[Detrius]

check this out:

http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=108005

[Detrius]

I don’t even have a modem in my four year old G4, so I can’t help you out with specific configuration options.

Here’s where I would start, though: read the pppd man page. Then, create a startup item and put it in /Library/Startup Items.

This shouldn’t be too difficult if you already are comfortable with the command line.

[Detrius]

You can add custom firewall modifications to the file /etc/ipfilter/ipfw.conf

See the ipfw man page for how to write up the rule.

What I would recommend is to not allow ftp at all in the ServerAdmin app and then manually open up the port for one ethernet interface. Make sure that you do have the rules enabled to deny all if it a packet isn’t specifically allowed–which is the default configuration.

Instead of shutting off ports on one interface, you are opening them on the other (same end result, but different approach).

[Detrius]

I’ve been hoping for remote graphical login (instead of that wretched Apple Remote Desktop). This is something that OS X can do with X11, and therefore any other Unix can do it. Even MS Windows can do this. Why would Apple *NOT* add this in 10.4? In my opinion, it’s the last big thing that Windows can do that Mac OS X cannot. This would open the door for Apple to release thin clients, which is the BIGGEST thing holding OS X back from overtaking Windows. The company I work for would never consider selling Macs instead of Windows. The lack of this feature makes the Macintosh look pretty crude in comparison to Windows.

Probably the easiest way for Apple to implement this would be to modify the VNC server they added to the latest Apple Remote Desktop such that it does not take over the screen–it acts as a second WindowServer process and shows a loginwindow. Then you can log in and run GUI programs without them ever being seen on the main display.

Apple will HAVE to do this at some point; otherwise they will never be able to compete with Windows Thin Clients/Dumb Terminals.

[Detrius]

Are they on the same subnet as each other, or different? That could be a place to start.

[Detrius]

Clearly, this is not related to the operating system on the computer she is using, as an erase and install did not fix the problem. Also, it’s not her user account, as she can access the files correctly from another machine. It’s not a hardware problem, as other users can access the file from her computer.

Are you using Open Directory and network home directories? This is a very important detail. If you are, then all of her preferences were retained. Therefore, the traits imply that this is a specific issue with one of the files in her ~/Library/Preferences/ByHost folder.

If you are not using network home directories… ummm… Idunno–but let us know.

[Detrius]

Instead of deleting the users, you could disable them. This way, the UID is still taken, so creating new users automatically gives them a different UID. Then, a few times a year (or whatever schedule works for you), you can go through and delete the disabled users so they aren’t in your list anymore.

[Detrius]

The keychain issue only affects e-mail–not web or open directory–but I also couldn’t get that part to work; I didn’t try too hard though, as I’m the only person using these servers.

[Detrius]

I assume from what you are saying that you probably could netboot the thing or boot it from a firewire disk with 10.3.5 Server installed. If you do the headless server thing and have multiple servers, it may be a good idea to set up a netboot image with OSXvnc installed to run diagnostics, or to do diagnostics or even clean OS installs.

[Detrius]

I just want to add a few details here. I created an SSL key WITH a password. My web server is actually working. Also, the LDAP server works, but needs to be started manually: sudo /usr/libexec/slapd –it requests the password and then works properly.

However, I don’t think there’s much benefit to having the password, so I may recreate the keys.

To those wondering:
Certificate file is newcert.pem
Key file is newreq.pem
CA file is demoCA/cacert.pem

I followed Apple’s directions: http://developer.apple.com/server/security_ssl.html

[Detrius]

As noted in another thread, updating to BIND 9.3 fixes the non-cached resolution failures. However, this did not fix my issues with the DNS server needing to be restarted after a reboot.

I’ve tweaked my tcsh login scripts to restart the necessary daemons as a slightly easier workaround.

[Detrius]

Probably not related, but it’s worth looking at: your base stations have self-assigned IPs. See if you can manage to get them on the network.

Also, I have had issues with doing this stuff over Airport–even without the IPSec. Is the wireless network open, or is it password protected? I’ve had issues with protected networks where machines won’t connect until a user logs in.

Depending on your setup, you may do well to add extra base stations to take the responsibility of connecting to the wireless networks away from the macs–let the base station connect to the wireless network, and the macs connect via ethernet. Before attempting this, you would want to ensure that the IPSec works properly when these machines are connected over ethernet.

You can also tweak the /System/Library/StartupItems to ensure that the dependencies are setup correctly for your situation.

With respect to the MAC addresses not showing up–if it’s not the fact that it’s a different subnet, then the IPSec will definitely filter it out. The IPSec is just using IP–the MAC addresses are on a lower layer than IP and thus are no longer needed when you are doing IP routing.

These are just a few things that come to mind–it may not even be remotely helpful.

[Detrius]

You mean OS X Server essentials, I assume–the second test for ACTC?

Study up on what OS X Server CAN do, rather than how to do it. Study the Windows stuff and the Web Server stuff–like realms. You need to know what the requirements are for installing OS X Server on a machine. You also need to know precisely which Macs support Netboot 2 (the question about this doesn’t specify, but it’s asking for Netboot 2).

Of course, check out the study guides Apple released. Of course you need to know HOW to do the stuff, but not for the test. It asks what you can and cannot do.

[Detrius]

I looked through /etc/postfix/ and also didn’t see anything to change the port, as I’ve been curious about this as well. The smtpd does not appear to be part of xinetd.

[Detrius]

Have you tried logging in as root? Have you tried SSHing in as root? How long are you waiting for SSH? Note that root is not defined in open directory, and root’s home folder is on your boot drive.

Try running DiskWarrior instead of just fsck. Note that overlapped files/extents are a very bad thing that fsck can’t fix and that DiskWarrior only attempts. Try running Tech Tool Pro’s hard drive tests–the surface scan more specifically. Run the Apple Hardware Test that came with the machine.

In general, issues are not likely to be hardware, but if you can’t figure out what is going on, it’s good to get the hardware checks out of the way; if you find bad hardware, no amount of software troubleshooting is going to permanently resolve your issues.

[Author]

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