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Daily Update for October 23, 2013
It's the TUAW Daily Update, your source for Apple news in a convenient audio format. You'll get all the top Apple stories of the day in three to five minutes for a quick review of what's happening in the Apple world. You can listen to today's Apple stories by clicking the inline player (requires Flash) or the non-Flash link below. To subscribe to the podcast for daily listening through iTunes, click here. No Flash? Click here to listen. Subscribe via RSS
OS X Server for Mavericks now showing up in Mac App Store
There was a time when installing and configuring Mac OS Server or OS X Server was no modest undertaking; it was an entirely different operating system build, requiring a reinstall or upgrade to get at the yummy workgroup nougat center of Apple's desktop system. Those days, thankfully, are gone: OS X Server now exists as an application shim on top of regular ol' OS X, and you can buy it in the Mac App Store for just $19.99. (It used to be considerably more expensive, especially if you wanted to run it on the purpose-built hardware.) The latest edition of the OS X Server package, OS X Server 3.0, is the build tuned to work with OS X 10.9 Mavericks. As of this evening, it's showing up in the Mac App Store for download or purchase. Among the appealing features of the new OS X Server build (profile management with VPP app distribution, free XSan, the new XCode build server, and the much-loved file and web serving tools) is a revamped Caching Server, which saves Apple software updates -- both Mac and iOS -- to local storage, minimizing the impact to your company bandwidth. If you're updating a machine to OS X Server, let us know how it goes. [hat tip to iMore]
OS X Server 2.2.1 hits the Mac App Store
If you use OS X Server, it's time to fire up Software Update. Apple has just released version 2.2.1 of its server add-on for Mountain Lion, bringing with it a number of updates, fixes and even a couple of new features like a Caching Server for Mac App Store downloads and Wiki Server support for Retina MacBook Pros. You'll find the full list below: Caching Server to speed up download of software distributed by Apple through the Mac App Store. Time Machine service monitoring of which computers have backed up, when they last backed up and size of backup. Wiki Server support for MacBook Pro with Retina displays. Fix for deleting apps uploaded to Profile Manager. Ability to use Active Directory groups within Profile Manager. Centralized Certificate management interface. Fix for setup failures due to an SSL error. Fixes for upgrading from Lion Server. In addition to these changes, OS X Server 2.2.1 includes some security fixes intended to address issues with Ruby on Rails in Profile Manager and Wiki Server.
Apple mistakenly issues OS X Server codes to users entitled to Mountain Lion
Apple may have had some trouble with its Mountain Lion redemption codes, which provide a free Mountain Lion upgrade to new Mac owners who purchased a system between June 11 through July 25 via the OS X Up To Date program. Instead of receiving a code for Mountain Lion, some customers are reporting that they received a code for OS X Server instead. OS X Server, normally $19.99 in the App Store, adds filesharing and web services to Mountain Lion, but it requires the base OS to be installed first. This redemption process has not been as smooth as Apple would have hoped. Some of the early codes did not work, some were for the server upgrade and according to reports on Twitter, some people are still waiting for their code to arrive. #next_pages_container { width: 5px; hight: 5px; position: absolute; top: -100px; left: -100px; z-index: 2147483647 !important; }
Apple updates OS X Server, Xcode, Remote Desktop
In addition to the flurry of other updates to go along with the release of OS X Mountain Lion, Apple has updated OS X Server, Xcode and Remote Desktop. OS X Server 2.0 is a $19.99 Mac App Store purchase that can be added to any Mac running Mountain Lion, enabling that machine to be used at a server. Features in the update include the following: File sharing for Macs, PC and iPad; Standards-based AFP, SMB and WebDAV file services; flexible file permissions and Spotlight searching Wiki Server including point-and-click page editor, access controls, tags and comments, revision history, document sharing and Quick Look previews Profile Manager, which includes configuration and management for OS X and iOS, over-the-air enrollment, mobile device management, web-based administration console and a self-service user portal Time Machine Mail Services Calendar, Contacts and Messages Servers Virtual Private Network Xsan Server app and other features Xcode 4.4 is an update for Lion and Mountain Lion and includes the following: SDKs for OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion and iOS 5.1. Enhanced for the MacBook Pro with Retina display. Code completion persists your selections to give more accurate suggestions. Objective-C @synthesize command is generated by default when using properties. Objective-C adds literal syntax for numbers, arrays, dictionaries, and expressions when developing for OS X. Apple LLVM compiler supports additional C++11 features, including lambdas. Assistant editor tracks caller or callee for the current selection. New localization workflow can share a single base .xib file for multiple locales on OS X. Source control can commit individually selected changes. ARC migration tool converts both retain/release and garbage collected code. Fixes an issue where code completion could fail, requiring the user to delete derived data. The Apple Remote Desktop update to 3.6 adds new attributes in the system overview report, support for IPv6 and addresses other concerns. [Via AppleInsider]
Dear Aunt TUAW: Where are my versions?
Dear Aunt TUAW, Hi, I found (the hard way) what seems to be a bug in Lion's new "Versions" feature. If I take an image that is on the desktop, make an edit (e.g. annotate it) and then quit Preview, it automatically saves the change. Then if I open the file again, I can use File->Revert to Saved, and restore the original, all fine. However, when the image is on my USB memory stick, it is all good until I try to restore the original version. It says "No previous version available" and "Time Machine can't find your backup disk." This is obviously a huge problem. If I make edits to an image on the USB stick, I need to manually undo everything before quitting to prevent them from being saved. Is this an issue on your computers as well, or is it just me? Your loving nephew, Romesh Dear Romesh, Versions does not work on non-HFS+ volumes. It's likely the format of your flash drive causing these issues. Normally, Lion saves your app versions in .DocumentRevisions-V100 in the hard drive root, but only on HFS+. When you edit a file on an unsupported volume, Lion deletes temporary versions when you close the document. That's why you're seeing that behavior. There are no versions to recover to when you work outside of HFS+. You can easily reformat your thumb drive to HFS+ in Disk Utility. Follow the directions in this post for partitioning and formatting the stick. Once reformatted, Lion will be able to create the revisions folder, and allow Preview to access those earlier versions. Another advantage for HFS+ formatting is this: when you use HFS+ you can also use FileVault on your USB sticks, which will prevent anyone from being able to read its contents if it's lost/stolen. Auntie has added a few extra versioning notes for the interested (read "geeks") below this response. Hugs, Auntie T. The Document Interaction Control Menu Here are a few tips about versioning that you might not have known about. You've already seen the document interaction menu, the triangle-based drop-down menu that appears to the right of the file name in the title bar. When accessed, it looks like this. When you select Browse All Versions, did you know that you could use the option key to change the "Restore" option into "Restore a Copy"? Also, did you know that the document interaction menu also appears inside the version browser? Click to the right of each file name on the history stack and you'll find the option to "Delete this version". If you hold down the option key, that changes to "Delete Old Versions", allowing you to clean up the entire history at once. The Versions Infrastructure
OS X Lion bug may affect Windows file sharing
A bug has been discovered in OS X Lion Server that appears when a user tries to share a file with extended attributes with a Windows XP or Windows 7 system. The bug was first discovered by Steve Maser, a senior systems administrator at the University of Michigan's Office of Technology Transfer. In a message posted to the OS X Server list, Maser details the bug: "If a file/folder on your 10.7.x Mac (and this includes Mac OS X Server) has some specific (?) extended attributes on it and you do Windows Sharing for Windows users to access the file/folders -- you won't be able to pull the file down to your Windows desktop. I verified this with Windows 7." The bug has also been verified with Windows XP. According to Steve, the copy process appears to begin, before halting with an error message like, "the file name you specified is not valid or too long," or less frequently, an "Invalid MS-DOS Function" message. Maser also notes a workaround he devised. It's not a fix but it will allow for a file to be copied by removing the attributes from the file's metadata. Apple hasn't acknowledged the bug yet, but per Masers posting, they now know about it and and fix should be added to OS X Lion server in the future.
Apple releases Xsan 2.2.2 FileSystem Update for 10.6
Apple has released an update to Xsan, its storage area network (SAN) file system for OS X. Xsan 2.2.2 FileSystem Update is recommended for all Mac OS X v10.6 Snow Leopard-based Xsan 2.2 systems, according to the release notes. The update improves general file system reliability and offers: improved file system reliability when the filesystem is highly fragmented improved file system reliability when unmounting a volume improved file system reliability when running snfsdefrag improved file system reliability when native extended attributes are enabled improved Finder reliability when browsing a volume that is highly fragmented allows Xsan Admin to create new volumes when more than 100 fsm processes are running Xsan 2.2.2 FileSystem Update is a 39 MB download and requires Mac OS X 10.6 client or server. The direct download link tot he software is here.
OS X Lion Server: Making servers accessible to all
One of the amazing things about the Lion announcement a few months ago was OS X Lion Server, which Apple said would be available for $49.99. That's the lowest cost for any version of Mac OS X Server by a wide margin, and a price point that might make some people think twice about whether they'd be better served (pun intended) with the Server version of 10.7. Starting several weeks ago, I installed Lion Server on a test Mac while researching a chapter for my upcoming Lion book. What I found was a powerful, yet extremely easy-to-use server operating system that makes a server available to anyone who wants one. Rather than an expensive (Snow Leopard Server was $499) and distinct version of the Mac operating system, which was the traditional OS X Server approach, Lion Server is an app that is purchased and downloaded from the Mac App Store. Once installed, users are gently guided through the steps that they'll need to set up a local server. Note that if you're planning on having your server be Internet-connected (i.e., using it as a mail or web server), you will also want to have a good working knowledge of DNS and also install the free Server Admin Tools 10.7. As you can see in the image below, Lion Server does a very good job of explaining the differences in network configuration to server novices. To say that I was impressed with the ease of use of Lion Server is an understatement. In the past, even setting up a local server for use in a workgroup could be frustrating without experienced guidance. With the help of Lion Server's "Next Steps" capability (see below) and excellent built-in documentation, I was able to configure the server, set up test users and groups, and get services set up and running easily. The Server App (below) is somewhat like Server Admin "Lite." It's a friendly-looking app that is logically laid out and has a lot of good help available. When services are up and running, a small green dot indicates at a glance that all is well with the world. The Server App can also be used to provide administration of certain functions of a network-attached AirPort Extreme or Time Capsule. Probably the most exciting piece of the server software wasn't when I connected a Mac to it, but when I was using iOS devices to access calendars, address books, and shared folders. Using CalDAV, CardDAV, and WebDAV for these three services made connecting my iPhone and iPad to the server a piece of cake. Any iOS app that supports WebDAV can be made to work with shared folders on the server (below), which should make businesses that are deploying iPads and iPhones very happy. Performance of Lion Server seems improved versus 10.6, although I haven't benchmarked it. I had my test server set up on a MacBook Air, and even with numerous services enabled it never seemed to slow down the Air or tax its processor. As in previous versions of OS X Server, Web and Wiki server are nicely paired services that can be set up almost instantaneously to create a small business intranet. The Wiki tool is easy to use from Safari, and users can even set up a personal blog in seconds (below). The Server Admin Tools will seem very familiar to existing Mac OS X Server administrators and don't really appear to have changed all that much. For setting up more advanced network services like DHCP, DNS, NAT, Open Directory, Xgrid, or Software Update Server, you'll want to have Server Admin Tools installed (unless you feel like configuring them from the OS X command line). Who is Apple's target market for Lion Server? Well, it will definitely continue to get the organizations that use Mac OS X Server, and I think administrators will like the fact that they can leverage their existing experience. But Lion Server also puts more small businesses and homes into the potential market for server. The "Next Steps" function in the Server app is so good about answering questions users will have during set up that it makes it very simple to set up a local server. For those more sophisticated setups, however, you'll want to have a certified Apple professional helping you out. Even hobbyists who are curious about Lion Server can now afford to purchase and install the app. Apple has really opened the doors of the server room to anyone who wants to join in on the fun. Several of the images used in this article are taken from the upcoming Apress book Taking Your OS X Lion to the Max.
Steve Jobs says hardly anyone was buying the Xserve
While corporate, scientific, entertainment industry, and university buyers of the soon-to-be-dead Xserve are bemoaning the loss of the rack-mounted powerhouse, Steve Jobs has reportedly told a French Xserve customer "hardly anyone was buying them." A reader of the French MacGeneration website sent Jobs an email complaining about the pending end-of-life of the Xserve and wondering why Apple hasn't considered allowing virtualization of Mac OS X Server under VMWare or Microsoft's HyperV, or license the Xserve technology to another vendor. Jobs replied in his usual terse manner. Comments on my Friday post about Xserve show that there is widespread dissatisfaction with Apple's decision in the server administration community. AFP548 user mcal27 has even started a petition in an attempt to persuade Apple to change its mind about the decision. Unfortunately, such petitions have a dismal record of success. One of our commenters speculated that Apple might be considering a new Mac blade server, which is not entirely out of the question. Apple loves minimalist design, and blade servers are the epitomy of minimalism -- a complete server on a board which slides into a rack-mounted chassis. A lot of blades can be packed into a standard 42U equipment rack, in much higher density and lower cost than the Xserve. However, it's odd that Apple didn't make an announcement of a new server technology prior to dropping the axe on the Xserve. [via Electronista]
Psystar is dead. Long live Quo Computer
While we all know the story of Psystar, the company that crashed and burned by loudly selling non-Apple Macintosh computers with OS X installed, a much quieter and more polite company named Quo Computer seems to be doing just fine. Their mission is to get computers that can run the Macintosh OS into as many hands as possible, and they go about it in a much more reasonable way. Although their PR waxes eloquently about the virtues of using a Mac, Quo creates computers that can run any operating system, be it Linux, Windows, Mac OS X, or any combination of the three. In June of last year, they opened up a store located at 2401 West Main Street, Alhambra, California as a small mom and pop operation in a section of town that is going through revitalization. At the store, they offer classes including one on how to switch from a PC to a Mac. Their site speaks of getting free computers to low-income neighborhoods and offers to train teachers and work with them in order to get computers into more classrooms. They seem like nice people and not as litigious as some other company we know.
Apple to introduce host of new machines, new multitouch input devices tomorrow?
We're not sure why John Gruber and Dan Lyons are having some sort of megalomaniacal Apple super-pundit standoff, but we'll sit here and take the spoils: Gruber's just one-upped Lyons's earlier vague tease of new Apple gear tomorrow with a pretty specific list of things he's apparently heard we'll see, including new iMacs and plastic MacBooks, revved Mac Minis (including one that runs OS X Server), a new multitouch "Magic Mouse" (ha!) and some sort of multitouch desktop trackpad accessory. That pretty much covers every rumor and vague whisper we've heard over the past few months, so it's actually a fairly conservative set of predictions, outside of that trackpad -- which itself may or may not be related to this multitouch input device patent from a couple weeks ago. We'll see what happens tomorrow morning -- at this point we're half expecting a tablet, a pony, and some sort of multitouch waffle maker as well.
Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard Server pricing is good for business
In this morning's rush to figure out what had changed at the Apple Store, one of our readers pointed out that Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard Server (US$499 for an unlimited license) was priced lower than Leopard Server (US$999 for unlimited users). While this is nothing new -- we've known about the price change since June -- it bears repeating. For businesses with small, single offices to large enterprises with racks full of Xserves, Snow Leopard Server makes a lot of sense. That $499 license provides a lot -- a mail server (not Exchange-compatible, however), CalDAV server for group calendars, group-wide Time Machine backups to a server, a podcast producer, a wiki server, an iChat server, and the new Mobile Access Server, in addition to a plethora of other administrative and client management options. Along with the Xserve, which I've found to be comparably priced to other enterprise-class servers, and the Mac mini, which makes a great little inexpensive headless server for small offices, Apple has created a set of powerful business tools. Considering that it's now half the price of Leopard Server, Snow Leopard Server is something that more system admins may want to look at, especially in Microsoft-dominated shops.
Ask TUAW: AirPort Extreme bridge, iTunes smart playlists, USB drive backup, and more
Welcome back to Ask TUAW, our weekly Mac troubleshooting Q&A column! This time we've got questions on using an AirPort Extreme as a wireless to ethernet bridge, automatically backing up a USB flash drive, building smart playlists in iTunes, migrating an iTunes Library and more. As always, your suggestions and questions are welcome. Questions for next week should be left in the comments. When asking a question please include which machine you're running and which version of Mac OS X (we'll assume you're running Leopard on an Intel Mac if you don't specify). And now, on to the questions.
WWDC Demo: Server Admin Remote, a remote server admin tool for iPhone
Seems a little redundant, doesn't it? What else would an app named Server Admin Remote do? Well anyway, if you're in the market for something to remotely administer your servers (to a point), particularly Mac OS X servers, this is one handy and powerful tool. View logs, enable services, even reboot the server all from your iPhone (or iPod touch). Plus, there's support for multiple server instances, which you switch between just like in Tweetdeck -- a quick swipe left or right does the trick.Server Admin Remote (iTunes link) is currently $7.99. We're planning to have a more in-depth look later, so stay tuned.This concludes our WWDC video series. Thanks to all the developers kind enough to stop by and show what they are doing. Your efforts make Apple's desktop and mobile platforms truly amazing.
ZFS file system coming to Snow Leopard server edition
It's been almost exactly a year since we heard any chatter over Apple's adoption of the supposedly rock solid 128-bit ZFS file system, but it appears to be heading into the next version of the company's OS... at least for servers. According to the promo page for Snow Leopard for OS X servers, the redundant, error correcting, dynamic volume expanding format will be available when the new system drops, though there's no mention of whether it will make its way onto the standard version of the software. With data handling that's this tight, our only question is why wouldn't it make the cut?[Thanks, Mark]
Apple previews OS X Snow Leopard: scheduled to ship "in about a year"
The next iteration of OS X was mentioned early on during today's WWDC 2008 keynote, but little was said afterwards. Thankfully, Apple hasn't left us completely out to dry, as a recent release gives a few clues as to what Snow Leopard has in store. First and foremost, the OS isn't expected to ship until about this time next year, and just as predicted, it will be more evolutionary than revolutionary. Specifically, it will "enhance the performance of OS X and set a new standard for quality... rather than focusing primarily on new features." Still, we do know that it'll play nice with Microsoft Exchange 2007 from the get-go, provide "unrivaled support for multi-core processors" with a new technology dubbed Grand Central, extend support "for modern hardware with Open Computing Language (OpenCL)," and raise the software limit on system memory up to a theoretical 16TB of RAM. Heck, you'll even find QuickTime X in there. Yeah, we love those new features, but we can honestly say we're looking forward to a nice round of polishing.Update: Looks like some more solid info has been posted to Apple's page. Head here for more on Snow Leopard desktop and Snow Leopard server (which will include iCal Server 2, 128-bit ZFS support, Podcast Producer 2, the first version of their Address Book server based on CardDAV, and more).
Will Leopard allow virtualization of OS X Server?
Big-iron system admins with a Mac streak (there's more of them than you'd think) would dearly love to see a fully virtualizable version of Mac OS X Server, one that could be slotted into a VMware infrastructure on third-party hardware, and run alongside other server OSes like Windows Server, Linux and Solaris, sharing hardware resources and reducing administrative costs. Shame that it won't happen: Apple's licensing doesn't permit running 10.x Server on anything other than Apple gear. There is some change in the air, though, as a careful reading of the new license agreement for Server 10.5 reveals -- virtualization of OS X Server on OS X Server may be coming sooner rather than later.A post on the Macenterprise mailing list and an article at TidBITS take note of this licensing change, which now would seem to explicitly permit the use of multiple instances of Mac OS X Server on a single Apple machine. With this green light, applications like the in-early-beta Parallels Server and the unannounced but surely-in-progress VMware equivalent could provide multiple instances of OS X Server along with Linux or Windows VMs, all on the same box. Depending on how your network services are set up, this could be a big help in selling X Server into your organization.We'll keep an eye on both Parallels and VMware for future announcements in server virtualization. Exciting times!via Adam Engst/twitter. Thanks to everyone else who sent this in.
Leopard Server Overview
Through he doesn't seem to offer any truly new information, Daniel Eran over at Roughly Drafted has a nice post summarizing the changes coming in Leopard Server. One of the most significant highlights is the addition of many more "collaborative services" including a new iChat server that relays messages to the outside world, an iCal server for calendar sharing, a wiki server, and the Podcast Producer for automated podcast publishing. It seems like Apple is finally starting to ramp up OS X to be a stronger competitor to Microsoft's Exchange server for sharing information across a workgroup. While it's true that OS X Server probably isn't on the radar for most home users, it's good to know that Apple is continuing to refine our favorite OS for running on sweet Xserve iron, or maybe even a Mac mini home server. [Edit: removed last sentence about pricing. Apparently, I misunderstood the way it works]
Setting up OS X as a VPN server
If you have spent any time in the corporate world you have probably heard of VPN. Virtual Private Networks are a way to securely connect to one network, say your work's network resources, from another place (like your home broadband connection). OS X server has a VPN server baked right in that allows both OS X clients and Windows clients to connect securely, but how do you set it up?Maclive.net has just posted a great article that explores setting up an OS X VPN server as well as connecting to that server from a Mac or a Windows box.
