Jon Brown - Developer, entrepreneur, and Apple technologist

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

mail-server osx-system-administration

Stay off of blacklists: Limit postfix recipients

I have heard this story it seems over and over again, I also have been the topic of many email horror stories. They usually go like this “I just setup a new server and within days we were on a corporate email blacklist, I contacted the company in question and asked why are we on your blacklist, why won’t you deliver our email. They shared with me an email log of thousands of emails being sent from my mail server through several legitimate email accounts. I ensured that my server...

Nov 30, 2011

bug-fixes osx-system-administration

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

mail-server osx-system-administration

Better Quota notifications for OSX Server

OSX Server comes pre-packaged with Dovecot one of the best IMAP services out there and one of the most extensible and flexible in my opinion. That is its flexible and extensible as long as you know how to configure Dovecot which most OSX Server Administrators are not. I had a conversation with a co-worker not too long ago about being an OSX Server Administrator and I joked that Apple made great hardware and a great OS but most if not all of the services under the hood for Web, Mail,...

Oct 7, 2011

product-reviews

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

bug-fixes

Adobe Reader, Network Accounts & 10.6.8 Server

There has been a lingering issue with running Network Accounts and letting the users of those network accounts use Adobe Acrobat Reader on an OSX Leopard & Snow Leopard server environment for a while. The issue presents itself as a hard crash of Adobe Reader, while the user is trying to use the program. After much trial and investigation, I have narrowed down the reason for the crash to the fact that the program is trying to save temporary cache files to the users Documents folder. Since the folder is...

Jul 23, 2011

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