• iPhone,  Mac Security,  Network Infrastructure

    Listen To iOS Network Communications

    OS X has a command called rvictl, which can be used to proxy network communications from iOS devices through a computer over what’s known as a Remote Virtual Interface, or RVI. To setup an rvi, you’ll need the udid of a device and the device will need to be plugged into a Mac and have the device paired to the Mac. This may seem like a lot but if you’ve followed along with a couple of the other articles I’ve done recently this should be pretty simple. First we’ll pair: idevicepair pair Then tap Trust on the device itself. Then we’ll grab that udid with idevice_id: idevice_id -l Next, we’ll…

  • iPhone,  Mac OS X,  Mac OS X Server,  MobileMe,  Network Infrastructure

    Use libimobiledevice To View iOS Logs

    Xcode and other tools can be used to view logs on iOS devices. One of those other tools is libimobiledevice. I usually install libimobiledevice using homebrew, as there are a few dependencies that can be a little annoying. To install homebrew if you haven’t already, run the following command: ruby -e "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Homebrew/install/master/install)" Once run, follow the prompts to complete the installation. Once homebrew is installed, run the following brew command to download the required components and then libimobiledevice: brew install -v --devel --fresh automake autoconf libtool wget libimobiledevice Then run ideviceinstaller: brew install -v --HEAD --fresh --build-from-source ideviceinstaller Once these are installed, you can plug in a paired…

  • iPhone,  Mac OS X,  Mac OS X Server

    Startup Profiles

    The profiles command in Yosemite (and Mavericks for that matter), can configure profiles to install at the next boot, rather than immediately. Use the -s to define a startup profile and take note that if it fails, the profile will attempt to install at each subsequent reboot until installed. To use the command, simply add a -s then the -F for the profile and the -f to automatically confirm, as follows (and I like to throw in a -v usually for good measure): profiles -s -F /Profiles/SuperAwesome.mobileconfig -f -v And that’s it. Nice and easy and you now have profiles that only activate when a computer is started up.

  • iPhone,  personal

    10 Reasons Uber Kicks Ass

    I’ve spent way too much time traveling in my life (and way too little time writing about non-technical things). It’s had ups and it’s had downs. But these days, a bunch of fun little technical breakthroughs that make traveling incrementally better. And one of those things is Uber (and other similar services) who have disrupted the short-range ground transportation game. And I like them so much, I decided to write a little list of the reasons why! While writing, I also realized that you can use this code and we both get Uber credit I never used a promo code. But you can: https://www.uber.com/invite/uberkrypted. Has nothing to do with why I wrote this, but…

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

    Upgrading To OS X Server (4.0) on Yosemite

    Setting up OS X Server has never been easier. Neither has upgrading OS X Server. In this article, we’ll look at upgrading a Mac from OS X 10.8 or 10.9 running Server 2 or Server 3 to OS X 10.10 (Mavericks) running Server 4. The first thing you should do is clone your system. The second thing you should do is make sure you have a good backup. The third thing you should do is make sure you can swap back to the clone should you need to do so and that your data will remain functional on the backup. The fourth thing you should do is repeat all that…

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

    Creating Users In Yosemite Server

    There are three ways to create users in Yosemite Server (the Server app running on Yosemite if you’re so bored you feel the need to try and correct me). The first is using the Server app, the second is using the Users & Groups System Preference pane and the third is using the command line. In this article we will look at creating users in the Server app. To do so, open the Server app and connect to your server. Then click on the Users entry in the ACCOUNTS list. The list of users is displayed, based on the directory domain(s) being browsed. A directory domain is a repository of…

  • iPhone,  Mac OS X,  Mac OS X Server

    Configure Apple Push Notifications In Yosemite Server

    Push Notifications can be used in most every service in the Server app, especially in 3.5 for Yosemite (which I still like to call Yosemite Server as it makes me think of Yosemite Sam in a tux, pouring champagne). Any service that requires Push Notifications will 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. At the Overview…

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

    Using The Profiles Command In Yosemite

    You can export profiles from Apple Configurator or Profile Manager (or some of the 3rd party MDM tools). You can then install profiles by just opening them and installing. Once profiles are installed on a Mac, mdmclient, a binary located in /usr/libexec will process changes such as wiping a system that has been FileVaulted (note you need to FileVault if you want to wipe an OS X Lion client computer). /System/Library/LaunchDaemons and /System/Library/LaunchAgents has a mdmclient daemon and agent respectively that start it up automatically. To script profile deployment, administrators can add and remove configuration profiles using the new /usr/bin/profiles command. To see all profiles, aggregated, use the profiles command…

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

    Add Your VPP Token To Profile Manager Running on Yosemite (OS X Server)

    Apple began rolling out new features with the new Volume Purchasing Program (VPP) program last year. There are lots of good things to know, here. First, the old way should still work. You’re not loosing the stuff you already invested in such as Configurator with those codes you might have used last year with supervision. However, you will need an MDM solution (Profile Manager, Casper, Absolute, FileWave, etc) to use the new tools. Also, the new token options are for one to one (1:1) environments. This isn’t for multi-tenant environments. You can only use these codes and options for iOS 7 and OS X 10.9 and 10.10. Also, if you install…

  • iPhone,  Mac OS X,  Mass Deployment

    Casper 9.6 Released, Now With Yosemite Support

    Now that Yosemite is out, there’s a lot of updates here and there. iOS 8.1 is destined to show on Monday, but in the meantime JAMF Software has released version 9.6 of the vaunted Casper Suite. To quote the most excellent marketing team: We are excited to announce that version 9.6 of the Casper Suite is now available. This release can enable you and your organization to embrace new technologies from Apple. Please see the release notes for more information. Casper Suite 9.6 includes features that can help you: Ensure ease of adoption for your users and peace of mind for yourself with same-day support of OS X Yosemite. Extend management capabilities with new…