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

    OS X & powermetrics

    Powermetrics is a command that shows very specific information about what’s using your systems power. This makes it handy for troubleshooting what processes are taking up CPU, GPU, etc. To run a basic iteration of the command, we’re going to look at a usage summary report, using the –show-usage-summary option: powermetrics -a --show-usage-summary The output is as follows: Machine model: MacBookAir6,2 OS version: 13A598 *** Sampled system activity (Sun Dec 1 23:04:13 2013 -0600) (5006.04ms elapsed) *** *** Running tasks *** Name PID CPU ms/s User% Deadlines (

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

    systemstats in OS X

    Ever wonder what your computer is up to? Ever wanted to know how much time the computer was awake for, how much battery was left, the exact percentage of use each core was taking up, how much CPU CrashPlan is using, etc? Well, lucky you, there’s systemstats. You just run it: systemstats And it tells you all kinds of juicy stuff. Summary ======= System Version: 13A598 Total Time: 195:13:01 Usage ===== Time on A/C: 165:42:24 Time on Battery: 29:30:35 Wake Time: 181:18:08 User Active: 46:46:18 User Idle: 134:31:49 Dark Wake Time: 00:01:15 Sleep Time: 13:53:37 Standby Time: 00:19:57 Battery ======= Time on Battery: 29:30:35 -10.2 %/hr -21576 mAh -7112 mW Wake:…

  • Mac OS X Server

    Using the Help Options in OS X Server

    Open Server, click Help, then click Server Help. You can then search and browse for information about things you’d like to accomplish using the Help Center. Now, click the arrow for each service for information about configuring that service. You will see an arrow for each service. Click the arrow for more information on that specific service.

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

    Manage Profiles From The Command Line In OS X 10.9

    You can export profiles from Apple Configurator or Profile Manager (or some of the 3rd party MDM tools). You can then install profiles by just opening them and installing. Once profiles are installed on a Mac, mdmclient, a binary located in /usr/libexec will process changes such as wiping a system that has been FileVaulted (note you need to FileVault if you want to wipe an OS X Lion client computer). /System/Library/LaunchDaemons and /System/Library/LaunchAgents has a mdmclient daemon and agent respectively that start it up automatically. To script profile deployment, administrators can add and remove configuration profiles using the new /usr/bin/profiles command. To see all profiles, aggregated, use the profiles command…

  • Mac OS X

    Video on Setting Up a Munki Repo

    (Allister Banks Guest Post:) As part of my presentations at LOPSA-East(the pdf slides of this one is here) earlier this year, I wanted to demonstrate how quickly you can get a proof-of-concept of Munki running on a recent Mac OS without Server. I had always used Greg Neagle’s awesome intro articles for MacTech(especially part 2,) which were  created back in 10.6 days(simpler times, amirite?) This video takes you through the setup of a Munki repo, and goes on to demonstrate not only basic Munki interaction and functionality, but if you setup MunkiWebAdmin and the reporting scripts on your clients in addition, it does a quick tour of that interface. Setting Up a…

  • Mac OS X

    Repair Permissions From The Command Line

    I’ve long been a supporter of building tools in self service portals such as those provided by JAMF and Munki to provide users who don’t have administrative permissions to perform tasks that wouldn’t typically otherwise be destructive. One such example is a simple repair permissions. An administrator can simply open Disk Utility, select their disk and then click Repair Disk Permissions But if you want to do this as a user who doesn’t have administrative privileges you would need to elevate your privileges before doing so. In a larger environment this would be incredibly annoying for dozens, hundreds, thousands or even tens of thousands of users to bring their computer…

  • Mac OS X

    AFP IS NOT GONE!!!

    Sorry for shouting. I keep hearing people mention that they can’t upgrade to OS X Mavericks, or Mavericks Server because they need AFP. Well, the change that came in Mavericks isn’t that AFP was deprecated. Maybe it doesn’t get to call shotgun any more when running out to the car, but it’s still there. The sharing output, which shows afp: List of Share Points name: Charles Edge’s Public Folder path: /Users/krypted/Public afp: { name: Charles Edge’s Public Folder shared: 1 guest access: 1 inherit perms: 0 } The Connect to Server over afp: SMB is now the default protocol. Therefore, if you open a Connect to Server dialog and don’t…

  • 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

    Install OS X Mavericks

    Installing Mavericks is a straight forward process. The following models can be upgraded to Mavericks: iMac: Mid-2007 and up Mac mini: Models from early 2009 and up Mac Pro: Models from 2008 and up MacBook: Late 2008 and up MacBook Air: Models from 2008 and up MacBook Pro: Models from Mid 2007 and up Xserve: Models from early 2009 and up Installing OS X has never been easier. In this article, we’ll look at upgrading a Mac from OS X 10.8 to OS X 10.9 (Mavericks). 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…