• Mac OS X,  Mass Deployment

    Disable App Nap in Mavericks

    Mavericks can power down apps when you they’re not in use. For most apps this isn’t a big deal; however, from time to time you may encounter an app that you don’t want to nap when you aren’t using it. To do so, lick on the app and then do a Get Info with the app highlighted. From here, youll see a checkbox for Prevent App Nap. Check that and the app won’t nap! This setting is kept in ~/Library/Preferences/com.apple.LaunchServices.plist. There is a LSAppNapIsDisabled array. If you create a key with the domain from the app (e.g. net.sourceforge.audacity) and add the signature then you will have disabled App Nap for the app programmatically…

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

    Configure DHCP in Mavericks Server

    DHCP, or Dynamic Host Control Protocol, is the service used to hand out IP addresses and other network settings by network appliances and servers. The DHCP Server built into OS X Server 3, installed on Mavericks Server is easy-to-use and fast. It’s pretty transparent, just as DHCP services should be. To install the service, open the Server app and then click on the Show button beside Advanced in the server sidebar. Then click on DHCP. At the DHCP screen, you’ll see two tabs: Settings, used for managing the service and Clients, used to see leases in use by computers that obtain IP address information from the server. You’ll also see…

  • Mac OS X Server

    Changing the Xcode Server Log Path in OS X 10.9 Mavericks Server

    The logs in Xcode Server (Server 3) by default point to /Library/Server/XcodeLogs/credserver.log. This takes all of the output from xcscredd and xcscredhandler. If you’re doing a lot of debugging then logs can be pointed to another location, such as another drive. The path to the logs is defined in the /Applications/Server.app/Contents/ServerRoot/System/Library/LogConfiguration directory. The file to edit is a standard property list, XCSCredentialServer.plist. Once open, look for a key called logPath. Change that to the desired path, such as /Volumes/MyDrive/Logs/credserver.log and then restart the service: serveradmin stop xcode; serveradmin start xcode

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

    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.…

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

    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…