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How to test and experiment with Snow Leopard Server when you only have one Apple Server |
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Q. I have a Leopard server and it is our *only* Apple server. If I had the option, I would install Snow Leopard on a spare and then just experiment. Since I do not have this option what should I do?
A. You *do* have this option. Its called VMware Fusion - Mac OS X Server is licensed to be able to be run in a virtual machine (as long as that VM is running on Apple hardware, and you have the relevant key/licence for Mac OS X Server). I use Fusion for testing out changes to my single server Xserve based environment before making them.
Additionally, for testing and evaluation like this, if you qualify, which inexplicably means being in the USA, as well as not being a reseller, or in education, you can get Snow Leopard Server free of charge direct from Apple here http://seminars.apple.com/contactme/SnowLeopardServerEvaluation/ .
It would seem to me that the 10.4 to 10.5 world of pain some people encountered (especially those with only one server, and poor DNS setup) has taught us that best practise is to try out new server releases from Apple before upgrading.
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Last Updated on Friday, 04 September 2009 07:01 |
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My lovely Xserve runs and runs and runs, until something kills it and then.. |
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It happened again. Its the second time. I noticed all my email accounds ground to a halt. Simple I thought. No. Not really.
It seems I was thwarted at every step by countless configuration woes and possibly poor choices by me.
Lets learn, and next time hopefully it will be better!
#fail Number 1 - Server Tools isnt there anymore
I had installed them before, but they are gone! Huh. It dawns on me that I restored this Mac OS X Leopard MacBook Pro from a Time Machine version of its predecessor and asked it to do everything. Everything obviously doesnt include Server Tools. Shame Im on Mobile Broadband and now I need to download a big package of tools. Great. Never mind I can use Remote Screen Sharing because Ive set it up nicely..
#fail Number 2 - Remote Screen Sharing
It does work for a while and lulls me into a false sense of security. I can't bear to reboot so I load Server Admin via Remote Screen Sharing and try to diagnose whats wrong with my mail system. Im doing fine for a while. But I notice I can't seem to fix it from the GUI. I stop and restart it several times. Nothing. I'm still loath to restart. Call me old fashioned. Its a fail.
#fail Number 3 - ssh doesnt answer
I always like to have a separate command line. ssh isn't answering. Its a kind of clue to me that things are about to get worse, but I assume because Ive got a Remote Screen Sharing session working that I dont need to worry. Wrong McFly Wrong. This was my clue that I should have restarted it. It would have removed some uncertainty.
Too late. My Remote Screen Sharing Session froze, and once I quit, stubbornly refused to reconnect. Never mind, i thoght, the LOM facility will help me in my hour of need.
#fail Number 4 - LOM - Lights Out Management
My early Intel Xserve has Lights Out Management. You need to connect to the server via the special IP address that you setup for the LOM. In theory You can power the server on using Server Monitor by connecting to the IP address for the LOM and using the username and password that you entered when you did the setup. You can also use the command-line tool, ipmitool, to control the server. Thats the theory, but it didnt work for me. I found at
http://www.stanford.edu/group/macosxsig/blog/2009/06/server_monitorapp_stupidity.html
that the Xserve LOM is pretty bizarre. I cant connect to it. Nothing. Nada. Niet. Nil points.
Solution - Remote Hands
I have no choice but to call for a real person to attend to the server. Its ridiculous. But there we are. Once in front of the console and instructed how to fire it up they confirm to me that the servers happily sitting there running the finder. My remote hands restarts the server cleanly from the menu.
It comes up, and everything is working perfectly except for mail, and of course LOM.
I look into the LOM, and set it up from my own Remote Screen Sharing Console. Annoyingly it seems to work from there via Server Monitor but using the local admin account and password not the special lom admin account and password. Why Apple Why? But It still doesnt work from my remote MacBook. I think this is an ultimately simple to fix port forwarding issue but its irritatingly over complex. By way of comparison I have a Sun X4150 which has lovely lovely LOM with its own micro browser. Its also been up for nearly a year and never been power cycled.
Now to the mail system. amavisd has crashed and left a little PID file in a directory. Such a small file, but its brought my mail system to its knees.
I found it by switching off all the filtering and watching the mail system start working again. Step to fix are simple really, so simple you would think that Mac OS X Server might notice and fix it up itself!
Steps to fix
This is really a note to self for me next time. This is the second time Ive had this happen and I forgot how to fix it in between times.
- remove the PID file - !!!
- Stop mail
sudo serveradmin stop mail
- Unload & reload the launchd plist for amavisd:
sudo launchctl unload /System/Library/LaunchDaemons/org.amavis.amavisd.plist
sudo launchctl load /System/Library/LaunchDaemons/org.amavis.amavisd.plist
- start mail
sudo serveradmin start mail
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Microsoft Document Connection for Mac - NEW in Office Mac SP2 |
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Microsoft Office 2008 for Mac Service Pack 2 (12.2.0) contains a surprise new appliction - Microsoft Document Connection
What is Microsoft Office 2008 for Mac Service Pack 2 (12.2.0)?
According to Microsoft, this update contains several improvements to enhance stability and performance. It also introduces a new application called Microsoft Document Connection for Mac OS X, and includes new features in Microsoft PowerPoint 2008 for Mac. In addition, this update is the minimum Office for Mac requirement for installing Microsoft Entourage 2008 for Mac, Web Services Edition.
What is Microsoft Document Connection for Mac?
Microsoft Document Connection for Mac is a surprise bonus application delivered in Office 2008 SP2 in July 2009. It makes it easier to work with files that are located on a SharePoint site or Microsoft Office Live Workspace.
It has a pretty standard Mac OS X user interface, with a toolbar and navigation pane, and the individual sites or libraries accessible in the main part of the screen. You can Create new files, add existing files from your local file system, open files for editing or check them in or out. You can navigate through locations by using the navigation bar, and then save files and locations to the navigation pane. A control that looks like a kind of breadcrumb shows the exact location within the hierarchy of a site at the top of the main screen underneath the toolbar. You can click this control to navigate
Its a very simple application, but it proves that the browser isnt the universal answer to everything. I like that it remembers my SharePoint credentials in the keychain, and has extensive keyboard shortcuts. I dont like that its only for file access - its analagous to but different to the web folders application for Windows. Theres no indication of a broader mac encompassing SharePoint application environment in this application. Its more of a utility.
I found it quite difficult to connect at first, getting an error message that I didnt have adequate permission. After the fun and games I had with Entourage accessing Microsoft Online, I was prepared for this to be difficult.
SharePoint Authentication
Once I found the Preferences and selected 'Enable Basic Authentication' it started to work for me. You can double click a name and change it, although its very un Mac like - opening a dialog box rather than just making the name editable. Once you succeed it trundles through a refresh cycle and you can use the SharePoint - its a bit like using CuteFTP or any other visual FTP tool.
Selecting a document allows you to click the check out button, which downloads the document to a local cache and opens it. The application does quite a good job of keeping track of whats been downloaded and uploaded and tries to make this part of SharePoint work well.
Keyboard Shortcuts for Microsoft Document Connection for Mac
There are quite a few keyboard shortcuts for us luddites: -
Connect to a SharePoint site - ⌘+K
Sign in to an Office Live Workspace - ⌘+L
Open a file for editing - ⌘+O or ⌘+DOWN ARROW
Open a file as read-only - ⌘+OPTION+O
Add a file from your computer to the server - ⌘+SHIFT+U
Create a new file from a template - ⌘+N
Move forward - ⌘+]
Move back - ⌘+[
Open folder - ⌘+DOWN ARROW
Its a nice tool, but one wonders why it isnt located inside the Office products themselves. I can only assume the QA would have been too disruptuve to the rest of the applications.
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Last Updated on Monday, 12 October 2009 14:16 |
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Finding using and reviewing the new iPhone 3.0 features |
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Landscape Messaging
New!Turn your iPhone on its side for Landscape view messaging
The trouble is I can't get used to it. I know its a great feature but I've become one with my iPhone how it was. Must persevere.
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Last Updated on Friday, 24 July 2009 17:32 |
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Find my iPhone works in the UK |
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I've had a chance to try the 'Find my Iphone' functionality that has just been added to Mobile Me as part of the extra value that subscribers get. Its quite simple to set up once you know how. It might be a little counter intuitive to some though. Enabling Find My iPhone on an iPhone 3GIts quite buried in the settings. Go to the Mail settings and choose your Mobile Me account to find the switch, and switch it on. Its off by default. If youve lost your iPhone before setting it up you're hosed. 
Once it's on head over to www.me.com and click the account tab. You'll notice a couple of things. At the bottom of the menu is a new 'Find my iPhone' option.Select it and you can locate your iPhone, and it also tells you if your iPhone is online. I sent a message to mine and can confirm it works. I havent tried the remote wipe :-) 
Neat. Really need this for my kids (because they keep losing phones).
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Last Updated on Thursday, 18 June 2009 19:08 |
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