Alan Siu's Blog

Tag: mac

  • Enable SSH for only one user via command line

    If you want to enable SSH for only one user using the command line on a Mac, run these three commands: Make sure the group exists sudo /usr/sbin/dseditgroup -o create -q com.apple.access_ssh Add user username to the group sudo /usr/sbin/dseditgroup -o edit -a username -t user com.apple.access_ssh Turn remote login on sudo /usr/sbin/systemsetup -setremotelogin on…

  • Using OldMunkiPackages to automate cleaning out old Munki packages from your catalog

    In all honesty, I haven’t tried Spruce for Munki, which seems to have a pretty cool feature set. I wanted a simple tool to just clean out everything but the newest version of each package. So if Firefox 44.0.2 is there and Firefox 45.0 is also there, I want Firefox 44.0.2 cleaned out. I also…

  • Run scripts at logout using Offset

    There is an excellent open source (Apache-licensed) tool called Outset that will run scripts for Mac computers once at boot, every boot, once at login, every login, or on demand. You can add and remove ignored users (users you don’t want to run those scripts for). And all you have to do, once Outset is…

  • Using Outset to deploy scripts to Mac clients

    Why this guide? Okay, this isn’t terribly groundbreaking stuff for seasoned Mac Admins, but for the beginners and intermediates among us, I’m trying to write the layperson’s guide to Outset. What is Outset? Outset is basically a set of launch daemons (to run at boot) and launch agents (to run at user login) that will…

  • Clearing the Munki client download cache

    This rarely happens (in fact, in the year I’ve been using Munki so far, this has happened only once), but you may once in a blue moon get a corrupted download (especially for a large installer). Here is an example of what that looks like: Mounting disk image ExtremelyLargePackage-1.2.dmg… ERROR: Error: “hdiutil: attach failed –…

  • Using https / self-signed certificates and basic authentication with Munki

    If you want to go full throttle… The Munki Wiki has some detailed instructions (and a script) to set up your own certificate authority and then issue (and revoke) client certificates: Using Munki With SSL Client Certificates If you want something secure but simple If you want something a little bit simpler but not straight…

  • Office 2016 changes for Munki and AutoPkg

    Sources and Further Reading Demystify Office 2016 for Mac is a super-comprehensive breakdown of the changes in Microsoft Office 2016 for Mac. It was a bit too comprehensive for me. I kind of wanted just a bottom line, which the autopkg-discuss mailing list helped me with, and which I’ll summarize below. General Gist of Procedure…

  • Updating Mac laptop carts with closed lids

    What’s the problem? So Mac laptops have this thing where they sleep when their lids are shut. That’s how Apple designed them. That’s how they work. Most of the time, that’s fine. However, if you administer laptop carts for a school, that can definitely get in the way of keeping them updated. Even if you…

  • MonoDevelop crashing on your Mac for non-admins?

    Update: This seems to be fixed in the newest (as of this writing, 5.3.1f1) version of Unity. If you use Unity3D and have experienced crashes launching up MonoDevelop, you may need to be an admin user. Or, if you are non-admin user, you may need to change the permissions to basically be writable by everyone…

  • Using Munki to make sure Macs have a recovery partition

    If you’re using Munki and you have Macs you want recovery partitions on (they’re on there by default, but you may have accidentally deleted a recovery partition by reformatting the entire drive instead of just the main partition), here’s one way you can approach it. First, definitely use Create Recovery Partition Installer to create the…

  • Filling out a Google Form from the terminal using the curl command

    Cheating a bit here by just linking to someone else’s blog post, but it’s very well written, with screenshots and different colors. Why reinvent the wheel? Here it is: Submit Google Forms By Curl Command

  • Disabling blocking applications for a Munki package

    I was having a weird issue with CrashPlan, in which Munki was blocking CrashPlan from uninstalling because CrashPlan.app was supposedly running (the actual app wasn’t running‐just a CrashPlan-initiated launch daemon). Unfortunately, I didn’t actually read the documentation on blocking applications, because there is, in fact, a different between not specifying a blocking application and specifying…

  • Using duti to script default applications for Macs

    Back story It was surprisingly difficult for me to find a straightforward tutorial on how to script changing the default applications for Macs. There are great screenshot-laden tutorials on how to change default applications the point-and-click way for one user (right-click the file, Get Info, Open With, select application, Change All, Continue). And then there…