Once upon a time (all the way back in Mac OS X 10.5) you could add a bunch of useful icons into the toolbar of Screen Sharing.app using: defaults write com.apple.ScreenSharing ‘NSToolbar Configuration ControlToolbar’ -dict-add ‘TB Item Identifiers”(Scale,Control,Share,Curtain,Capture,FullScreen,GetClipboard,Quaty)’ But alas, you can’t any more (NSToolbar still exists but I haven’t found a way to get the array to result in actual icons in the toolbar). I’ve done a few articles for other preferences so I thought I’d dig my heels in and see if there were any I missed (using gdb). Well, apparently, there’s still ShowBonjourBrowser_Debug, which was also in 10.5 but it doesn’t seem to do anything. But I…
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What Is My Build Number?
I have been known to occasionally ask what build number of Mac OS X that someone is using. The sw_vers command can be used to obtain this. Simply run: sw_vers And the BuildVersion will be listed. Or just to get the BuildVersion: sw_vers | grep BuildVersion Or to just get the number (useful in scripts that catalog such a thing: sw_vers | grep BuildVersion | cut -c 15-21 As one comment just indicated, you could also just use `sw_vers -buildVersion`. I guess I should review these commands every operating system or 4… Thanks Allen.
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Spotlightish Finder
When you search for files the Finder window with the results has what is known as the Path Bar. As you can see in the below image, the Path Bar allows you to click on any directory in the hierarchy up to the one you are on and open that directory in the Finder. By default, the Path Bar is only shown in a search result, but if you like it then you can see it in every Finder window. To enable this feature, create a boolean key in the com.apple.finder.plist with a value of yes. To do so, you can use the defaults command: defaults write com.apple.finder ShowPathBar -bool…
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Dock Highlighting
You click on an icon in the dock that brings up a grid of the items in the list and then you click on one of the items in that list. But I like the way the rest of the dock operates, where I know what I’m moused over (is moused the verb of mousy?). And I sometimes click on the wrong one, which is why it’s nice to highlight one. To do so, run this command: defaults write com.apple.dock mouse-over-hilite-stack -boolean yes And then: killall Dock To go back to the way things were before: defaults write com.apple.dock mouse-over-hilite-stack -boolean no And then: killall Dock
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Remote Disks
In Mac OS X, you can see Remote Disks in the Finder. This setting is enabled by default in the MacBook Air and on the MacMini Server, but not on most other models. To enable it add the EnableODiskBrowsing key in the com.apple.NetworkBrowser.plist with a value of YES: defaults write com.apple.NetworkBrowser EnableODiskBrowsing -bool YES To set it back to default: defaults write com.apple.NetworkBrowser EnableODiskBrowsing -bool NO
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Command Keys and ScreenSharing
I like to send the command, control and other system keys to hosts that I’m using ScreenSharing or Remote Desktop to access. But as I recently discovered, not everyone does. You can turn this feature off using the defaults command to augment the DoNotSendSystemKeys key of the com.apple.ScreenSharing.plist property list file. Simply run the following command: defaults write com.apple.ScreenSharing DoNotSendSystemKeys -bool YES To turn them back on: defaults write com.apple.ScreenSharing DoNotSendSystemKeys -bool NO Or for Remote Desktop, augment the com.apple. defaults write com.apple.RemoteDesktop DoNotSendSystemKeys -bool YES To turn it back off for Remote Desktop: defaults write com.apple.RemoteDesktop DoNotSendSystemKeys -bool NO FYI, if you don’t want to send the command keys…
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Speed Up ScreenSharing
Screen Sharing over a WAN can be a bit slow. But you can send less data and receive a less latent connection. To do so, you are going to augment the controlObserveQuality key of the com.apple.ScreenSharing.plist property list. If you set the key to a 1, which I see commonly suggested then it will be black and white, which in todays world is another way of saying practically illegible. Instead try the number 2, which sets it to grey scale, which is pretty good (that’s what I use). To do so run: defaults write com.apple.ScreenSharing controlObserveQuality 2 You can also set the controlObserveQuality key to 3, 4 or 5 which…
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Gmail + IE6
Got an email today informing me that Gmail will be dropping support for Internet Explorer 6. Nice of them to let us know rather than randomly killing support for it ’cause it’s old as crap like most vendors do. A win for Google there I’d say. Point of this article being, if you use IE 6 just stop. And if you’re an enterprise admin who doesn’t think you can pull off a massive IE 6 upgrade, this is Google’s way of having an intervention for ya’… MSI installer + a GPO = happier users anyway (be that MSI a newer IE 6, Chrome, Firefox or Safari). PS – Over 5%…
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RDP from the Command Line
Let’s face it, connecting to Windows Servers is a must for many of us. And some of us want to do so programatically. I did look at populating the CoRD database in a previous article. But now, luckily CoRD has recently introduced a command line interface for managing just these types of connections on the fly as well. And, it is very straight forward. There are two ways to call CoRD from the command line. The first is similar to how we handled VNC in an earlier article. Simply leverage the open command and call the URL with a rdp in the beginning. For example, if you want to open…
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Windows 7: Disable USB Storage
In a number of environments, especially MPAA or DoD environments (in the US we rank nuclear bombs right up there with pilfered copies of unreleased movies, especially ones that cost a lot of $ to make), users should not be able to mount any local removable storage. While Group Policy is typically the best way to keep users from mounting said storage, you can also do so without assigning GPOs. Simply make the permissions on the following files set to Deny (assuming your c:Windows directory = %SystemRoot%): C:WindowsInfUsbstor.pnf C:WindowsInfUsbstor.inf You may also need to add the System account to the Deny list for those files, but in my experience you…