#server admin Articles


Secure POP and Tiger Server

It took me a little while to figure out what was going on, but once I did, I was able to get my phone talking to POP on my Tiger Server again. If you're having problems POPing to a Cyrus or Tiger Server using SSL, you may be in need …

Taking Tiger Server's spam protection up a notch

I was quite happy to see that Apple decided to include amavis / clamav / spamassassin in OS X 10.4 Server, but although I found the virus protection nice, the spam protection looked weak in comparison to my previous experience with spamassassin. So, here's how I fixed that... A few things …

10.3 to 10.4 server upgrade and mirrors

The transition from 10.3 to 10.4 in our location has been both easy and hard. For everything except our master server, the transition has been a breeze. Here are some things to do and a couple of things to avoid. Note: this is only for OS X Server …



Adobe ready to go the distance

An interesting interview this morning with Bruce Chizen, CEO of Adobe on CNet goes into some of Adobe's strategy for staying profitable and relevant. Unlike some large computer software manufacturers, they are focused on growth through innovation and quality, and it's hard to argue with their success. In the interview …

Apple hole leaves OSX management open to snooping

A detailed article from AFP548.com (Macintosh server administrator's website) gives a pretty disturbing description of a problem that has been around in OSX for a while. The good news: it was finally fixed in the September 30, 2004 security patch. Those of you doing insecure management of OSX Servers …


AT&T considering dumping windows

Another company is reevaluating its Windows-based desktop requirements and is looking at Apple's MacOS X and Linux as alternatives. Of particular interest in the article from Cnet is the comment from the AT&T CIO stating "There's competition; there's choice now. Any CIO would not be doing due diligence if …


XGrid agent comes to Linux (and other unixes)

In another interesting demonstration of open protocols and open source, Apple's grid computing initiative, XGrid, has been ported to generic Unix (including, especially, Linux and Solaris). Code, instructions, and details can be found at the XGrid for Linux web site.

SSL for Panther Server mail

This is a pretty technical article for those who are interested in putting SSL facilities on a Panther Server. So, you have obtained a certificate for your XServe or other OS X server and you want to use that certificate for the built-in email services. Unfortunately, if this is documented …

IBM pushes Linux agenda on TV

After noticing the new IBM advertisements touting the benefits of open source (check out the IBM Open Source page), I was intrigued to see that it took only days for the ads to generate an article in BBC News. Maybe they were having a slow news day. Perhaps they were …

SCO sues to get Novell's UNIX copyrights

According to an article from CNet, SCO has filed a lawsuit against Novell in an attempt to get Novell's much- talked-about remaining UNIX copyrights. In yet another round of the near-never-ending SCO vs Linux saga, SCO has decided to attack Novell's claims of UNIX ownership head-on by asking the court …

Latest in the SCO/IBM/Linux saga

A number of developments in the SCO/IBM/Linux saga this week, including some disclosures by SCO and the announcement that Novell has completed its acquisition of SUSE which leads the way for IBM to pump money into Novell. The ongoing drama (such as it is) between SCO and the …


SCO claims headers, Linus says "No!"

SCO, the company that the rest of the UNIX community loves to hate, fired their latest salvo in the anti-Linux wars, claiming that SCO owns the copyright on 65 system include files (see the following letter supposedly from SCO to "violators"). In response, Linus has responded that he remembers vividly …

Wacky SCO folks say GPL is bunk

SCO, in its reply to IBM's suit, has basically declared that they believe that the GPL is bunk and that therefore they don't need to follow it, according to an article from net legal site, Groklaw. According to the interpretation by the folks at Groklaw, the SCO folks would like …

Apple 10.2.8 update released -- fixes ssh problem

Almost a week after the vulnerability was found, Apple Computer has now updated Mac OS X to fix the SSH problem on both client and server operating systems. The update is part of 10.2.8, a periodic maintenance update which, according to the tech note, includes a number of …

OSX no longer immune to net attack

Although we have yet to see an OS X worm appear in the wild, and the operating system itself is pretty well guarded by virtue of it not having many network services turned on by default, the risk to Macintosh users has just gone up. Making the rounds recently is …