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Creating a DNAStar Lasergene 13.x installer
As part of my day job, I support some medical research software packages that most Mac admins have likely never heard of. One of these software packages is DNAStar‘s Lasergene software suite. Up until...
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Running processes in OS X as the logged-in user from outside the user’s account
One challenge that can crop up for Mac admins is the problem of running a script or other tool with root privileges and using it to launch and run another tool, script or application as if the...
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Checking XProtect and Gatekeeper update status on Macs
As part of making sure that XProtect and Gatekeeper are providing up-to-date protection, it can be worthwhile to see when your Mac received the latest updates from Apple for both XProtect and...
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DeployStudio 1.7.3 using configuration profiles for Active Directory binding...
As part of the release of DeployStudio 1.7.3, DeployStudio is now using an unsigned configuration profile to manage binding to an Active Directory domain for Macs running OS X 10.11.x. DeployStudio...
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DeployStudio 1.7.3 updated from build 160401 to build 160404 to address...
Following the release of DeployStudio 1.7.3, I discovered and reported a problem with the Active Directory binding to the DeployStudio folks. @deploystudio I’ve found a problem with the new AD...
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Identifying FileVault 2 institutional recovery keys on OS X El Capitan
On OS X 10.9.0 – 10.11.x, you can run the following command to verify if a FileVault 2-encrypted Mac is using an institutional recovery key (IRK) as a valid recovery key. fdesetup...
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Displaying documentation of all options available with the Casper agent
I recently learned that there’s a way to display all the various verbs which can be used with the Casper agent’s jamf binary in one list, including the verbs which are normally hidden from view. For...
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Performance tuning for the Casper JSS
One of the challenges Casper admins can run into is performance tuning, which can require going into parts of the JSS that you normally go into only when JAMF Support asks you to do so. To help with...
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iCloud password option for local users removed in OS X 10.11.4’s Users &...
Starting in OS X Yosemite, Apple introduced a new option to log into your Mac using the password associated with an Apple ID. As of OS X 10.11.4, this option seems to have been removed from the Users...
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FileVault 2 on El Capitan is now FIPS 140-2 Compliant
Apple officially announced on Wednesday, April 6th that the FIPS 140-2 validations for the cryptographic modules used by iOS 9 and OS X 10.11.x have now been completed. This is significant news for...
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Checking the Apple Push Notification Service certificate identifier used by...
A few years ago, I set up my Casper server with an Apple Push Notification Service (APNS) certificate. That by itself is not remarkable, but the way I did it would be frowned upon these days. That’s...
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Migrating OS X Macs from one Apple push notification certificate to another...
As mentioned previously, I needed to migrate my Casper server from using the Apple Push Notification Service (APNS) certificate generated by one Apple ID to now using another APNS certificate generated...
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Accessing Sharepoint sites using Microsoft Office 2016
As part of rolling out Office 2016 for my shop, I noticed that Office 2011’s Microsoft Document Connection application was no longer included with Office. A number of folks in my shop had been using...
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Virtualization session at MacSysAdmin 2016
I’ll be speaking about virtualization, with a focus on VMware solutions, at MacSysAdmin 2016, which is being held from October 4th – 7th, 2016 in Göteborg, Sweden. For those interested, my talk will be...
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Reading AppleScript source code with osadecompile
When working with AppleScripts that other folks have written, it’s often useful to be able to look at the source of the AppleScript. One quick way to do this via the command line is to use the...
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Building a NetBoot utility disk
As part of providing support for the Macs in my shop, I build and use utility disks which contain useful utilities like DiskWarrior and Carbon Copy Cloner. My shop’s network supports NetBoot across...
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Using AutoPkg to build installer packages from installer applications
One of the challenges Mac admins have to deal with are Mac application installers which don’t follow one of the following models: Drag-and-drop installation Package installation In many cases, these...
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Changing the language used by OS X
An issue that I see occasionally on new Macs is that they’re set to use a language different than mine when I take them out of the box. In my case, the alternate language is most often set to French...
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Diagnosing and fixing code signing issues for applications installed by...
As part of making sure my customers have the latest version of their applications available, I use AutoPkg, JSSImporter, and AutoPkgr to ensure that as new software updates are released, they are...
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WWDC 2016 notes
This week, I’m out in San Francisco as an attendee of Apple’s WWDC 2016 conference. As part of this, I’m taking notes during the labs and sessions. Due to wanting to stay on the right side of Apple’s...
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