DeviceScout is a tool that leverages JAMF’s Casper Suite to show administrators vital statistics and show alerts on client systems. These alerts display some of the critical aspects of systems, from encryption to disk capacity to backups, there are a number of pretty cool aspects of DeviceScout. Using the device view, you can view serial numbers, device types, check-in status, boot volumes, memory, etc. It’s a lot of insight into what you have on your systems. I’m a huge fan of such visibility. You will need to be running Casper to leverage DeviceScout, but it provides a very simple interface for management and even techs to see what’s going on…
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MacSysAdmin 2014!
Well, it’s that time of the year when one of my favorite conferences opens up registration! Come one, come all to MacSysAdmin for good times, good people and lots of fun Macinnerdiness! I hope to see you there! The official page is up at http://www.macsysadmin.se.
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Redirect Logs To A Syslog Server In OS X
I could have sworn that I’ve written this up before, but I just tried to link it into the article for tomorrow and it’s not on my site, so here goes. To redirect logs in OS X to a syslog server, open /etc/syslog.conf and add the following line (assuming an IP of 10.10.10.92 – replace that with the IP of your syslog box): *.* @10.10.10.92 To customize the port number (e.g. 9200) use @10.10.10.92:9200 instead. This should be instant but you can always use launchctl to unload and reload syslog if for…
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Change Active Directory Forest Mode With A Script
Changing the Forest Mode in Active Directory can be scripted. I find this useful when regression testing such tasks in a sandbox (e.g. restore image, automate login, change mode, run tests, etc). The script is very simple. First, you’ll import he ActiveDirectory modules: Import-Module -Name ActiveDirectory Then you’ll check for the mode prior to running: Get-ADForest | Format-Table ForestMode Then you’ll change the forest and domain modes (one per line): Set-ADForestMode –Identity “krypted.com” –ForestMode Windows2008Forest Set-ADDomainMode –Identity “krypted.com” –DomainMode Windows2008Domain Then you’ll report the result: Get-ADForest | Format-Table Name , ForestMode The end result could be as simple as three lines if just testing: Import-Module -Name ActiveDirectory Set-ADForestMode –Identity “krypted.com”…
- Active Directory, Mass Deployment, Microsoft Exchange Server, Network Infrastructure, Windows Server
Use Active Directory Commandlets On Computers That Aren’t Domain Controllers
By default, the Active Directory Powershell management tools are not installed on Windows Servers. Commandlets are instead installed when the Active Directory Domain Controller role is added. However, you can install them even without installing the role. To do so, open Server Manager and go to Add and Remove Roles and Features. Don’t add any Roles, instead skip to add features. Then open Remote Server Administration Tools and then Role Administration Tools. From there expand on AD DS and AD LDS Tools and then highlight the Active Directory Module for Windows PowerShell. Once enabled, click Next through the end of the wizard. Once the wizard is complete, open Powershell and use…
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Password Hints and Retries in OS X
You can customize the number of times that you enter an incorrect password before you get the password hint in the loginwindow on OS X. To do so, use the defaults command to send a RetriesUntilHint integer key into com.apple.loginwindow.plist stored at /Library/Preferences using the following command: defaults write /Library/Preferences/com.apple.loginwindow RetriesUntilHint -integer 10
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That Time I Interviewed Andrina For An AFP548 Podcast
Hey, remember that time I interviewed Andrina in an AFP548 podcast? That was totally fun! We should do that again. Maybe I’ll pronounce toller right next time! #cloudwords
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MacAdmins Conference at Penn State
Straight from our good friends at PSU: Register Now for the 2014 MacAdmins Conference! We’re proud to announce that early-bird registration for the 2014 MacAdmins Conference is now open! This year’s conference will be bigger and better than ever, with over 50 sessions on Mac and iOS administration topics, 5 brand new pre-conference workshops, and 3 amazing evening events. Early-bird registration price is the same as last year: * $400 conference only (July 9-11) <http://macadmins.psu.edu/conference/registration/> * $550 conference plus pre-conf workshop (July 8-11) <http://macadmins.psu.edu/conference/registration/> Early-bird pricing ends April 30, and we expect to sell out quickly, so register now: <http://macadmins.psu.edu/conference/registration/> ** Pre-Conference Workshops ————————— This year we’re introducing pre-conference workshops…
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MacIT Early Bird Registration
If you haven’t signed up for one of my favorite conferences ever, MacIT (alongside Macworld) then you should give it a go. If you’ve never been, it’s great and if you’ve been then it’s great to catch up with old friends. I hope to see you there! ———————————— MacIT®, taking place March 26-29, 2014, in San Francisco, CA at Moscone Center North (alongside Macworld/iWorld), is the definitive event for understanding Apple technology implementation and management in enterprise environments. Our esteemed faculty of industry experts provide detailed, impartial analysis of the technology and solution chains you face when putting iOS, OS X and Apple hardware products to work in large enterprise. MacIT 2014 features sessions…
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Scripting PGP Whole Disk Encryption On A Mac (or Windows, really)
The PGP Whole Disk Encryption (WDE) tools have a command line interface for both OS X and Windows. The options are mostly the same across the two. We’ll focus on two for the purposes of this little article. The first is –list-user and the second is –change-passphrase, although there are a number of other options. A general breakdown of the options include the following: –enum – show the disks available –disk-status – show the encryption status disk indicated with the –disk option –stop – stop the encryption or decryption process of a –disk using –passphrase –instrument – Install BootGuard using the –disk option followed by the number of the disk…