• Mac OS X Server,  Mac Security

    Configure The Adaptive Firewall In macOS Server 5.4 for High Sierra

    macOS Server 5.4 running on High Sierra (macOS 10.13) has an adaptive firewall built in, or a firewall that controls incoming access based on clients attempting to abuse the server. The firewall automatically blocks incoming connections that it considers to be dangerous. For example, if a client attempts too many incorrect logins then a firewall rule restricts that user from attempting to communicate with the server for 15 minutes. If you’re troubleshooting and you accidentally tripped up one of these rules then it can be a bit frustrating. Which is why Apple gives us afctl, a tool that interacts with the adaptive firewall. To enable the adaptive firewall, use the -f…

  • Active Directory,  Mac OS X,  Mac OS X Server,  Mass Deployment

    Directory Utility in Snow Leopard

    In Leopard, the Kerberos application got mad because the other utilities were making fun of him. So he went and hid in /System/Library/CoreServices and became an application that was summoned by other applications (ie – Keychain Utility) when they couldn’t do their own work and needed him. Directory Utility saw this and decided it looked like a pretty darn appealing way to go. So Directory Utility has now moved into /System/Library/CoreServices. Not that you will always need to use her. You see, if you open the Accounts System Preference pane and click on Login Options you’ll see Network Account Server. Here you can click on Join. With more space in…

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

    Allow ARD Access into an ARD Server

    When a computer has ARD open, by default you cannot log into it using Remote Desktop from another host.  To fix this, use the following command: defaults write /Library/Preferences/com.apple.RemoteDesktop AdminConsoleAllowsRemoteControl -bool false And then run the kickstart -restart -agent command from /System/Library/CoreServices/ARD Agent.app/Contents/Resources /System/Library/CoreServices/ARD Agent.app/Contents/Resources/kickstart’ -restart -agent