Casper 9.93 is now available, with a host of new features. These include: Fixed a lot (and I mean a lot) of product issues! Added Single Sign-On (SSO) with SAML 2.0: Logging into the JSS without clicking on anything is just awesome. Added Webhooks: Scripted, triggered access to the events API. LDAP Proxy Server: Can run on our new Infrastructure Manager service on Linux and creates a tunnel between a customer location and a JSS if the JSS doesn’t have LAN access to a directory service. Patch Reporting for Computers: Now, Casper includes automatically generated reports for some common third-party OS X software packages, so you can better scope policies…
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Setup The Contacts Server In OS X Server 5
OS X has an application called Contacts. OS X Server 5, running on Yosemite or El Capitan, has a service called Contacts. While the names might imply very different things that they do, you’ll be super-surprised that the two are designed to work with one another. The Contacts service is based on CardDAV, a protocol for storing contact information on the web, retrievable and digestible by client computers. However, there is a layer of Postgres-based obfuscation between the Contacts service and CardDAV. The Contacts service is also a conduit with which to read information from LDAP and display that information in the Contacts client, which is in a way similar to how the…
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Directory Utility in Yosemite. I’m not Dead Yet… Mapping Attributes 101
The Directory Utility application has moved to /System/Library/CoreServices/Applications. Once open, you can use it to bind to directory services, change search policies and even dink around with NIS if you still rock the flannel with your ripped up jeans. But, the thing that I tend to do in Directory Utility the most is look at user and group attributes. To do so, open Directory Utility and click on the Directory Editor tab. In the bar directly below, you’ll see Viewing and In Node. The Viewing option is what type of object you’re going to look at. The In Node option shows the directory domain you’re viewing. Below, we show the local users in…
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Setting Up An Open Directory Replica In Yosemite Server
Previously, we looked at setting up an Open Directory Master in OS X Server. An Open Directory Replica keeps a copy of the Open Directory database available for users even when the Master goes offline. But it can also take a part of the load from the Open Directory Master and when using the new Locales feature, balance network traffic. To get started with an Open Directory Replica, first enable SSH, now disabled by default. Next, use the changeip to check the host name. While the Server app is cool, it caches stuff and I’ve seen it let things go threat shouldn’t be let go. Therefore, in order to make…
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Configure The Contacts Service In Mavericks Server
Mavericks has an application called Contacts. Mavericks Server (OS X Server 3) has a service called Contacts. While the names might imply differently, surprisingly the two are designed to work with one another. The Contacts service is based on CardDAV, a protocol for storing contact information on the web, retrievable and digestible by client computers. However, there is a layer of Postgres-based obfuscation between the Contacts service and CalDAV. The Contacts service is also a conduit with which to read information from LDAP and display that information in the Contacts client, which is in a way similar to how the Global Address List (GAL) works in Microsoft Exchange. I know…
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Configuring Windows 2008 As An NTP Server
When you’re configuring a Mac to leverage an existing Windows infrastructure, having the clocks in sync is an important task. Luckily, Windows Server has been able to act as an NTP server for a long time. In this article, we’ll look at configuring Server 2008 R2 to be an NTP server for Mac and Linux clients. Note: Before you get started, or any time you’re hacking around in the registry, make sure to do a backup of your registry/SystemState! To enable NTP on Windows Server, open your favorite registry editor and navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESYSTEMCurrentControlSetServicesW32TimeTimeProvidersNtpServer. From here, enter a key called Enabled as a dword with a value of 00000001. The NTP Server should…
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Creating Users In Mountain Lion Server
There are four ways to create users in Mountain Lion Server. The first is using the Server app, the second is using Workgroup Manager, the third is using the Users & Groups System Preference pane and the fourth is using the command line. In this article we will look at creating users in the Server app. To do so, open the Server app and connect to your server. Then click on the Users entry in the ACCOUNTS list. The list of users is displayed, based on the directory domain(s) being browsed. A directory domain is a repository of account data, which can include local users, local network users and users…
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Setting Up an Open Directory Master in OS X Mountain Lion Server
Open Directory has never been so easy to setup for a basic environment as it is in OS X Mountain Lion Server. It’s also never been so annoyingly simple to use that to do anything cool requires a bunch of command line foo. No offense to the developers, but this whole idea that the screens that were being continually refined for a decade just need to be thrown out and started fresh seems to have led to a few babies thrown out along with them. Not often as I’m kinda’ digging most of the new config screens in OS X Mountain Lion Server, but with Open Directory, it’s just too…
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Managing iOS Devices with Apple Configurator
My traditional interpretation of Apple’s vision on how iOS devices are used is that everyone has an AppleID. That AppleID enables them to access their apps from any iOS device they own or Mac that they own. That AppleID enables them to access mail, contacts, calendars and even files through iCloud. That AppleID also allows users to remotely wipe their device through Find iPhone and track their friends iOS devices (as in social networking via breadcrumb tracking) through Find Friends. All of this “Just Works” in a consumer sense. And it even allows for a little sharing of content across devices you own. However, larger organizations need more. They need…
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Installing phpLDAPadmin
phpLDAPadmin is a tool that can be used to walk LDAP trees and view attributes of objects located within them using a web browser. This isn’t to say that it’s the prettiest tool out there but it works really well and is portable between various flavors of LDAP. Before you can use phpLDAPadmin you will need Apache. In Ubuntu, Apache can be installed using apt-get: apt-get install apache2 Once you have Apache installed, downloading phpLDAPadmin and installing it in Ubuntu Server 10 couldn’t be easier, just apt-get the package: apt-get install phpldapadmin Now you have the pieces, let’s copy phpLDAPadmin into your web root directory: cp -R /usr/share/phpldapadmin /var/www/myphpldapadmin In that…