripts and other administrative goodness. You can also connect to a server using the Server app running on a client computer. To enable any or all of these, open the Server app (Server 5.2 for Sierra), click on the name of the server, click the Settings tab and then click on the checkbox for what you’d like to enter. All of these can be enabled and managed from the command line as well. The traditional way to enable Apple Remote Desktop is using the kickstart command.…

  • Mac OS X Server

    Backup macOS Server 5.2 Settings On Sierra

    We covered using Time Machine Server previously. Here, we’re going to look at backing up the settings of an OS X Server. To do so, we’re going to install a little app called Bender from the great folks at Robot Cloud. You can download that from http://robotcloud.screenstepslive.com/s/2459/m/5322/l/94467-bender-automated-backup-of-os-x-server-settings. Once downloaded, run the package installer. At the Welcome to Bender screen, click Continue. Agree to the licensing agreement by clicking the Continue button. Click Agree again (assuming of course that you agree to the license). Choose who you wish to install the software for and click Continue. I’d go ahead and install Bender at the default location, so click Install. Once the…