Toronto Mac Admins Meetup
We had a Toronto Mac Admins meetup this past Tuesday (January 30, 2024). I’m gonna embed the video for you folks.
Apple
System software from developer “Apple Inc.” has been updated.
Apple wants end users to know what they’re authorizing and what system/kernel extensions are running on their computer. Yet I got this message. I have no idea what it is and what I’m authorizing. I know it’s from “Apple Inc.” but that’s it. There’s no GUI to show you what system/kernel extensions are running, so I have no idea what it is. I can run systemextensionsctl list but that gave me: I can run kextstat and I get the following, which doesn’t tell me what is pending approval or if any of them are unapproved. How am I supposed to know what is? Am I missing something? Am I supposed… Read More »System software from developer “Apple Inc.” has been updated.
Rename Computer using Scripting and Google Sheets
UPDATE: You need to allow redirects in your cURL by adding -L. See this post. With Apple’s Device Enrollment program, when a organization-owned device first turns on, it checks in with Device Enrollment and gets the information to know what MDM is managing it and how to contact it. That MDM system can then install what’s known as a bootstrapping package. In our old bootstrapping package, which was developed by an employee no longer here, was a giant if statement. If SerialNumber = x then set ComputerName to Bob, elseif SerialNumber = y then set ComputerName to Frank, elseif SerialNumber = z then set ComputerName to Jane. Pretty simple and… Read More »Rename Computer using Scripting and Google Sheets
Find a Mac’s serial number in Recovery Partition or the macOS installer
I couldn’t find this anywhere, so I thought I’d blog about this. Thanks to the #general channel on the MacAdmins Slack for the help. To find a serial number for a Mac when booted into the Recovery Partition or the macOS installer, to go Utilities and choose Terminal, type in ioreg -rd1 -c IOPlatformExpertDevice | awk -F'”‘ ‘/IOPlatformSerialNumber/{print $4}’ That’s it, it will output the serial number for the computer.
NetGear ReadyNAS Time Machine Backup
It seems you cannot mount your Time Machine backup on a ReadyNAS device using normal credentials. Time Machine is segmented off with a special user. Which means I needed to restore my computer using Migration Assistant. It took FOREVER over wifi. However, I seem to be missing my Aperture Libraries. What’s the solution? Assuming it was backed up, I need to find the sparsebundle. It took a lot of searching, but I found it, and will share my brilliance with you in case you ever need to find it, too. /data/.timemachine To access: SSH in as root. Then copy the files to a SMB or AFP accessible directory. cd /data/.timemachine… Read More »NetGear ReadyNAS Time Machine Backup
Apple Canadian Settings through MCX
Background I was tired of looking at my end-user’s screens and calling up “Managed Software Center” rather than “Managed Software Centre.” I figured I would enforce both the system-wide language setting, as well as enforce keyboard layouts to include both Canadian English and Hebrew. Those are kept in two files. com.apple.HIToolbox.plist holds the Keyboard settings .GlobalPreferences.plist holds the language settings The leading . means that it’s an invisible file, but you can use the terminal to copy it to another location: cp ~/Library/Preferences/.GlobalPreferences.plist /PATH/TO/GlobalPreferences.plist If you notice that in the second path, I removed the leading . to make it visible. .Plist setup The keyboard settings file just need to… Read More »Apple Canadian Settings through MCX
Mac Pro eSATA
I recently purchased the 2012 Mac Pro. Not the brand-spankin-new Mac Pro that looks like a subwoofer. The giant Mac Pro which does a poor job at replacing the XServe. I needed eSATA, but sadly the Mac Pro doesn’t have either an eSATA port, or a Thunderbolt port. I could use PCI and get an eSATA card, but that’s pricey. Instead I found NewerTech makes an eSATA extender cable. Basically it takes a spare eSATA port on the board, and makes it external, and it’s only $25. Not bad. The instructions are incredible. It gives you the choice. Pre-2008 Mac Pro, or the 2008 Mac Pro… umm, I have the… Read More »Mac Pro eSATA
Apple Wifi Menu
Apple doesn’t always like to document things. Did you know that when you option-click on the wifi menu it gives you this…
Another Day
Passport I woke up this morning, it was around 3:30. I didn’t want to wake up that early but I did. So I put on my GSD1 hat. I waited around until it was a reasonable time, and then I headed to the Passport Canada office in Scarborough2. After waiting way too long, they processed my paperwork, and OH YEAH! I’ll be getting a passport. Apple Connect 2012 From there, I went up to Steeles and joined Apple Connect 2012 after the opening talk. I don’t really know what I missed, but oh well. What I do know I missed was breakfast, and after having lunch and dinner there… OH… Read More »Another Day
Steve Jobs
Before I run to the Rivival to see Jonathan Richman, I thought I’d write down a few thoughts on the passing of Steve Jobs. My parents purchased a Macintosh SE in the late-1980s, and it was our first Macintosh computer. I took to it pretty easily, and I remember my mother teaching me many things on the computer, including basic scripting in HyperCard, and playing in MacPaint, and MacWrite. In 1994 I purchased MY first Macintosh computer. I had to let the rest of the family use it, though. It was a Macintosh LC 575. I upgraded from 8MHz to a speedy 33.3MHz. That 68040 processor sped through operations in… Read More »Steve Jobs