The changes in the Server app are pretty minimal in the macOS Server 5.4 version that we’re now looking at. All of the options from previous versions are still there and the dnsconfig command line interface for managing the service are basically unchanged. The DNS service in macOS Server, as with previous versions, is based on bind 9 (BIND 9.9.7-P3 to be exact). This is very much compatible with practically every DNS server in the world, including those hosted on Windows, macOS, Linux and even Zoe-R. The first time you open the DNS Service click on the DNS service in the ADVANCED section of the list of SERVICES. Then, click on the cog wheel…
-
-
Setup An Open Directory Master In macOS Server 5.4 On High Sierra (10.13)
Open Directory has never been this easy to setup for a basic environment as it is in macOS Server 5.4 (for macOS 10.13 running on High Sierra). As with almost any previous version of macOS Server and Open Directory, once you’ve installed the Server app, run the changeip command along with the -checkhostname option to verify that the IP, DNS and hostname match. If (and only if as it will fail if you try anyway) you get an indication of “Success.” I know, I know, you’ve been told that you didn’t have to do this kind of command line stuff any more… But really, you should – and if you don’t…
-
statshares in Server 5.4 for macOS High Sierra
The statshares option has an -m option to look at a mount path for showing the path to the mount (e.g. if the mount is called krypted this should be something like /Volumes/krypted): smbutil statshares -m /Volumes/krypted When run, you see a list of all the attributes OS X tracks for that mount path, including the name of the server, the user ID (octal), how SMB negotiated an authentication, what version of SMB is running (e.g. SMB_1), the type of share and whether signing, extended security, Unix and large files are supported. Additionally, if you’d like to see the attributes for all shares, use the -a option after statshares: smbutil…
-
Setup the File Sharing Service in macOS 10.13, High Sierra
macOS Server 5.2/5.3 and below had this great file sharing service. And while the GUI elements are gone from the Server app in High Sierra, the options available in the client operating system have matured to the point where they’re no longer really necessary. You can still configure users and groups using the Server app, and once those are created, you’ll be ready to configure share points that can be accessed using the Sharing System Preferences. Configure Sharing Through System PreferencesTo access the sharing options, open System Preferences and click on File Sharing. First, we’ll configure the global options using the Options… button.This brings up the ability to choose whether…
-
Enable Push Notifications In macOS Server 5.4 On High Sierra
Push Notifications can be used in most every service that macOS Server 5.4 (for High Sierra) can run. Any service that requiring Push Notifications will often 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. Then click on the Settings screen and click on the checkbox for Notifications. At the Settings screen for your server, click on the check-box for…
-
Use wfsctl to Manage WebDAV Shares in macOS 10.13 High Sierra
Apple has slowly been moving us away from the legacy afp file sharing protocol for some time. High Sierra (macOS 10.13) now comes with a new suite of tools to manage WebDAV shares. Most of these are configurable using wfsctl located at /usr/sbin/wfsctl. When run, the tool reports as “WebDAV File Sharing control utility.” To start the WebDAV service, use the start verb: wfsctl start At this point, the service will attempt to lookup the hostname of the server. If the hostname cannot be found (or once found does not match the expected results) then the service will not start. For more on why this might be happening, use the…
-
Before You Upgrade to macOS Server 5.4 on High Sierra (macOS 10.13)
The latest version of the Apple Server app is out (macOS Server 5.4), and before you upgrade, there are a few points to review: As always, make a clone of your computer before upgrading. During the upgrade to High Sierra, if the operating system is running on a solid state drive, the drive will automatically upgrade to APFS. You cannot share APFS volumes over AFP, so if you’re running file services, make sure you’re aware of that. You can choose not to upgrade to APFS using the command line to upgrade a server. Even though the file sharing services are not in the Server app, you can still configure ACLs…
-
Use Startup Profiles In macOS
Startup profiles configure profiles to install at the next boot, rather than immediately. Useful in a number of scenarios. 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.
-
Capture Smaller Screenshots in High Sierra
By default, screenshots are pretty big on a retina display on a High Sierra machine. Like about 4 times the size they should be. I haven’t found a defaults key I can use yet to reduce them, so I’ve been using this little screenshotting app called RetinaCapture, available at https://gumroad.com/l/retinacapture. Basically, when you’re running it, you just open it up and click on the Window button. There, you can select a window to screenshot. Once you’ve selected the window, you’ll be prompted to save it somewhere with a name. I don’t love having to use any 3rd party apps for my screenshotting workflow. In fact, it bugs the crap out of me. Screens get…
-
Quick and dirty: Pull a list of all filevault encrypted users on a Mac
In the following example script, I’m going to pull a list of just the usernames from fdesetup. sudo fdesetup list The output would be as follows: charlesedge,F4D8B61D-1234-1234-98F4-103470EE1234 emerald,2E1203EA-1234-4E0D-1234-717D27221234 admin,50058FCF-88DF-1234-1234-91FCF28C0488 I’ll then pipe them into sed and use the , as a delimiter, pulling * or everything before it: sudo fdesetup list | sed 's;,.*;;' As follows: charlesedge emerald admin