Apple kicked off the annual WWDC conference yesterday and boy there was a flurry of information. There always is, but for people charged with managing Apple devices and vendors that support Apple devices there were some important releases. Some general themes to think about as you read through this list: Privacy is a thing. This includes securing files in the directories of a user by having the user accept a request to touch them (e.g. My Documents, er, I mean, Documents). This also means apps harvesting user data are doomed. The restrictions continue to flow in from iOS to the Mac. And that’s probably a good thing – as it…
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- Apple Configurator, Apple TV, Apple Watch, iPhone, JAMF, Mac OS X, Mac OS X Server, Mass Deployment, precache
Tethered Caching of iOS Assets from macOS 10.12.4
There is a new service in macOS, called Tetherator. Tethered-caching is a script that allows you to easily and quickly interact with the tethered-caching service, which has a few kinda’ cool options. This is on a client, and really speeds up all that crazy provisioning stuff you do. It can also check for the presence of a macOS Caching Server and use that as a source for the cache. The tethered-caching script is located at /usr/bin/tethered-caching. Before you do anything with the service, check the status. That’s done with the -s option (there’s also a -v option to get verbose): tethered-caching -s The results before activated should be as follows:…
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What’s Coming Next, From The WWDC Keynote
Posted a Huffington Post article from my notes from the WWDC keynote. Hope you enjoy! Apple kicked off WWDC (World Wide Developers Conference) today, with a Keynote that showcased some of the upper tier of talent and management within Apple. As a former WWDC speaker, I watch the keynote and most sessions through the remainder of the week religiously. Here, you see what’s coming in the fall releases of the four operating systems: macOS, watchOS, iOS, and tvOS (for Macs, Apple Watches, iPhones and iPads, and Apple TVs respectively). To read the rest of the article, click here to jump to Huffington Post. PS: macOS autocorrects to tacos. Mmmmm, tacos…
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Precache Now Supports AppleTV
Precache, available at https://github.com/krypted/precache, is a script that populates the cache on an OS X Caching server for Apple updates. The initial release supported iOS. The script now also supports caching the latest update for an AppleTV. To use that, there’s no need to include an argument for AppleTV. Instead, you would simply run the script followed by the model identifier, as follows: sudo python precache.py AppleTV5,4
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The AppleTV Software Update Feed
AppleTVs automatically update. They do so using a process similar to how iOS updates, but instead of looking at the feed I posted in https://krypted.com//mac-security/how-the-os-x-caching-server-caches-updates/, they look at http://mesu.apple.com/assets/tv/com_apple_MobileAsset_SoftwareUpdate/com_apple_MobileAsset_SoftwareUpdate.xml. The AppleTV feed is similar to that available for iOS updates, with each dictionary having roughly the same data: <key>ActualMinimumSystemPartition</key> <integer>1482</integer> <key>Build</key> <string>13Y6234</string> <key>InstallationSize</key> <string>0</string> <key>MinimumSystemPartition</key> <integer>1534</integer> <key>OSVersion</key> <string>9.2</string> <key>ReleaseType</key> <string>Beta</string> <key>SUDocumentationID</key> <string>PreRelease</string> <key>SUInstallTonightEnabled</key> <true/> <key>SUMultiPassEnabled</key> <true/> <key>SUProductSystemName</key> <string>iOS</string> <key>SUPublisher</key> <string>Apple Inc.</string> <key>SupportedDeviceModels</key> <array> <string>J42dAP</string> </array> <key>SupportedDevices</key> <array> <string>AppleTV5,3</string> </array> <key>SystemPartitionPadding</key> <dict> <key>1024</key> <integer>1280</integer> <key>128</key> <integer>1280</integer> <key>16</key> <integer>160</integer> <key>256</key> <integer>1280</integer> <key>32</key> <integer>320</integer> <key>512</key> <integer>1280</integer> <key>64</key> <integer>640</integer> <key>768</key> <integer>1280</integer> <key>8</key> <integer>80</integer> </dict> <key>_CompressionAlgorithm</key> <string>zip</string> <key>_DownloadSize</key> <integer>856434408</integer> <key>_EventRecordingServiceURL</key> <string>https://xp.apple.com/report</string> <key>_IsZipStreamable</key> <true/> <key>_Measurement</key> <data>cm8k41In38EOJEj20IwJp5Suskw=</data>…
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Episode 3 of the MacAdmins Podcast Now Available!
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View Logs On Apple TV
When applying management profiles, it helps to be able to look at the logs and troubleshoot why any settings aren’t applied. To view logs on an Apple TV, open Xcode and then click on an Apple TV. From the Apple TV screen, click on View Device Logs. The logs will appear in the app. Click Done when you’re finished reviewing the logs.
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Remove Apps From A 4th Generation Apple TV
The 4th Generation of the Apple TV supports installing apps. And part of playing around with new apps is sometimes you’re not going to want them on your TV any more. To remove apps, the process is similar to that of an iPad. Highlight an app that you’d like to remove and then hold down the clicker on the app. The app will go a little larger. Click on it again and you’ll get the option to Delete the app. Click Delete and the app disappears. That’s it. The app, and any storage that is being consumed by the app, is then freed up.
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Install Apps On The 4th Generation Apple TV
The most substantial part of the update to the 4th generation of the Apple TV is the addition of an App Store. Awesome! There are a nice number of apps so far. Not too many, just yet. Let’s look at installing an app. To do so, start your Apple TV and from the home screen, click on the App Store icon. From the App Store, search for an app and click on it. If you like the screenshots, click on the Get button (it’s a free app so it says Get). Once installed, click on Open. The app opens. Yay. Very easy. Some of the apps from your other devices may…
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Take Screenshots On The 4th Generation Apple TV
The new Apple TV has a USB-C port. It’s got some great uses. One of which is that you can use it to take screenshots through Xcode. To do so, you’ll either need a USB-C MacBook or a USB-C to USB adapter. Once you’ve plugged your computer into the back of the Apple TV, open Xcode and choose Devices from the Window menu at the top of the screen. From Devices, click on your new 4th Generation Apple TV. You’ll then be greeted by a Take Screenshot button. Click on it. You should then see the screen from your Apple TV. Now, good luck with that pose… Now that I…