Since some of the more interesting features of Time Machine Server are gone, let’s talk about doing even more than what was previously available in that interface by using the command line to access Time Machine.

As with any other command, you should probably start by reading the man page. For Time Machine, that would be:

man tmutil

Sometimes, the incantation of the command you’re looking for might even be available at the bottom of the man page. Feel free to use the space bar a few times to skip to the bottom, or q to quit the man interface.

In addition to the man page, there’s a help command, which can be used in conjunction with any of the command verbs (which makes me think of “conjunction junction, what’s your function”). For example, you can tell tmutil to compare backups using the compare verb. To see more on the usage of the compare verb, use tmutil followed by compare (the verb, or action you wish the command to perform), followed by help:...

A Synology can act as a local file server that is used to share a folder from a cloud account. You can use accounts with from Backblaze, Google Drive, Amazon, Alibaba, Dropbox, Azure, and others. This means you can use a Synology to provide LAN access to cloud solutions. Before you do, make sure you understand that if changes are made in the cloud and on a client computer at the same time, that you will end up not knowing which is right and so file-locking issues will come up. It’s best to use this strategy for home environments or come up with another mechanism for locking files. 

If you choose to use the sync option, open Package Center and search for Cloud Sync.

Click Install to install the package.
...

This document describes the security content of tvOS 11.3.

Carbonite is a great tool for backing up Macs and Windows devices. To install Carbonite, download it from www.carbonite.com. Once downloaded, copy the app to the /Applications directory and open the app. 

The Carbonite app will then install the components required to support the backup operations and index the drive.

Next, you’ll see some basic folders that will be backed up. Check the box for those you want to add to the backup (or do this later) and click the Install button.
  
Click Open Carbonite.
...

Backblaze is a great cloud and on-prem backup tool for Mac and Windows. You can download Backblaze at 
https://secure.backblaze.com/download.htm. Once downloaded, extract the DMG and open the Backblaze Installer. 

At the Installer screen, enter your existing credentials or create a new account and click Install Now.

The drive will then be analyzed for backup.

By default, once the analysis is complete, the computer will immediately start backing up to the Backblaze cloud. Let’s click on the...

Acronis True Image is a cloud-based backup solution. Acronis True Image is available at 

https://www.acronis.com/en-us/support/trueimage/2018mac/. To install, download it and then open the zip. 

Drag the Acronis True Image application to your /Applications directory. Then open Acronis True Image from /Applications. The first time you open it, you’ll be prompted to access the licensing agreement.

Once accepted, you’ll be prompted to create an account with Acronis. Provide your credentials or enter new ones to create a trial account. 
...

Synology is able to do everything a macOS Server could do, and more. So if you need to move your VPN service, it’s worth looking at a number of different solutions. The most important question to ask is whether you actually need a VPN any more. If you have git, mail/groupware, or file services that require remote access then you might want to consider moving these into a hosted environment somewhere. But if you need access to the LAN and you’re a small business without other servers, a Synology can be a great place to host your VPN services. 

Before you setup anything new, first snapshot your old settings. Let’s grab  which protocols are enabled, running the following from Terminal:

sudo serveradmin settings vpn:Servers:com.apple.ppp.pptp:enabled

sudo serveradmin settings vpn:Servers:com.apple.ppp.l2tp:enabled

Next, we’ll get the the IP ranges used so we can mimic those (or change them) in the new service:

sudo serveradmin settings vpn:Servers:com...

People who have managed Open Directory and will be moving to Synology will note that directory services really aren’t nearly as complicated was we’ve made them out to be for years. This is because Apple was protecting us from doing silly things to break our implementations. It was also because Apple bundled a number of seemingly disparate technologies into ldap. It’s worth mentioning that LDAP on a Synology is LDAP. We’re not federating services, we’re not kerberizing services, we’re not augmenting schemas, etc. We can leverage the directory service to provide attributes though, and have that central phone book of user and group memberships we’ve come to depend on directory services to provide.

To get started, open the Package Center and search for Directory. Click Install for the Directory Server and the package will be installed on the Synology.
...

The post Episode 73 of the MacAdmins Podcast: Graykey and Securing iOS appeared first on krypted.com.

/etc/Sudoers is a file that controls what happens when you use sudo. /etc/sudo_lecture is a file that Apple includes in macOS that tells your users that what they’re about to do is dangerous. You can enable a lecture, which will be displayed each time sudo is invoked. To turn on the lecture option in sudo, open /etc/sudoers and add the following two lines (if they’re not already there):

Defaults lecture=always
Defaults lecture_file = “/etc/sudo_lecture”

Then save the file and edit /etc/sudo_lecture. Apple has kindly included the following
Warning: Improper use of the sudo command could lead to data loss or the deletion of important system files. Please double-check your typing when using sudo. Type “man sudo” for more information. To proceed, enter your password, or type Ctrl-C to abort.Let’s change this to:
Hack the planet.
Now save and open a new Terminal screen. Run sudo bash and viola, you will get your new message. Enjoy.

...

Apple has published a new page that goes through all of the settings and commands available via MDM and explains many in much more detail. This is available at http://help.apple.com/deployment/mdm/. The new guide is a great addition to the work @Mosen has done at https://mosen.github.io/profiledocs/ in terms of explaining what each setting, command, and payload do. And let’s not forget the definitive MDM protocol reference guide, available at https://developer.apple.com/library/content/documentation/Miscellaneous/Reference/MobileDeviceManagementProtocolRef/1-Introduction/Introduction.html#//apple_ref/doc/uid/TP40017387-CH1-SW1. 

Overall, I’m excited to see so much information...

If the recent kerfluffle among autopkg folks (over GitHub shutting off TLS less-than 1.2) is any indication, a lot of people are still on 10.12.6. If I may editorialize for a second, this is probably contributed to by Apple’s less-than-ideal planning, execution, and communication around the High Sierra release.

What makes me come out of an unintentional blogging sabbatical to talk about 10.12? Well, a pretty widespread issue we saw is time went out of sync all of a sudden recently, across a bunch of networks and even with a known-good image. NTP as a protocol is supposed to be lossy and expensive, so it should be resilient to failure to the point that you may not notice it skewing for quite some time, and querying it even shows a ‘resolution’ or tolerance that is measured across the various command line tools in 5+ digits/decimal places. Some implementations can’t even correct themselves if you’re off by greater...

Learn about Logic Pro X 10.4. 

With the Home app, you can securely control the products you use in your home—all from your iOS device.