Web Services in Mac OS X, Mac OS X Server, Linux and most versions of Unix are provided by Apache, an Open Source project that much of the Internet owes its origins to. Apache owes its name to the fact that it’s “a patchy” service. These patches are often mods, or modules. Configuring web services is as easy in OS X Mavericks Server (10.9) as it has ever been. To set up the default web portal, simply open the Server app, click on the Websites service and click on the ON button. After a time, the service will start. Once running, click on the View Server Website link at the bottom…
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Configure Mavericks Server To Be An Open Directory Master
Open Directory has never been so easy to setup for a basic environment as it is in OS X Mavericks Server (OS X 10.9, Server app 3). 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 Mavericks Server, but with Open…
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Use Time Machine Server In Mavericks Server To Backup Macs
The Time Machine service in Mountain Lion Server hasn’t changed much from the service in Lion Server. To enable the Time Machine service, open the Server app, click on Time Machine in the SERVICES sidebar. If the service hasn’t been enabled to date, the ON/OFF switch will be in the OFF position and no “Backup destination” will be shown in the Settings pane. Click on the ON button to see the New Destination screen, used to configure a list of volumes as a destinations for Time Machine backups. The selection volume should be large enough to have space for all of the users that can potentially use the Time Machine…
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Use NetInstall In Mavericks Server for System Imaging
The NetBoot service allows administrators of OS X computers to leverage images hosted on a server to boot computers to a central location and put a new image on them, upgrade them and perform automations based on upgrades and images. Since the very first versions of OS X, the service has been called NetBoot. In the Server app, Apple provides a number of options surrounding the NetInstall service, based on Automator-style actions, now calling the service NetInstall. The first step to configuring the NetInstall service is to decide what you want the service to do. There are three options available in System Image Utility (available under the Tools menu of…
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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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Configure Xsan in Mavericks Server
The first thing you should do when installing Xsan in any OS, much less Mavericks, is make sure your hostnames are awesome. Forward, reverse, views if you use them, etc. You have to have a dedicated metadata Ethernet network, so you should have a zone entry for both your primary and metadata network interfaces. You should also have fibre channel and storage configured and ready to use. Given that a lot of storage arrays take a long time to configure these days, I like to actually start that and then do my server setups while my LUNs/arrays are baking. Setting Up Xsan Once you have DNS entries, storage and fibre…
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Upgrade To OS X Server 3 On OS X 10.9 Mavericks
Setting up OS X Server has never been easier. Neither has upgrading OS X Server. In this article, we’ll look at upgrading a Mac from OS X 10.8 running Server 2 to OS X 10.9 (Mavericks) running Server 3. 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 thing you should do is make sure you can swap back to the clone should you need to do so and that your data will remain functional on the backup. Once you’re sure that you have a fallback plan, let’s get started by downloading OS…
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Promote A Replica To A Master In Mavericks Server
You’ve got Open Directory running and humming beautifully in Mavericks Server (Server 10.9). You show up to work and the hard drive has died on that perfectly configured Open Directory Master. Luckily, you have a replica and you have an archive of your Master. You can restore or you can promote your Replica to a Master. What to do? Well, I can’t tell you what you should do, but I can tell you that Apple has planned for this. Here, we’re going to look at promoting that Replica to a Master. Because after all, hard drives fail. Let’s look at what all this looks like. Create An Open Directory Archive…
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Using Profile Manager 3 In Mavericks Server
Profile Manager first appeared in OS X Lion Server as the Apple-provided tool for managing Apple devices, including Mobile Device Management (MDM) for iOS based devices as well as Profile management for OS X based computers, including MacBooks, MacBook Airs, Mac Minis, Mac Pros and iMacs running Mac OS X 10.7 and up. In OS X Mountain Lion, Apple added a number of new features to Profile Manager and revved the software to Profile Manager 2.0, most notably adding the ability to push certain types of apps to mobile devices. In Mavericks Server (Server 3), Apple provides new options and streamlines a bunch of things, most notably App Store and…
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New Startup Profiles In OS X 10.9 Mavericks Profiles Command
I wrote an article on using the profiles command awhile back, available at https://krypted.com//mac-security/profile-manager-and-profiles/. There is a nifty new feature in the profiles command in Mavericks, where you can configure profiles to install at the next boot, rather than immediately. Use the -s to define a startup profile and take note that if it fails, the profile will attempt to install at each subsequent reboot until installed. To use the command, simply add a -s then the -F for the profile and the -f to automatically confirm, as follows (and I like to throw in a -v usually for good measure): profiles -s -F /Profiles/SuperAwesome.mobileconfig -f -v And that’s it. Nice…