• Mac OS X Server

    Configure Messages Server in OS X Server 5

    Getting started with Messages Server couldn’t really be easier. Messages Server in the OS X Server 5 version of the Server app uses the open source jabber project as their back-end code base. The jabber binary is located at /Applications/Server.app/Contents/ServerRoot/private/var/jabberd directory and the autobuddy binary is at /Applications/Server.app/Contents/ServerRoot/usr/bin/jabber_autobuddy. The actual jabberd binary is also stored at /Applications/Server.app/Contents/ServerRoot/usr/libexec/jabberd, where there are a couple of perl scripts used to migrate the service between various versions as well. Setting up the Messages service is simple. Open the Server app and click on Messages in the Server app sidebar.  Click on the Edit… button for the Permissions. Here, define which users and interfaces are allowed…

  • Mac OS X,  Mac OS X Server,  Mac Security

    My Own List of Common Apple Ports

    I’ve been underwhelmed (if that’s a word) by the list of common ports used on the Apple platform recently, so I started my own. It’s available at https://krypted.com//guides/common-apple-ports/ if you’re interested. It’s also under the Tools menu of the site. And yes, I’m aware that I can cat /etc/services; this includes some rudimentary notes.

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

    Promote A Yosemite Open Directory Replica To A Master

    You’ve got Open Directory running and humming beautifully in OS X Server (Server 3.5 on OS X 10.10 Yosemite). You show up to work and the hard drive has died on that perfectly configured Open Directory Master. Luckily, you have a replica and you have an archive of your Master. You can restore or you can promote your Replica to a Master. What to do? Well, I can’t tell you what you should do, but I can tell you that Apple has planned for this. Here, we’re going to look at promoting that Replica to a Master. Because after all, hard drives fail. Let’s look at what all this looks…

  • Mac OS X,  Mac OS X Server,  Microsoft Exchange Server

    Configuring Calendar Server in Mountain Lion Server

    Configuring Calendar Server in Mountain Lion Server is a fairly simple and straight forward process. The Calendar Server is a CalDAV Server, leveraging HTTP and HTTPS, running on ports 8008 and 8443 respectively. To enable the Calendar service in Mountain Lion Server, open the Server application and click on Calendar in the SERVICES section of the sidebar. Once open, click on Edit to enable email notifications of invitations in the Calendar Server. Provide the email address and then click on the Next button. At the Configure Server Email Address screen, provide the type of incoming mail service in use, provide the address of the mail server and then the port…

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

    Upgrading Open Directory From Snow Leopard Server to Lion Server

    I don’t believe in upgrading major operating systems for servers in place. There, I said it. If I’m doing an upgrade from Snow Leopard to Lion, I’m about 99.9% of the time going to do so with a clean install. Before I do so, I’m going to export all the data from my old server and when I’m done with the fresh, clean, loving installation, I’m going to import that data back into my server. Actually, before I import the data, I’m going to install all of the point releases, application updates and security patches. That’s my process for production servers. Open Directory isn’t very different. I Archive and Restore…

  • Network Infrastructure

    Replacing the Default SSL Cert For SonicWALLs

    The default, self-signed certificate that comes on a SonicWALL causes alerts during a Nessus scan. This is because the device uses a certificate that comes on the device and isn’t signed by a valid CA. Chances are, there are limits around who can load the SonicWALL web interface in the first place. But, if you don’t want Nessus to continue alerting, or if you just want to use a certificate signed by a valid CA because it’s a good security practice, you might want to add a new certificate. The first step is to generate a new CSR. To do so, open the SonicWALL web interface and then click on…

  • Mac OS X,  Mass Deployment,  Microsoft Exchange Server,  Windows Server

    How Exchange's Autodiscover Works With Mail.app

    Autodiscover automatically configures profile settings for Exchange clients. These clients include Microsoft Outlook 2007 or Outlook 2010, Outlook for Mac, Mail.app in Mac OS X, iPhone, iPad and ActiveSync enabled phones. Autodiscover is often made out to be complicated. There’s an Autodiscover service that gets installed when a Client Access Server (CAS) role is setup for Exchange 2010 in the form of a default virtual directory named Autodiscover for the default Web site in Internet Information Services (IIS). You then forward an autodiscover service locater record in DNS in the form of _autodiscover._tcp. The virtual directory handles Autodiscover requests. But what about other vendors, and even for Exchange, how do…

  • Mac OS X Server

    Mac OS X Server 10.5: Troubleshooting CalDAV

    I originally posted this at http://www.318.com/TechJournal So you installed your new server and you’re having a few problems. Let’s look at the common issues and a few simple fixes for them. iCal will not start, with log entries that it is unable to create a virtual host: Check your host name. iCal is going to need the host name to be correct in order to start. Use scutil --get HostName and then make sure that the host name listed in the iCal Server settings is identical to this value. You setup a user, check the box in Workgroup Manager for Enable Calendaring and then save your settings but you get the following…