Jon Brown
What is the Managed App Store & Why you need it
Why are App Updates Important? Many people discount the importance of running app level updates on your computers. Programs like Chrome, Firefox and Adobe Creative Suite all have built it update utilities that will look for and apply critical security and functional updates from their respective development teams. Part of the job of software vendors is providing quality assurance meaning they are testing their software to make sure that it is stable and usable for their users. However little is known about how each vendor actually tests their software. Many...
Dec 5, 2018
Jon
10.7 Server throttle high CPU usage script
For the last two years, I have noticed a trend. From time to time Apple will release updates to its OSX Server environment, sometimes these updates go smoothly however the bulk of the time it causes several nasty side affects one of them being high CPU usage among rogue processes. One such was covered here the HWMOD bug which caused extremely high CPU usage. Sometimes these are easy to fix while other times these cause your system to crash and burn due to high CPU usage. On the flip side...
Apr 8, 2012
Jon
10.7 Server Web Administration: Missing Manual
I just started using 10.7 Lion Server at my organization and I have to admit it is nice in some ways and infuriating in others. Apple has certainly fixed and introduced quite a few new features such as Profile Manager but have removed features like Mobile Access. The hardest hit service in my opinion when it comes to 10.7 server administration is the Web service. Apple has stripped this service completely out of the Server Admin app and has added a dumbed down version of the service to the Server...
Dec 9, 2011
Jon
Installing MYSQL on OSX Lion Server
It is a fact that Apple has migrated itself away from MYSQL. It is also a fact that most people who continue to buy Apple Servers have been using MYSQL for some time and have websites or other content that sill relies on this technology. Just because it is not endorsed or pre-configured by Apple however does not mean that it can not be used. On the contrary installing and configuring MYSQL to run on an OSX Lion server is moderately easy and gives greater insight as to how MYSQL...
Nov 28, 2011
Jon
Deploy Studio Server to the Rescue
As a Mac System Admin working in the Private sector, I must confess I find myself like a kid in the candy store looking, and trying out new products created by third party vendors that make my life, job and the user experience for my clients easier and more productive. I must stress that most admins can not fully share in my joy due to job or security restrictions. Admins in the Government sector for example can only use sanctioned tools and or methods for dealing with common Server Admin...
Jul 30, 2011
Jon
10.6.8 Installing SSL Certificates Correctly
I am well aware of how to install and setup SSL certificates in OSX Server but that was not always the case. I am writing this how to for those less experienced who may find this article helpful. There are two types of SSL certificates, that you can use on your OSX Server. Self Signed Certificates are ones that are created on the server and are not digitally verified by a third party service. You can use these certificates to encrypt or secure your servers services but you will ultimately...
Jul 16, 2011
Jon
10.6.8 Server high CPU usage, hwmond culprit
It seems no matter how careful Apple is each OS update (especially server updates) reveals its own challenges for the user, that leaves them wishing that they had not left their stable platform for the bug fixes that made that update so desirable. the 10.6.8 server update was no different it claimed to fix such long time bugs as Server Side Rules which has been a thorn in the side of OSX Server Administrators everywhere who use OSX Servers as their primary email server. So many of us including myself,...
Jul 10, 2011
Jon
Solr, WordPress & OSX Server
I have long been a fan of WordPress and not so much a fan of the search engine functionality that comes boxed with it. As an Apple Systems Admin I have several WordPress websites running on several OSX Servers. One of the sites that I administer finally got to the size to where the search capabilities of WordPress fell short of the clients desire and I was forced to look into other avenues for searching. I came across, solar. Solr is an open source enterprise search server based on the...
Jun 28, 2011
Jon
10.6.4 Group Calendars in iCal officially supported
Group calendars in Apples Wiki Server has been an uncomfortable conversation piece among 10.4, 10.5 and 10.6 Apple Systems Administrators. Ever since Apple has given us the ability to use web based group calendars its been a cat and mouse game to get some level of support in iCal. In 10.4 when these calendars first came out it was a very cool idea give users their own calendars and give them a web interface to use it. Allow them to subscribe to their calendars in iCal which allowed the user...
Jul 24, 2010
Jon
10.6.2 Split Horizon DNS
The DNS interface in Server Admin.app is not suitable for doing a split-horizon DNS configuration. It simply doesn’t expose all of the flexibility of bind that you need to pull off such a configuration. If you poke around the bind config files on your OS X Server, you’ll be able to see how apple has set them up so that you can edit them directly without confusing the GUI. /var/named contains zone files that you may edit, and they include corresponding files in /var/named/zones which you should not edit. They’ve...
Jan 23, 2010