Tech tips & other words
I have various Internet services like email, web and messages running on a Mini server running OS X on a subdomain.
Often, I want services like Messages to appear to use our main dot-com address, yet actually run on our internal dot-net domain.
So, how do I configure Messages server to appear to virtually function on our dot-com, yet still reside on a sub-domain?
Sadly, I had this experience lately. Even though I had the firewall explicitly set to allow connections using Screen Sharing, for some reason my Mavericks OS X 10.9 server hiccuped and I couldn’t access it via screen sharing.
Here’s how I resolved my dilemma:
Every once in awhile Apple’s shitty Server 3 throws errors that prevent SpamAssassin from processing new spam. The error shows up when I run spam trainer. The error it throws looks like:
ERROR: Bayes dump returned an error, please re-run with -D for more information bayes: cannot open bayes databases /Library/Server/Mail/Data/scanner/amavis/.spamassassin/bayes_* R/O: tie failed: Permission denied
Fix it by issuing these commands from Terminal:
sudo chown -R amavisd:amavisd /Library/Server/Mail/Data/scanner/amavis/.spamassassin/ sudo chmod u+rw /Library/Server/Mail/Data/scanner/amavis/.spamassassin/bayes_seen sudo chmod u+rw /Library/Server/Mail/Data/scanner/amavis/.spamassassin/bayes_toks
OS X Mavericks 10.9 Server 3 ships with SpamAssassin, but there are almost no controls available to admins (shame on you, Apple). Of course, a well-trained Bayes spam filter will cut down on annoying spam messages.
Thanks to the good folks at topicdesk.com, it’s super easy to set up the server for training the onboard SpamAssassin bayesian spam filter.
Here’s how:
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After installing SocialEngine 4 (4.8.6) on my Mac mini running Mavericks Server 3 and PHP 5.4.27, SocialEngine pukes with a error:
exception 'Zend_Db_Statement_Mysqli_Exception' with message 'Mysqli statement execute error : Duplicate entry
Read on for a solution:
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I’m experimenting with storing Sequel Pro’s favorites and preferences in Dropbox on Mavericks. I say experimenting, because Mavericks (unlike earlier OS X incarnations) actually caches all app preferences at login. So it’s unclear how often the OS re-reads preference files, and what impact having them stored in Dropbox (where they can be changed on another computer) will have on this system. Continue reading
So you want to clear the DNS cache on Mac OS X Mavericks through the now-current Mac OS 26? Well, Mac OS since ‘Mavericks’ has some DNS changes under the hood. Unlike previous versions, to effectively clear the cache you need to execute these two commands in Terminal:
dscacheutil -flushcache;sudo killall -HUP mDNSResponder
Add this as an alias to your .profile under something easy to remember like ‘flushdns’ and you’re good to go!
Now you know how to clear the DNS cache on Mac OS.
I use Cornerstone as my app of choice to manage those repositories. Combined with Unfuddle, it’s a wonderful combination for remote programming teams. I recently had the need to rebuild my Mac OS X desktop computer at work. I have a fair number of SVN repositories and working copies on my machine.
Anyway, I backed up all my Mac (including working directories), then formatted my hard drive. After reinstalling everything, I copied the working directories back to their original location, then copied these file, using terminal, from the backup to the new installation:
~/Library/Preferences/com.zennaware.Cornerstone.plist
~/Library/Application Support/Cornerstone
I wanted to add a cheap SSL certificate to my Mac OS X Mavericks 10.9.1 server. I purchased a Comodo PositiveSSL certificate for $9 from Namecheap.com.
After generating the signed certificate request using the Server.app tool, I followed their directions and finally got the certificate. But after installing it, Server.app and Keychain both reported that “this certificate was signed by an unknown authority.”
What gives?
Well, simply put, Mac OS X doesn’t recognize PositiveSSL as a certificate authority. So I needed to import their root certificate. Here’s how.
In Keychain.app, search for your certificate based on the hostname that it’s assigned. Double click that cert, and scroll down to find the PositiveSSLCA2.crt. Click the link, which will download the cert. Then double click the downloaded .crt file and add it to your system keychain. Voila. All is well. Adding SSL certificate to Mavericks Server Is a piece of cake!
Wondering if a certain outbound port on your Mac is open or closed? Here’s a way to determine outbound open ports on Mac OS using netcat via the command line in terminal. We’ll use using a free service from portquiz.net.
From the terminal, enter:
nc -v portquiz.net 443
where 443 is the port number you want to test.
Control-c will kill net cat after you get the info you want.
Easy-peasy. You can now determine outbound open ports on Mac OS.
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