Posts Tagged ‘OS X’

A few years ago Apple introduced XIP files to OS X. I recently noticed Apple are using them for delivery of the Xcode 8 beta’s so I thought now was a good time for a quick overview of creating xip files in osx. XIP files are an analog to ZIP files. They can archive one or more files and directories into a single file, the same way you can with ZIP files. However they have one main advantage. You can add a digital signature to them before they are un-archived. Allowing the receiving system to test their integrity also makes… read more →

By Russell Harris – Apple Master Trainer Last week, I delivered the new OS X El Capitan training course, it is the first Apple Certified OS X Support Essentials 10.11 : Supporting and Troubleshooting OS X El Capitan Course. Apple’s course blurb: “El Capitan 101 OS X Support Essentials 10.11 is a three-day course that gives you a tour of OS X El Capitan and covers the best ways to support OS X El Capitan users. The course includes lectures and hands-on exercises that provide real-world experience.” I always enjoy delivering a new course and discussing how each delegate’s business is implementing OS… read more →

Greetings mac admins and happy new year! I first posted about this feature back in November 2012 but thought that it was worth a revisit since this is such a great little feature that many are still not aware of, despite its initial appearance being way back with the release of OS X Lion (10.7). Every now and then I have a student on an Apple Training course that asks if something like this is possible and so I decided to start the year by updating this little number! So what is this feature and why is it so useful?… read more →

Due to popular demand we have scheduled an extra date for this 1 day seminar on OS X El Capitan  Deployment. Are you thinking about purchasing a Mac suite or have a collection of Macs that you need to customise and standardise their setup? Do you know what’s involved and how to ensure you can keep your Mac estate up to date? If not, then attend our 1 day OS X El Capitan  Deployment Seminar on 16th June 2015 in London. During this 1 day seminar, which is running in June, our Apple Certified Master Trainer will demonstrate and explain… read more →

I’m writing this blog after having sat through Rich Trouton’s great JNUC talk on OS X security, especially around the use of SIP. The usual Disclaimer: While the author has taken care to provide our readers with accurate information, please use your discretion before acting upon information based on the blog post. Amsys will not compensate you in any way whatsoever if you ever happen to suffer a loss/inconvenience/damage because of/while making use of information in this blog. SIP (System Integrity Protection) I’m sure many of you have heard but OS X 10.11 (El Capitan) has shipped with a new security… read more →

Next in this series is a short blog about a relatively new way to mount network drives with configuration profiles. This process uses the login items payload in a configuration profile to set the target Macs to mount the network drives at login. So first off, how to do it. As a lot of the MDMs have slightly different interfaces, I’m going to use the layout in Casper as the example. If any of you are using Profile Manager you’ll find it almost identical. Steps 1. Log in to your JSS 2. Select Computers from the top menu 3. Select Configuration… read more →

Now that OS X El Capitan (OS X 10.11) has been out for a little while, I have managed to stumble across some of those cheeky hidden features (AKA Easter Eggs) that Apple love to slip into an OS update. Here’s a rather useful techy one. For a while now in OS X, there have been plenty of ways to find out WHERE on your computer a file or folder is stored. But being able to easily grab the pathname to an item to document this location or perhaps even enter this pathname into apps such as Terminal to execute… read more →

Now that OS X El Capitan (OS X 10.11) has been out for a little while, I have managed to stumble across some of those cheeky hidden features (AKA Easter Eggs) that Apple love to slip into an OS update. Here’s a rather useful techy one. For a while now in OS X, there have been plenty of ways to find out WHERE on your computer a file or folder is stored. But being able to easily grab the pathname to an item to document this location or perhaps even enter this pathname into apps such as Terminal to execute… read more →

With the introduction of OS X Server 5, Apple has added a new way to share files to iOS users. In the past, we had the WebDav option, which is still available. But now a new iOS sharing option is available that presents share points to apps that support document management. Note: Beware this feature is only available for OS X Server 5 running on El Capitan and for iOS 9 users. Setup OS X Server If you launch the server app and head to the File Sharing service, you will note several things. If you edit the share point,… read more →

With OS X El Capitan, comes a complete redesign of Disk Utility, which will most likely bring with it, the usual level of moans, and groans when anything we often use changes. The new layout is in essence no different to the previous version. We still have the sidebar to show us the Disk Layout for connected drives alongside the main window. However, the information for S.M.A.R.T (Status and Partition/Volume Formats, etc.) now shows in the main window when selected, rather than the footer, offering a more focused view. The new default toolbar consists of what used to be the… read more →