Mavericks
Todd Olthoff | Marriage & Relationship Advice, Devotional Writing, Technology Reviews/Tutorials

Mavericks Server Part 25: Software Update

25/04/14 17:25 Filed in: Technology
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Keeping your Mac’s up to date is an important part of maintaining your Apple Computers. Built into OS X is the Software Update Service that checks for new updates and then let’s you know when an update is available for OS X and other Apple Software. Users then typically download the update from Apple’s Servers and then run the update. Depending on how many computers you have on your network and the size of the update, each user would download a unique copy of the same update which could put a strain on your network bandwidth.

To help you better manage your network and make it more efficient, OS X Server has a built in Software Update Server that let’s you download the updates once and then have your users look to your server for their updates instead of all going to Apple’s Servers. It also allows you to control which updates your users have available to them. This comes in handy when an update breaks something else and you want to block your users from using that update. Because they are coming to your server for the update, you control what updates they see and can use.

In this screencast, I walk you through how to set up and manage Software Update on OS X Server. I also cover how to set up your users to point them towards your server for updates. If you have any questions or comments feel free to leave them below or on my Youtube Channel.



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Mavericks Server Part 24: Profile Manager Device Management

18/04/14 11:12 Filed in: Technology
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In the previous screencast I covered the options and benefits to managing users and groups of users through Profile Manager. But there are times when you want to manage the devices your users are doing their work on and have certain settings and/or features set up in advance instead of relying on your users to set those things up. It could be energy saver settings all the way to where those devices look for software updates. Not only does Profile Manager allow you to manage users and groups of users through its interface, you can also add devices and device groups to the list of things you manage and use Profile Manager to push those changes to your devices.

In this screencast tutorial I cover how to manage your Mac and iOS devices using Profile Manager. I cover the information Profile Manager provides on each of your enrolled devices. Then I talk about strategies for managing your devices and go over the various settings you can push to your devices using profiles.

If you have any questions feel free to leave them below or on my Youtube Channel and I’ll do my best to get back to you.



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Mavericks Server Part 23: Profile Manager Users & Groups

11/04/14 11:07 Filed in: Technology
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One of the benefits of using Profile Manager is the ability to manage users and groups from one simple web interface. Profile Manager allows you to make changes once through the web interface and then have those changes pushed to all of your users and groups instead of having to go to each user individually to make the changes on each of that users devices. If you manage a large group of users, it is really convenient to set up a group that includes all of the users you want to manage, set up a profile that you want to effect all of those users, and then have that profile pushed to all the devices those users might use. It can be a huge time saver!

In this screencast tutorial I cover how to manage your users and groups using Profile Manager. I cover some strategies for when to use groups and when to use users in setting up your profiles. Then I walk you through each of the payloads that are available to customize and push to your users and groups.

If you have any questions feel free to leave them below or on my Youtube Channel and I’ll do my best to get back to you.




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Mavericks Server Part 22: Profile Manager Restrictions & Settings

04/04/14 10:57 Filed in: Technology
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One of the newer features in Profile Manager is a set of restrictions on who can enroll devices, how they enroll those devices, and what actions they can perform using the my devices web portal. This is a great addition to Profile Manager as in past versions it was an all or nothing set up which meant that users had much more control than some IT Professionals liked over certain features. This is a step in the right direction and should help more IT departments to better manage their users and devices.

In this screencast I go over each of the restriction settings. I also cover the basic settings found in each of the tabs in the Profile Manager Web Interface including how to access information on each of your users and devices.

If you have any questions feel free to leave them below or on my Youtube Channel and I’ll do my best to get back to you.



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Mavericks Server Part 21: Profile Manager iOS Enrollment

28/03/14 09:12 Filed in: Technology
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Connecting your iOS devices to Profile Manager can really speed up the process of managing and setting up your mobile devises and makes server a really powerful Mobile Device Management (MDM) solution. Instead of having to go device to device every time you want to make a change to one of your services or settings on your devices, you can simply make changes on the web interface and have those changes automatically pushed to all of your iOS devices. Whether you are a home user trying to manage a few devices for your family or an IT professional managing a business, you will want to use Profile Manager to help you set up and manage your devices.

In this screencast I cover how to enroll your iOS devices into Profile Manager so you can manage them and push changes. I cover how to install the profiles you will need to enroll your iOS devices including the proper order you will need to install them. I also cover how to install the basic configuration profile that adds services you have previously set up like calendar, contacts, and VPN to your iOS devices.

If you have any questions feel free to leave them below or on my Youtube Channel and I’ll do my best to get back to you.



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Mavericks Server Part 20: Profile Manager Mac Enrollment

24/03/14 07:43 Filed in: Technology
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One of the benefits of Profile Manager is being able to manage your client Mac devices. In order to manage all of these devices they need to first be enrolled in Profile Manager. The process of enrollment involves installing a series of certificates that allow you access to the Mac to push your profiles and changes.

In this screencast I cover how to enroll a Mac in the Profile Manager Service. I cover where to go to get the profile you need to install. I also cover the order in which to install those profiles and how to know your Mac’s have been successfully enrolled.

If you have any questions feel free to leave them below or on my Youtube Channel and I’ll do my best to get back to you.



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Mavericks Server Part 19: Profile Manager Set Up

24/03/14 07:42 Filed in: Technology
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One of the biggest advantages of having a server is being able to manage all of your clients and devices in one place. Built into server is a user interface for adding user accounts and you can bind your client machines to your server to add the to your open directory to allow access to those networks accounts. But OS X Server also includes a built in Mobile Device Management service (MDM) called Profile Manager.

Profile Manager is designed to help you manage the settings and services your users and devices can have access to. It allows you to set up your services and permissions once and then push those changes to all of your users and devices. It really does make managing your clients a much easier process and allows you to do so remotely without having to be in front of each machine.

In this screencast I cover how to set up Profile Manager on OS X Server. I walk you through each of the settings included with the service and walk you through the set up process.

If you have any questions feel free to leave them below or on my Youtube Channel and I’ll do my best to get back to you.



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Mavericks Server Part 18: Server Back Up

24/03/14 07:42 Filed in: Technology
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With all the hard work put into getting your server configured it would be devastating to have a hard drive failure and lose all of your work. Also, if you server is mission critical and any downtime is costly, having a solution to get you back up and running as quickly as possible is something very important to think through and consider. That is why a good back up strategy for your server is so important.

Backing up your server is different than the Time Machine Service built into OS X Server. The built in Time Machine Service inside OS X Server is designed to back up client machines not the server itself. You have Time Machine on the server that you can use to back your server up to a connected drive. So Time Machine is available just not through the server app. But a Time Machine back up is not going to get you up and running in a hurry so you will need other strategies to make sure you have options. In this screencast I cover a Server back up strategy that includes, incremental back ups to Time Machine, a bootable clone of your server so you can recover quickly, and strategies for backing up your Open Directory and services.

If you have any questions feel free to leave them below or on my Youtube Channel and I’ll do my best to get back to you.



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Mavericks Server Part 17: Time Machine

27/02/14 15:47 Filed in: Technology
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One of the benefits of running OS X Server is setting up a centralized back up workflow that allows your users to back up their machines to one drive on your network. Since most users have a difficult time remembering to back up their machines by plugging in their external drives and running Time Machine, it is important to find a set-it-and-forget-it solution to back ups. Built into OS X Server is a Time Machine Server that allows your users to back up to a centralized drive on your server that you select and they can do so wirelessly. This allows Time Machine to run on each computer automatically as if you had a dedicated drive connected to their computer. So without doing a thing all of your back ups take place on a regular basis and each is placed in a backups folder on the drive you select for back ups. It really is a great solution and works like a Time Capsule without having to worry about drive space since you can replace an external drive easier than the drive in a Time Capsule.

In this screencast I cover how to set up the Time Machine Service. I also cover how to connect your users to the back up, set a limit on the size of each back up, and how to monitor your back ups to make sure they are working properly. As always, feel free to leave a comment here or on my Youtube Channel.



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Mavericks Server Part 16: VPN

20/02/14 15:36 Filed in: Technology
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With all of the concerns over security today, it is important to make sure you data is protected. One of the places that could potentially put you at risk is unsecured public wireless networks in places like coffee shops or airports. Setting up a VPN (Virtual Private Network) is a great way to secure your connections to these public networks. In an unsecured environment, someone could “sniff” the packets of information that are being sent from and to your computer over these unsecured networks, making you vulnerable to being “hacked.” A VPN connection basically encrypts all communications from and to your computer over the internet. It does this by routing all your communications over a secure channel through your home computer. So for VPN to work you would need to make sure your server is up and running when you try to connect.

In this screencast I cover the VPN service built into OS X Server. I go over how to set up your VPN service, set your router to allow those connections, and cover how to set up your client machines to use VPN.

If you have any questions along the way feel free to leave a comment here or on my Youtube Channel.



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Mavericks Server Part 14: Contacts

06/02/14 15:27 Filed in: Technology
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Hosting your own contacts server can be a good way to manage your own contacts and keep that information off the cloud. If this is a concern of yours or you just want to manage your own iCloud-like solution, OS X Server has a built in contacts service that manages your contacts using CardDAV which will sync with all of your Mac and iOS devices.

In this screencast I cover how to set the service up. I also cover how to set up your client machines to work with your OS X Server Contacts Service. In addition I cover how to set up a joint contacts account that all of your users can use for their contacts service so everyone can share a joint contacts list. This can come in handy for couples or family that want to share their contacts in one centralized list.

If you have any questions feel free to leave a comment here or on my Youtube Channel.



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Mavericks Server Part 15: Messages

13/02/14 07:06 Filed in: Technology
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Text messaging is a popular way to communicate. We text with our phones all the time. We also, like to messing one another on our computers and use this communications method to keep in touch in a quick and efficient way. Sometimes we are concerned with the level of privacy our chat messages have and would prefer to have private messaging system as opposed to going through a third party like Apple or AOL.

Built into Maverick Server is a private messaging system called Messages. This service allows you to set up your own iMessage Server so you can have private chats with other clients on your server and the messages you create are stored on your server not in the cloud. This is great for highly confidential communications or for those who just want to make sure they know who is being communicated with for safety reason such as monitoring your kids use of iMessages.

In this screencast I cover how to set up the Messages Service. I cover all of the various settings and how to set up the client machine to use your Messages Service. I also cover how to auto set buddy lists using groups so all of your chat buddies automatically show up in your buddies list without having to add them manually.

As always if you have any questions or comments feel free to leave them here or on my Youtube Channel.



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Mavericks Server Part 13: Calendar

31/01/14 07:30 Filed in: Technology
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For some people having any information in the cloud is something they don’t want to do. Maybe you are in an industry where you need to protect your data and you don’t want to run any risk with the data you are transmitting back and forth whether that be calendar or contacts. You would like to use iCloud or Google but that leaves to much up to chance so you really would like to to set up your own iCloud service. Built into OS X Server is a calendar, contacts, and messaging service that you control that will keep your information off of anyone else’s cloud. In this screencast we will look at the calendaring service provided in OS X Server that works with standard CardDAV protocols.

As always if you have any questions or comments feel free to leave them here or on my Youtube Channel. Thanks for all your support!



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Mavericks Server Part 12: Connect & Automount AFP

24/01/14 10:19 Filed in: Technology
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Once you have your file sharing all set up you need to connect to those new file shares you set up. Apple has built in a few ways to connect to those files including AFP, SMB 2, and WebDAV built into Mavericks Server. Apple is in the process of moving everything over to SMB 2 but still allows its own AFP protocol for now. It appears AFP may be going away in the future but it is still available in Mavericks. WebDAV is used mainly to connect to shares from iOS devices but could be used on your Mac as well.

In this screencast I cover how t connect to your AFP shares using a couple different methods. I also cover how to set up your shares to auto mount to your Mac at start up. As always, if you have any questions feel free to leaver them here or on my Youtube Channel.



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Mavericks Server Part 11: File Sharing & Home Folders

17/01/14 10:11 Filed in: Technology
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File sharing is one of the basic things most users get a server to do. In this screencast I cover how to set up file sharing and all of the permission settings that you can apply to your files and folders. I also cover how to set up home folders on your server so your users can log into any computer on your network and have their own personal desktop show up on that computer as if it was their own computer.

If you have any questions feel free to leave a comment here or on my Youtube Channel.



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Mavericks Server Part 10: Bind Clients to Server

10/01/14 10:04 Filed in: Technology
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Once you have your Open Directory set up and you have your users and groups set up and running, the next step is to get your devices registered on your open directory so your users can take advantage of the network accounts you have just set up. With network accounts, your users can log into any computer on your network with their network login and, as I will cover in a future screencast, they could even have their home folders show up if you have them stored on the server. In order for this to work, however, your computers need to be bound to the same Open Directory.

In this screencast, I cover how to bind your Mac clients to your server’s Open Directory. I walk through the steps needed to perform the bind and talk about the difference between authenticated and anonymous binding. If you have any questions feel free to leave a comment below or on my Youtube Channel.



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Mavericks Server Part 9: Users & Groups

03/01/14 09:58 Filed in: Technology
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Once you have your Open Directory set up you can now begin to set up and manage your users and groups within that directory. In Mavericks Server you can manage all of your users from the server interface and set up what services they have access to. You can set up these permissions for certain services either individually or by setting up groups. Using groups you would set up a group and then add your users to that group. Within the group interface you can add or delete services that all of the users in that group have access to.

In this screencast I cover how to set up your users, how to tell the difference between a network and local user and the advantages of each, and finally how to set up groups and manage your users in those groups. If you have any questions or comments, feel free to leave them here or on my Youtube Channel.



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Mavericks Server Part 8: Open Directory

27/12/13 09:52 Filed in: Technology
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One of the advantages of running a server is the ability to set up network accounts to allow you to manage users and groups from one location. The management of these network accounts is done through a directory which stores all of the information about your users and devices. On a Mac it is called Open Directory while on a PC It is called Active Directory. In this screencast I cover how to set up an Open Directory in Mavericks Server and walk you through the various settings to help you get your own Open Directory set up.

As always if you have any comments or questions leave them below or on my Youtube Channel.


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Mavericks Server Part 7: SSL Certificates

20/12/13 08:09 Filed in: Technology
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Creating a secure connection between your server and the outside world is something everyone running a server should give some thought to. It is important to know that your data is safe and to secure yourself against those who may want to steal it. SSL encryption is a means to create a secure line of communication between your server and any of your devices that you may be using to connect to your server. This encrypted line validates the user and the server and protects your communications from others who may want to listen in on that line or steal the data as it passes over the air.

In this screencast I cover how to set up SSL Certificates in Mavericks Server. I talk about how to use a self signed certificate which is not validated by any outside source. I also cover how to set up a third party certificate and the process of purchasing, requesting, and installing this certificate so it works with your server.

As always if you have any questions feel free to leave a comment here or on my YouTube Channel.



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Mavericks Server Part 6: DNS

13/12/13 08:03 Filed in: Technology
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DNS or Domain Name System is one of the central services that makes a server function. Without proper DNS set up nothing will work properly with OS X Server. DNS is basically the system that take our language of works and converts or translates those works into our computer systems language of numbers. So an IP address like 10.0.1.1 points to a machine with an address of www.example.com. So DNS is the system that manages that translation and makes sure all requests go to the right server so you get the results you were looking for.
In this screencast I cover how to set up DNS in OS X Server. I cover how to start over in setting up your records. I also cover all of the records and what they mean and what services they are used for. I also talk about how to set up your DNS information on your domain name registrars site so everything gets to where it needs to be.

As always, feel free to leave a comment here or on my YouTube Channel.



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Mavericks Server Part 5: Port Forwarding

06/12/13 07:55 Filed in: Technology
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If you have a router and want to use a Server to access services outside your network you are going to need to learn how to forward ports in order to gain access to those services remotely. Routers function as physical firewalls on your network. They are designed to keep certain traffic out, allow certain connections to get outside your network, and to route all of the traffic to the appropriate location. A port is like opening a door through your router for a particular service. Each service has a door it likes to use and is assigned to use. So if you want to use a particular service like web for instance, you would open the door that most websites use which is port 80. If you lock port 80 and don’t allow it to open then you have no access to the web service.
If you are concerned about security and want to make sure there are locks on the door, you could set up an encrypted connection using SSL (secure socket layer) certificates which we will cover in a future screen cast. This service changes the door to port 443 for web service and secures the connection between the two machines. It also validates identity and works like a key to the door.

In this screencast I cover how to set up port forwarding using an AEBS and letting the Server App handle the set up. The beauty of using OS X Server with an AEBS is the port management is built into the app and the ports are opened and closed without requiring a reboot.

As always, feel free to leave a comment here or on my YouTube Channel.



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Mavericks Server Part 4: Network Configuration

29/11/13 07:45 Filed in: Technology
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One of the more important things you need to do in order to set up a functional server is to make sure your network is properly configured so your Server can do the things it was meant to do. Part of that network configuration is making sure your Server has a set IP address so you can set all of the computers on your network to get their DNS needs met through your Server so there are no conflicts. Depending on what type of system you are running will determine how you set up your network.

In this screencast I show you how to set up a network using an Airport Extreme Base Station (AEBS) where I am allowing the AEBS to handle the DHCP or addressing of all the devices on my network and it also handles the NAT or port forwarding duties as well. In this set up you make sure your AEBS is giving your server a reserved IP address and is pointing to your Server for internal DNS. In other set ups you may have your Server handling DHCP duties as well or if you have a front facing server you might not even have a router so you will be locking down your server with a software firewall that can also be configured to handle NAT if you choose to set it up that way. That set up is beyond the scope of this screencast but I may do one in the future to show how it works.

As always if you have any questions or comments feel free to leave them below or on my YouTube Channel.



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Mavericks Server Part 3: Basic DNS & Server Set Up

22/11/13 21:25 Filed in: Technology
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Once your server has been installed you are left with a .local server that provides basic file sharing. If you want to use most of the other services you will need to change you host name and decide what type of server you want to create and set up some basic DNS to make that happen. Inside the Server App is a wizard that walks you through the process of choosing a host name that will allow your server to do what you want it to. It also presents you with the option of setting up DNS for you or leaving that up to you to do manually. For most home users, having server set it up for you is probably the easiest way to get your server up and rolling. I will cover more advanced DNS in a future screencast and you can always change your DNS set up later.

In this screencast I also cover some of the basic server settings found in the server tab. These settings help you set up how you want to access your server remotely and I cover each of hose settings and what they do.

If you have any comments feel free to leave them here or on my Youtube Channel.



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Mavericks Server Part 2: Install & Set Up

15/11/13 21:19 Filed in: Technology
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For those of you new to OS X Server or those who stared with a clean install I walk you through the process of installing Mavericks Server for the first time. The overall process is pretty simple and does have some changes from the install process in both Lion and Mountain Lion Server. Instead of walking you through the process of setting up your server’s DNS, the Mavericks install just creates a simple .local server with file sharing turned on. It then let’s you decide how you want to set up your host name and DNS. I will cover the basic DNS set up and one on more advanced DNS in a future screencast but wanted to make you aware of the change in case you are used to previous installs.

If you have any questions feel free to leave a comment here or on my Youtube Channel.



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Mac OS X Mavericks: Clean Install Walkthrough

08/11/13 21:12 Filed in: Technology
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There are times when you may want to consider a fresh install of your operating system. If you are having slow downs with your system or have upgraded and never done a clean install or download a lot of software that has left stuff behind, you might want to consider a clean install. In this screencast I cover how to create a bootable Mavericks USB thumb drive using a utility called Diskmaker X. I then walk through the process of booting from that drive, wiping your hard drive and run through the install process. Before you get started you will want to make a bootable back up of your boot drive using SuperDuper! or Carbon Copy Cloner. This will allow you to roll back to your current set up in case something goes wrong with your install.

Overall the install process is pretty smooth but does take some time. One tip, when you hist less than a minute remaining you are looking at waiting more than a minute and in some cases could be 20 minutes or more so don’t stop the install if it seems to get stuck. Give it some time and should finish the install.

If you have any comments or questions leave them here or on my Youtube Channel.

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Mavericks Server Part 1: Upgrade from Mountain Lion Server

01/11/13 21:03 Filed in: Technology
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Now that Apple has released Mavericks and it’s update to OS X Server, it is time to consider upgrading to the new Mavericks Server. Before you upgrade I want to make you aware of several issues that people have been experiencing with the upgrade. First, VPN does not work in the upgrade. Just about everyone I have talked to has experienced what I did when I upgraded and that was that VPN stopped working. At this point there is no work around so if you are dependent on VPN you do not want to upgrade until the next point release from Apple and even then wait to see what other’s experiences are. Second, a lot of people are having issues with Open Directory with issues with connections and various crashes. I didn’t have that issue but there are enough people talking about it that I wouldn’t risk it again until the next point release and you hear other’s experiences.

With that in mind, I cover how to upgrade to Mavericks Server and walk through the entire process. The upgrade is pretty simple and goes rather smoothly with the exception of the issues mentioned above.

If you have any questions feel free to leave a comment here or on my Youtube Channel.

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Upgrading to Mavericks (10.9): A Step by Step Walkthrough

25/10/13 10:50 Filed in: Technology
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Well Apple’s new operating system Mavericks is here. I decided to upgrade right away and record the process for everyone who would like to see how the process works and have someone else experiment on their system instead of putting their own system at risk with a new upgrade.

So I put Mavericks through its paces and I have to say the upgrade when as smooth as it could have gone with a couple of issues. One is not to believe the timer when it says you have less than a minute remaining. I found both times I saw that status it actually took from 30 to 40 minutes to complete. So that being the case, make sure you don’t stop the process thinking it is hanging just be patient and it will eventually finish the upgrade. Second, you will have to give permission to the apps that use keychain or contacts because of the changes Apple made in those areas. So expect to have to answer a bunch of pop ups once the process if complete.

Below is the screencast showing my upgrade process step by step. If you have any questions or want to leave a comment you can do so here or on my Youtube Channel.




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Mac OS X Mavericks: Prepare Your Mac for the Upgrade to 10.9

17/10/13 10:44 Filed in: Technology
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With the release of Apple’s newest operating system right around the corner, it is a good time to start preparing for the upgrade and getting your Mac ready. There are several things you can do to prepare for the upgrade including:
 1. Making sure your Mac qualifies for the update.
2. Checking your applications to make sure they are Mavericks compatible (go to www.roaringapps.com).
3. Check your hard drive and permissions using Disk Utility.
4. Make a bootable clone using SuperDuper! or Carbon Copy Cloner.

In this screencast I walk you through the steps to prepare for the upgrade. I walk through what to do to prepare so you will be ready when the upgrade comes out. As always feel free to leave a comment here or on my Youtube Channel.

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