When you join a wireless network on a Mac, the information for that network is cached into the com.apple.airport.preferences property list. You can access this information using the following command, constraining output to the LastConnected field and the next 7 lines: defaults read /Library/Preferences/SystemConfiguration/com.apple.airport.preferences | grep LastConnected -A 7
-
-
Goodbye Certified Apple Server Training!
I remember way back, long ago, before the iPad, and before the iPhone, Apple had official certification training for OS X Server. I think I got my first certification around 10.3. Over time, additional courses appeared. There was an Xsan course, there was an OS X Server course, and there were plans for more. At the height of the Apple certification program, you could get the following for a full on systems administration plethora of acronyms, including ACDT, ACTC, ACSA, and ACMA: Mac OS X Support Essentials v10.6: Prometric #9L0-403, removed on May 31, 2012 Mac OS X Server Essentials v10.6: Prometric #9L0-510, removed on May 31, 2012 Mac OS X…
-
Automate MDM Enrollment Using Apple Configurator 2
I’ve written a number of articles on automating MDM enrollments using Apple Configurator in the past. In Apple Configurator 2, there are some new options that make the process much easier than it’s ever been in the past. To get started, let’s open Apple Configurator 2 and click on a Blueprint we’d like to apply to devices being prepared during a mass iPad or iPhone enrollment through Apple Configurator. Control-click on the Blueprint to set up for automated enrollment and click on the Prepare button. At the Organization screen, select the organization you’d like to enroll your device in and click on the Next button. At the Server screen, select…
-
Automating The Server.app Setup Using A Script
There are a couple of parts to this article. The first is to describe the server command, stored in /Applications/Server.app/Contents/ServerRoot/usr/sbin/server. The description of the command by Brad Chapman was so eloquently put on this JAMF Nation post that I’m just gonna’ paste it in here: So … I just installed Server 5.0.x tonight on my Mac Mini running Yosemite (10.10.5). There was a question that came up during JNUC about upgrading Server and having a way to accept the license agreement without going through the GUI. So for shits and giggles I tried: server setup It’s not documented. And lo and behold, I got the prompt to accept the license agreement just…
-
Application Containment in the Post-PC Era
I had a very interesting debate with someone the other day. The debate was around the Total Cost of Ownership of an app on a desktop computer. Let’s say that you have a $5 app. Now let’s say that in order to package that app up and test it for end user deployment, that the cost to your organization is about $400. That’s going to seem high if you just look at it as a number. But when you consider that it takes time to customize an app package so that end user data is preserved and end users aren’t prompted a dozen times, then it takes time to test…
-
Come One, Come All: Speaking at ACES Conference 2016 in Austin
The planning for ACES Conference 2016 seems to be in full gear. I’ve been slated to speak not on JAMF or Bushel stuff, but on my time in the Apple Consultants Network (ACN) community. One of the biggest challenges we had as we grew, was to responsibly pick vendors that matched with our customer requirements while also allowing us to scale efficiently. If you’re an ACN, this is a great conference for you. Check it out at https://acesconf.com!
-
Using the Caching Service Command Line Interface
The Caching Server in OS X Server 5 is pretty simple, right? You open up the server app and then click on the On button and you’re… off… to… the… races… Yup. There are also a few options that you can configure using the Server app. You can configure which IP addresses (or networks) are able to access your server. You can configure where the cache is stored. You can configure the amount of Cached used. And you can clear out that cache. Boom. Including the ON button, you’ve only got 5 things you can do here. Pretty easy. To script kicking off the service as just a proxy that…
-
The Second Edition of the Enterprise Mac Administrator’s Guide Now Available for Pre-Order!
The latest and greatest of the Enterprise Mac Admin’s Guide is now available for Pre-Order at http://www.amazon.com/Enterprise-Mac-Administrators-Guide-Second/dp/1484217055/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1445529968. This is an interesting update. If you happened to see the previous edition, I’d described more about Casper than most of the other third party products on the market. In this edition, there’s still an equal amount of information on Casper, but now there’s also more information on FileWave, and a whole chapter on the open source toolchain of products, including Munki and AutoPKG. The main reason I decided to update this title was actually the change from focusing on directory services (which still has plenty of page count) to focusing on profile management.…
-
Disable The iCloud Options In Caching Server For OS X Server 5
I’ve written a couple of articles about the Caching service in OS X Server 5 for El Capitan. As of OS X Server 5, the Caching service now caches local copies on the computer running the Caching service of iCloud content. This allows you to cache content once and then have it accessed by multiple devices faster. I’m torn on this option. On the one hand, I love the fact that I can cache things and on the other hand I find it frightening that a random user can cache things I might not want them to cache on behalf of another user. I know, I know, they’re encrypted with…
-
Configure Xsan Clients With OS X Server 5 For El Capitan And Yosemite
Yosemite brought Xsan 4, which included a whole new way to add clients to an Xsan. Xsan Admin is gone. From now on, instead of scanning the network using Xsan Admin. we’ll be adding clients using a Configuration Profile. This is actually a much more similar process to adding Xsan clients to a StorNext environment than it is to adding clients to Metadata Controllers running Xsan 3 and below. But instead of making a fsnameservers file, we’re plugging that information into a profile, which will do that work on the client on our behalf. To make the Xsan configuration profile, we’re going to use Profile Manager. With OS X Server 5, this trend…