There is a nifty feature in the profiles command in El Capitan (dating back to Mavericks), where you 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…
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Upgrade OS X to El Capitan
Installing OS X has never been easier than in Yosemite. In this article, we’ll look at upgrading a Mac from OS X 10.10 (Yosemite) to OS X 10.11 (El Capitan) to . 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. Once you’re sure that you have a fallback plan, let’s get started by downloading OS X El Capitan from the App Store. Once downloaded, you’ll…
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Create A Bootable El Capitan Installer
A bootable installer is one of the fastest ways to install El Capitan. Rather than copy the installer to a local drive you can run it right off a USB disk (or Thunderbolt if you dare). Such a little USB drive would be similar to the sticks that came with the older MacBook Air, when we were all still sitting around wondering how you would ever install the OS on a computer with no optical media or Ethernet otherwise. Luckily, Apple loves us. To make a bootable USB/flash drive of El Capitan like the one that used to come with the MacBook Air, first name the USB drive. I’ll use mavinstall…
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Encrypting OS X Server 5 Volumes In El Capitan
Encrypting a volume in OS X couldn’t be easier. In this article, we will look at three ways to encrypt OS X El Capitan volumes in OS X Server 5. The reason there are three ways is that booted volumes and non-booted volumes have different methods for enabling encryption. Encrypting Attached Storage For non-boot volumes, just control-click or right-click on them and then click on Encrypt “VOLUMENAME” where the name of the volume is in quotes. When prompted, provide an encryption password for the volume, verify that password and if you so choose, provide a hint. Once the encryption process has begun, the entry previously clicked on says Encrypting “VOLUMENAME” where…
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Run A Web Server On Apache Using OS X Server 5
Web Services in Mac OS X, Mac OS X Server, Linux and most versions of Unix are provided by Apache, an Open Source project that much of the Internet owes its origins to. Apache owes its name to the fact that it’s “a patchy” service. These patches are often mods, or modules. Configuring web services is as easy in OS X Server, running on Yosemite and El Capitan, as it has ever been. To set up the default web portal, simply open the Server app, click on the Websites service and click on the ON button. After a time, the service will start. Once running, click on the View Server Website…
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OS X Server 5 Guide Now Online
I’ve finished the initial draft of the OS X Server 5 Guide. It’s available at https://krypted.com//guides/el-capitan-server/. There are likely to be further articles, as there are some strange things with this build of Server.
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Setting Up Wikis In OS X Server 5
A wiki is a repository of dynamically created and managed content, or content created or edited by multiple users collaboratively. This article is about using the wiki service in OS X Server (the Apple Server app running on 10.10 and 10.11). I reference file services with WebDAV because it is a very nice integration piece that I think a lot of people will find pretty beneficial. To get started with the Wiki service, first turn it on. This one isn’t heavily dependent on host names (other than being able to access the server from a browser) or directory services (other than being able to authenticate users, but local accounts are perfectly…
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Profile Manager In OS X Server 5
Profile Manager first appeared in OS X Lion Server as the Apple-provided tool for managing Apple devices, including Mobile Device Management (MDM) for iOS based devices as well as Profile management for OS X based computers, including MacBooks, MacBook Airs, Mac Minis, Mac Pros and iMacs running Mac OS X 10.7 and up. In OS X Mountain Lion, Apple added a number of new features to Profile Manager and revved the software to Profile Manager 2.0, most notably adding the ability to push certain types of apps to mobile devices. In Mavericks Server (Server 3), Apple provided new options and streamlined a bunch of things, most notably App Store and…
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OS X Server 5 Logs
OS X running the Server app has a lot of scripts used for enabling services, setting states, changing hostnames and the like. Once upon a time there was a script for OS X Server called server setup. It was a beautiful but too simplistic kind of script. Today, much of that logic has been moved out into more granular scripts, kept in /Applications/Server.app/Contents/ServerRoot/System/Library/ServerSetup, used by the server to perform all kinds of tasks. These scripts are, like a lot of other things in OS X Server. Some of these include the configuration of amavisd, docecot and alerts. These scripts can also be used for migrating services and data. Sometimes the scripts…
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Backup OS X Server Settings
We covered using Time Machine Server previously. Here, we’re going to look at backing up the settings of an OS X Server. To do so, we’re going to install a little app called Bender from the great folks at Robot Cloud. You can download that from http://robotcloud.screenstepslive.com/s/2459/m/5322/l/94467-bender-automated-backup-of-os-x-server-settings. Once downloaded, run the package installer. At the Welcome to Bender screen, click Continue. Agree to the licensing agreement by clicking the Continue button. Click Agree again (assuming of course that you agree to the license). Choose who you wish to install the software for and click Continue. I’d go ahead and install Bender at the default location, so click Install. Once the…