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monitoring network changes with a launch daemon
One of the constant challenges at my company is how to keep laptop users’ computer inventories up to date and assign login policies (via JAMF) since they mostly never logout, restart, or shut down...
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creating folders on Netapp SMB/CIFS advertised shares with a Mac, and how it...
Unfortunately I have not been able to verify this beyond a shadow of a doubt, however I think that any enterprise with a heterogenous computer environment should be aware of the inherited permissions...
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error -36 when copying to a Windows/DOS formatted disk from Finder
Ever try copying files from a Mac to an SMB share? How about from a Mac to a local drive formatted as FAT 16 or 32? Many times you’ll get the error -36, or -1492 or some other nonsensical number, “An...
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capturing the activation request for ColorEyes Display Pro (CED Pro)
Supporting Macs goes hand in hand with supporting graphic design software, fonts, printers, office productivity software, and color calibration software. ColorEyes Display Pro (CED Pro) is one of these...
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kicking Tivoli Storage Manager (TSM) in the pants, remotely (and silently!)
Tivoli Storage Manager (TSM) can be quite unfriendly at my place of work, especially when it requires one to re-associate backup routines and restart services in order to get its Client Acceptor Daemon...
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integrating jamfHelper full screen window and applescript to migrate...
We are about to migrate the company Exchange environment from 2003 to 2010. While our Windows brethren have been using Outlook 2010 for quite some time now, us Mc folk have been left in the dust to...
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mobile configurations versus MCX on OS X 10.8 and Casper
Ahhhh, mobile configurations. I’ve fallen in love with them. Maybe a bit too much, but the ability to add certificate, wireless configurations, and VPN configurations among many, many others is just...
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strange behavior when trying to modify or delete pre-existing files/folders
I came across a very odd problem the other week when troubleshooting a failed migration on a Mac going from Entourage 2004 to Outlook 2011: it seemed that any file or folder created prior to the...
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adobe, xmp, and font auto-activation woes
Here’s one that’s tough to nail down: A user opens an Illustrator CS4 file, complete with several non-system fonts, and expects these fonts to auto-activate with Universal Type Client 2.1.1 as they...
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Adobe CS6 Serialization fun
Reblogged from Managing OS X: Recently (starting some time after the first of the year), we've started having users call and tell us that their formerly working install of Adobe Photoshop CS6 was now...
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getting your Mac to boot in verbose mode on every boot
Verbose booting can be extremely useful, especially when trying to ascertain the cause of a netbooting failure. However it is generally useful to read through the EFI output as the Mac boots up. To do...
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10.8 not receiving TGT on login, cannot connect to ExtremeZ-IP afp shares
If you have tried connecting to any NAS or ExtremeZ-IP devices lately, you may be surprised to find that it requires a username and password to connect now (even if it’s kerberized), and you may also...
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use netstat to find out what domain controller a mac is authenticated against
Last year I wrote about using dscl to find the domain controller a Mac is authenticated against when integrated into an Active Directory environment. This worked fine up until 10.7, Lion. However in...
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disable mac app store receipts to (re)enable downloaded update packages
If you’ve recently tried to apply any update packages to applications that “came with the frame,” per se (came pre-installed on Lion or Mountain Lion), you’ve probably run into a similar error message...
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use dscl to verify if a Mac is still bound to Active Directory
In my company we use an automated system to generate computer names and image Macs with those names. This type of solution makes it extremely easy to image and deploy new equipment for growth units,...
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use ldapsearch to query a directory from an unbound Mac
I’ve written about using both dscl and netstat to query a Microsoft Active Directory to see if a Mac is bound to a particular directory, and what domain controller it is authenticated against. These...
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upgrade and restart symantec services silently
When installing a Symantec Endpoint Protection 12 package, a reboot is usually required somewhere within the workflow in order to ensure that services are restarted properly, etc. Necessity is the...
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