• Mac OS X,  Mass Deployment

    Disable App Nap in Mavericks

    October 24, 2013

    Mavericks can power down apps when you they’re not in use. For most apps this isn’t a big deal; however, from time to time you may encounter an app that you don’t want to nap when you aren’t using it. To do so, lick on the app and then do a Get Info with the app highlighted. From here, youll see a checkbox for Prevent App Nap. Check that and the app won’t nap! This setting is kept in ~/Library/Preferences/com.apple.LaunchServices.plist. There is a LSAppNapIsDisabled array. If you create a key with the domain from the app (e.g. net.sourceforge.audacity) and add the signature then you will have disabled App Nap for the app programmatically…

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  • Mac OS X,  Mass Deployment

    Create Mavericks Installation Media

    October 24, 2013

    A bootable installer is one of the fastest ways to install Mavericks. 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 Mavericks like the one that used to come with the MacBook Air, first name the USB drive. I’ll use mavinstall for…

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  • Mac OS X

    Install OS X Mavericks

    October 24, 2013

    Installing Mavericks is a straight forward process. The following models can be upgraded to Mavericks: iMac: Mid-2007 and up Mac mini: Models from early 2009 and up Mac Pro: Models from 2008 and up MacBook: Late 2008 and up MacBook Air: Models from 2008 and up MacBook Pro: Models from Mid 2007 and up Xserve: Models from early 2009 and up Installing OS X has never been easier. In this article, we’ll look at upgrading a Mac from OS X 10.8 to OS X 10.9 (Mavericks). 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…

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

    ARD 3.7

    October 24, 2013

    Apple has released the client and server updates for Apple Remote Desktop. Both are now available on the App Store. For official information of the server update, see http://support.apple.com/kb/HT5896?viewlocale=en_US. New features include: Support for OS X Mavericks A shared clipboard which allows automatic copy and paste between local and remote computers Improved support for Mac systems with multiple displays or multiple IP addresses Enhanced multi-observe with gesture support for swiping between screens Output of remote UNIX commands is no longer truncated The client update documentation is at http://support.apple.com/kb/HT5896?viewlocale=en_US&locale=en_US.

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  • Mac OS X,  Mac OS X Server,  Mac Security

    Provide VPN Services Using Mavericks Server

    October 23, 2013

    OS X Server has long had a VPN service that can be run. The server is capable of running the two most commonly used VPN protocols: PPTP and L2TP. The L2TP protocol is always in use, but the server can run both concurrently. You should use L2TP when at all possible. Sure, “All the great themes have been used up and turned into theme parks.” But security is a theme that it never hurts to keep in the forefront of your mind. If you were thinking of exposing the other services in Mavericks Server to the Internet without having users connect to a VPN service then you should think again,…

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  • Kerio,  Mac OS X,  Mac OS X Server

    Configure the Mail Service in Mavericks Server

    October 23, 2013

    Mail is one of the hardest services to manage. Actually, mail is pretty simple in and of itself: there’s protocols people use to access their mail (such as IMAP and POP), protocols used to communicate between mail servers and send mail (SMTP, SMTPS) and then there’s a database of mail and user information. In Mavericks Server, all of these are represented by a single ON button, so it really couldn’t be easier. But then there’s the ecoysystem and the evil spammers. As a systems administrator of a large number of mail servers, I firmly believe that there is a special kind of hell where only spam is served at every…

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  • Mac OS X,  Mac OS X Server

    Configure the Software Update Service on Mavericks Server

    October 23, 2013

    The software patching configuration built into most operating systems is configured so all that a user has to do is open a box at home, join the network and start using the computer right away. As environments grow from homes to small offices and then small offices grow into enterprises, at some point software updates and patches need to be managed centrally. Mavericks Server (OS X Server 3), as with its OS X Server predecessors has a Software Update service. The service in the Server app is known as Software Update and from the command line is known as swupdate. The Software Update service, by default, stores each update in the /var/db/swupd directory.…

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  • Mac OS X Server

    Configure the Calendar Service in Mavericks Server

    October 23, 2013

    Configuring Calendar Server in Mavericks Server (OS X Server 3) is a fairly simple and straight forward process. The Calendar Server is a CalDAV Server, leveraging HTTP and HTTPS, running on ports 8008 and 8443 respectively. To enable the Calendar service in Mavericks Server, open the Server application and click on Calendar in the SERVICES section of the sidebar. Once open, click on Edit to enable email notifications of invitations in the Calendar Server. Provide the email address and then click on the Next button. At the Configure Server Email Address screen, provide the type of incoming mail service in use, provide the address of the mail server and then…

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