Alan Siu's Blog

Tag: mac

  • Fix for Mac OS X 10.10.5 breaking Apache

    Problem If you have SSL enabled on an Apache server running on Mac OS X, you may have found that upgrading to 10.10.5 breaks your site, and your users cannot connect either via http or https. It turns out the update moves the certs and keys to a new folder, so references to those certs…

  • Renaming a Mac hard drive from the command line

    You know, if your hard drives are set to show as icons on the desktop, you can rename them by selecting them, hitting Enter, and then typing in a new name? If you want to script naming, you can also name from the command line. For example, if you want to rename the drive you’re…

  • Default printer options for Mac OS X

    If you ever want to script default printing options for OS X, these commands should help you out. User: Switching to a default printer instead of the last used printer By default, Mac OS X will make the default printer whatever printer was last used. If you’d like to change that setting for the user,…

  • Packaging PowerTeacher Gradebook for Munki

    Important Update: As of April, 2017 (possibly earlier), the LaunchGradebook.ptg file appears to be tied to the specific user logged in, so it can’t just be generically distributed. So if you don’t have an older version of LaunchGradebook.ptg for your organization, you essentially won’t be able to distribute Gradebook to your users. Fortunately, (hat tip…

  • Modifying the Energy Saver “Put hard disks to sleep when possible” setting using the terminal

    If you’re looking in Yosemite for where the Put hard disks to sleep when possible setting in Energy Saver lives, it’s in /Library/Preferences/SystemConfiguration/com.apple.PowerManagement.plist, so you can view with the command defaults read /Library/Preferences/SystemConfiguration/com.apple.PowerManagement.plist and you’ll see the value in “Disk Sleep Timer”, with 10 meaning the box is checked and 0 meaning it’s not checked.…

  • Modifying the Energy Saver “Turn display off after” preferences in Yosemite using the terminal

    What’s the problem? I’m shocked at how little straightforward documentation there is regarding where the Energy Saver settings (from System Preferences) are stored or how to modify them using the terminal. Where are the settings stored? Using opensnoop, I was able to track down that Energy Saver modifies this file: /Library/Preferences/SystemConfiguration/com.apple.PowerManagement.plist The main slider in…

  • Making Microsoft AutoUpdate check manually for Macs with Munki

    Note: I’m writing with regard to Microsoft Office for 2011. It’s possible the .plist file updates here is different for other versions of Microsoft Office for Mac. If you’re using Munki to manage software updates, you don’t want the applications themselves to be constantly checking for updates or notifying your users when an update is…

  • Terminal command to change a user password on a Mac

    Update May, 2019 Now that there are SecureToken users, the command below no longer works to reset another user’s password. Thanks to mario on the MacAdmins Slack for testing. Acknowledgements Just a cleaned-up version of directions from Mac Script to change Administrator password Changing a user password via terminal command If you ever want to—perhaps…

  • Using OpenSnoop with process names that have spaces in them

    opensnoop is a command-line tool that comes preinstalled with Mac OS X allowing you to see what’s being modified in your filesystem. If you Google some tutorials on it, you’ll see that you can track a particular process name like Safari with code like sudo opensnoop -n Safari but if you try to do it…

  • Keeping up to date using Munki without bothering users

    Munki is a great tool for distributing software and creating little mini App Stores for organizations, so users can do self-service installs of Mac software. But Munki is also a great tool for keeping software up to date. Some software updates are primarily about adding new features. Many updates, however, include bug fixes or security…

  • Packaging CrashPlan PROe for Munki

    Update This no longer applies for CrashPlan 6.5 and above. For more details, see Considerations when upgrading CrashPlan with Munki. Why the official deployment method won’t work for Munki Code42 has a guide for Preparing The Crashplan App For Deployment. It basically downloads (from your CrashPlan PROe server) a .zip file of some tools to…

  • Recreating a deleted recovery partition on a Mac

    Important update: Lately I’ve been having issues with CreateRecoveryPartitionInstaller creating an empty (unusable) recovery partition. I’m not the only one experiencing it, but the problem also doesn’t seem to be universal.. If you’re not getting this tutorial below to work for you, you might want to try this less elegant workaround that totally did work…

  • Packaging NetExtender for Munki

    Disclaimer The following tutorial is based on and works for NetExtender version 7.5.774 for Mac. Your mileage may vary for other versions. Why does NetExtender need a Munki-fied “update”? The actual NetExtender application doesn’t need anything special for Munki. You can do a regular munkiimport on the .dmg file, and it’ll go in just fine…

  • LEGO Mindstorms stuck on splash screen

    For the odd computer here and there I’ve had LEGO Mindstorms get stuck on the splash screen (we’re talking 10-15 minutes or more). A bit of trouble, but I’ve found going to /Library/Internet Plug-Ins and deleting the Silverlight.plugin, then reinstalling both Silverlight and LEGO Mindstorms seems to fix it.