Getting started with Messages Server couldn’t really be easier. Messages Server in Mavericks Server uses the open source jabber project as their back-end code base (and going back, OS X has used jabber since the inception of iChat Server all the way through Server 3). The jabberd binary is located at /Applications/Server.app/Contents/ServerRoot/private/var/jabberd and the autobuddy binary is at /Applications/Server.app/Contents/ServerRoot/usr/bin/jabber_autobuddy. Given the importance of having multiple binaries that do the same thing, another jabberd binary is also stored at /Applications/Server.app/Contents/ServerRoot/usr/libexec/jabberd, where there are a couple of perl scripts used to migrate the service between various versions as well. Note that the man page says it’s in /etc. But I digress. Setting…
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OS X 10.9 Mavericks Gives nvram A Delete All Option
A nifty little new option in OS X 10.9 Mavericks is the ability to delete all of the firmware variables you’ve created. This can get helpful if you’ve got a bunch of things that you’ve done to a system and want to remove them all. If you run nvkram followed by a -p option you’ll see all of the configured firmware variables: nvram -p If you run it with a -d you’ll delete the given variables that you define (e.g. boot-args): nvram -d boot-args But, if you run the -c you’ll wipe them all: nvram -c Enjoy!
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OS X 10.9 Mavericks Makes fdesetup A Bit More Useful
Previously I’ve written a little here and there about using FileVault and more specifically scripting things around Filevault. The fdesetup command that enables FileVault for OS X clients from the command line got a few new options in OS X 10.9 Mavericks. We’ve always been able to enable FileVault using scripts thanks to fdesetup but now Apple’s taken some of the difficulty out of configuring recovery keys. This comes in the form of the changerecovery, haspersonalrecoverykey, hasinstitutionalkey, usingrecoverykey and validate recovery options. These options all revolve around one idea: make it easier to deploy centrally managed keys that can be used to unlock encrypted volumes in the event that such an…
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No More Blessing Folder9 In OS X 10.9 Mavericks
In OS X you’ve always had this weird shroud of the “Classic” environment. This type of environment was used to facilitate running things in the previous incarnation of Apple’s operating systems. Many of these have disappeared over the years. In Mavericks we see yet another go away in a very small an almost noticeable binary, bless. While this command conjures fears of getting excommunicated by a Borgia for many, for those of us in the Apple community, the bless command is used to define a folder to mount to boot to. In 10.8 and below, there was an option to bless –folder9, used to define a OS 9/Classic system folder.…
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Encrypt Mavericks and Mavericks Server
Encrypting a volume in OS X Mavericks couldn’t be easier. In this article, we will look at three ways to encrypt OS X Mavericks volumes. The reason there are three ways is that booted volumes and non-booted volumes have different methods for enabling encryption. Encrypting Attached Storage For non-boot volumes, just control-click or right-click on them and then click on Encrypt “VOLUMENAME” where the name of the volume is in quotes. When prompted, provide an encryption password for the volume, verify that password and if you so choose, provide a hint. Once the encryption process has begun, the entry previously clicked on says Encrypting “VOLUMENAME” where the name of the…
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Xsan Command Line Options In Mavericks Server
Before I get started, I just want to point out that the old commands all still work. There are some newer things, but nothing earth shattering. Let’s start out with what’s actually available in the Server Admin CLI: serveradmin. The serveradmin command, followed by settings, followed by san shows a few pieces of information: bash-3.2# serveradmin settings san san:computers = _empty_array san:primaryController = "95C99FB1-80F2-5016-B9C3-BE3916E6E5DC" san:ownerEmail = "krypted@me.com" san:sanName = "krypted" san:desiredSearchPolicy:_array_index:0 = "" san:serialNumbers = _empty_array san:dsType = 0 san:ownerName = "Charles Edge" san:managePrivateNetwork = yes san:metadataNetwork = "10.0.0.0/24" san:numberOfFibreChannelPorts = 2 san:role = "CONTROLLER" Here, we see the metadata network, the GUID of the primary (active) MDC, the name…
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Connect to Currently Logged In User Using ARD
When you’re kickstarting ARD/Screen Sharing, you might notice times when you are asked if you want to connect to the local logged in user or to a new session, which shows the login window. In most cases, I want to connect to the console user, or that locally logged in user. To go right there, instead of seeing the OS X login window, you can use the defaults command to write a VNCAlwaysStartOnConsole key (boolean, true) into com.apple.RemoteManagement.plist in /Library/Preferences, as follows: defaults write /Library/Preferences/com.apple.RemoteManagement VNCAlwaysStartOnConsole -bool true The newer features here are pretty cool and really nice to have, but I’ve now added this to a lot of my…
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Getting Ready For MacTech
As I prepare my talk for MacTech it occurs to me I should probably post something about it. MacTech Conference is a 3-day, immersive, technical conference specifically designed for Apple IT Pros, Enterprise, developers, and programmers. With presentations from some of the best and well-known experts in the community, MacTech Conference has two separate tracks: one focuses on programming / development, and the other on IT/Enterprise and consulting. Sessions will focus on both desktop and mobile, as well as OS X and iOS. See http://www.mactech.com/conference/ https://krypted.com/ is a media sponsor of MacTech Conference 2013, November 6-8 at the Manhattan Beach Marriott in Los Angeles. As a sponsor, we have a deal for…
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Using the xsanadmin Command
There are some commands where you just have to wonder why. Sure, I see what this command does, but why bother? Well, I’m not going to say that xsanadmin is one of those commands, but I’m not going to say that it isn’t. At first glance, you might think that the list, stop, start and other verbs look promising. Like maybe you can actually administer a volume from a much simpler to use command line interface. However, if you want a quick and dirty of what xsanadmin does, look no further than just running the command without any verbs or operators: xsanadmin The result is help information from the serveradmin…
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To Celebrate 10/8: The Guide Shows Back Up
To celebrate October 8th, I’ve republished my Guide to OS X Mountain Lion Server at https://krypted.com//guides/mountain-lion-server. Enjoy!