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

    qlmanage

    QuickLook scans file contents before you open those files. Usually this just lets you view a file quickly. But you can also use this same technology from the command line to bring about a change to the Finder without actually opening a file. To access QuickLook from the command line, use qlmanage. qlmanage -p ~/Desktop/MyTowel42.pdf While open, click the space bar to go back to your Terminal session. The most notable use case here is that when you use qlmanage you don’t run the risk of changing the date/time stamp of the files.

  • Mac OS X Server,  Windows Server,  Windows XP

    Yosemite Server SMB and Windows

    A few people have hit me up about issues getting Windows machines to play nice with the SMB built into Yosemite Server and Windows. Basically, the authentication dialog keeps coming up even when a Mac can connect. So there are two potential issues that you might run into here. The first is that the authentication method is not supported. Here, you want to enable only the one(s) required. NTLMv2 should be enabled by default, so try ntlm: sudo serveradmin settings smb:ntlm auth = "yes" If that doesn’t work (older and by older I mean old as hell versions of Windows), try Lanman: sudo serveradmin settings smb:lanman auth = “yes" The second…

  • Wearable Technology

    Integrate Nike Running App With Apple’s Health App

    The new Health app from Apple provides a conduit to run all of your health data through on an iOS device in order to then provide you with a single pane of glass to see all of your health related data. This can include diet, workouts, weight, blood pressure, etc, provided that the vendors of such devices or apps you may use support those features. The Nike Running app (not yet for the Fuelband) is one such app. And if you track runs with Nike Running then you’ll want to setup the integration asap, as the Health app only looks at runs that are configured after you setup the integration. To…

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

    One Month To The MacTech Conference!

    We’re one month out. Are you missing out? MacTech Conference is our 3-day, immersive, technical conference specifically designed for Apple IT Pros, Enterprise, developers, and programmers. MacTech Conference has been working hard to give you the best event in the most cost effective ways we can.  Part of the way we do that is through Pre-Registration Pricing, which expires in three weeks, and saves you $200! MacTech Conference is not only about learning, but about forming relationships and building networks. MacTech is known for world-class speakers and content, but it’s also known for the entire experience, food, and activities.  All together, you have the opportunity to spend time with your…

  • Bushel

    Add Devices To Bushel

    Let’s talk about enrolling devices. Bushel has a few ways for you to enroll your devices to be managed. One way is to use Apple’s Device Enrollment Program. DEP has come out of necessity to make devices easier to deploy to the end user. When you use DEP with Bushel, your user’s will turn their computer on for the first time, connect to Wi-Fi during set up, and when the initial set up is done, the device will prompt the user to accept the Bushel management profile. All they need to do is click accept, and there you go! The device is enrolled in Bushel. For more information on DEP,…

  • Mac Security,  Mass Deployment,  MobileMe,  Network Infrastructure

    Network Port Testing With Netcat

    You can do some pretty simple testing of ports and network communications using strategies I’ve outlined in the past with tcpdump, trace route, telnet, curl, stroke and of course ping. However, netcat has a few interesting things you can do with it; namely actually run a port super-quickly to test traffic between subnets, forcing scans of ipv6 traffic, debugging sockets, keeping connections alive, parodying through SOCKS 4 and 5 and just checking for daemons that are listening rather than actually sending data to them. In this first example, we’re going to just check that Apple’s web server is accessible (adding -v for verbose output): /usr/bin/nc -v www.apple.com 80 The result would be pretty verbose…

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

    MacAdmins 2015

    I was super-bummed that I missed the MacAdmins conference at Penn State University. But, all is not lost as MacAdmins will be held July 8-10 in 2015 at the Penn Stater Conference Center and I’ll be able to see all those awesome people there next year! In the meantime, something fun and new is the 2014 MacAdmins Playlist to maybe get exposed to some new stuff: http://spoti.fi/VTdxLX. As an aside, here’s a fun pic of @derflounder and I (and others) doing a round table from a few years ago on the Penn State site:  

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

    Come One, Come All: To The JAMF Nation User Conference

    If you do deployments of Apple products, there are a few conferences to look at. Based on where you are and what industry you are in, some of these are better than others. But if you use the Casper Suite or are considering doing so, it would be really hard to beat JNUC, the JAMF Nation User Conference. And yes, I’d of said all this and posted this even if I hadn’t of come to work here a week and a half ago! So come one, come all to Minneapolis. And if you’re really nice, we’ll hook you up with some good old fashioned Minnesota lutefisk!

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

    DeviceScout

    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…