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 • mac-osx

• Installing Tomcat 6.0.18 on OS X
  1. Make Java 1.5 (or later) the default JRE
  2. Get the core distribution from http://tomcat.apache.org/ At the time of this writing that would be: apache-tomcat-6.0.18.tar.gz
  3. Unpacking will create a apache-tomcat-6.0.18 folder, probably on your desktop. Move this folder into /usr/local, like this:
     
     sudo mv ~/Desktop/apache-tomcat-6.0.18 /usr/local/
  4. To make it easy to replace this release with future releases, we are going to create a symbolic link that we are going to use when revering to Tomcat:
     
     sudo ln -s /usr/local/apache-tomcat-6.0.18 /Library/Tomcat
  5. Next step is making Tomcat's launch and stop scripts executable:
     chmod ug+x /Library/Tomcat/bin/*.sh

  
  
• iPhone 2.0 (5A347)
  While the iPhone OS version 2.0.1 is rumored already, I installed the latest build of the 2.0 version this morning. Like AppleInsider has reported in some detail, the build number of the OS that is originally deployed on the device suggests that it is two builds behind of what is available using the restore process through iTunes.

  
  
• WWDC 2008
  Sitting in a hotel, downtown San Fran., after day one of Apple's WWDC 2008, where some news were announced today.
  I guess, when it comes to evaluating today's day, it all depends on where you stay and what your focus is. If you were looking for a 2nd generation iPhone, then maybe the announced, $199 8GB iPhone 2.0 was the most important news of the day. However, I don't think you will saving any money. ATT is subsidizing the iPhone even more now, but will also raise your monthly fees to $79 per month.
  

  
  
• Installing WebSphere Community Edition on Mac OS X revisited
  Almost two years back, Olexiy Prokhorenko blogged in his SILENT WORDS blog about how to put WAS CE on Mac OS X (PowerPC). Not all that much has changed since then. However, after downloading the WebSphere Application Server Community Edition 2.0, here are the updated steps I took, to get it installed on Mac OS X 10.5.2:
  

  
  
• Enabling PHP 5.2.5 on Mac OS X 10.5.2 [Client]
  Getting the pre-complied PHP Apache Module from Marc Liyanage's site was always the preferred way to get a fresh PHP distribution on your Mac. However, creating 4-way binaries (32- and 64-bit versions for G4/G5 and Intel CoreDuo / Core-2-Duo processors) seems to be broken and if Apache is running in the more efficient 64-bit mode, installing the PHP module not only doesn't work, it will also break Apache. However, there is an easier way to get PHP working with your Apache Server on the Mac.

  
  
• Running MySQL 5.1 on Mac OS X 10.5.2 [Client]
  Mac OS X 10.5 Server comes with the MySQL pre-installed. However, the database server doesn't ship with the client version of OS X 10.5 Leopard, which most of us Mac users run. Here are the notes I took, putting MySQL 5.1 on a 2 GHz Intel Core Duo based iMac (none 64 bit) running OS X 10.5.2 (Client)

  
  
• Carlsbad, California is getting an Apple Store

  If Job postings on Apple's Job site as well as on Craigslist can be trusted as an indicator then The Forum in Carlsbad California is the location of a soon to be opened new Apple retail store.

  • Apple Retail - Mac Genius - Forum at Carlsbad (Carlsbad, CA)
  • Apple Retail - Creative - Forum at Carlsbad (Carlsbad, CA)
  • Apple Retail Sales - Forum at Carlsbad (Carlsbad, CA)
  • Apple Retail - Inventory Control Specialist - Forum at Carlsbad (Carlsbad, CA)
  • Apple Retail - Store Management - Forum at Carlsbad (Carlsbad, CA)

  
  
• Simply auto-mount Network Shares at Mac OSX startup, or even simpler at login
  
  Assuming you wanted to mount a share named 'Devel' on a Windows box named 'denali', like cifs://denali/Devel. You would first test this via Cmd-K and then

  1. open NetInfo Manager, which lives in Application/Utilities
  2. click the lock to be able to make changes
  3. click on mounts
  4. click on New in the Toolbar
  5. click on the entry in the lower frame and start adding row, by clicking New again
  6. Create the following name value pairs:
     1. name - denali:/Devel
     2. vfstype - url
     3. dir - /Network/devel
     4. opts - url==smb://<your_username>:<your-password>@denali/DEVEL

  
  An alternative way to mount a share-point for the faint of heart, those who don't want to get into NetInfo Manager, would be to:

  1. Simply mount the volume using Cmd-K and save the username and password you use in your keychain.
  2. Open System Preferences -> Accounts.
  3. Select Login Items tab and drag the volume into the dialog window.
  4. Now the volume mounts on login, when you have network connectivity (you get an error otherwise).

  
  

  
  
• Prevent OSX's .DS_Store file creation over network connections and other useful defaults
  
  

  .DS_Store

  This will affect the your interactions with SMB/CIFS, AFP, NFS, and WebDAV servers:

  1. Open the Terminal.
  2. Enter: defaults write com.apple.desktopservices DSDontWriteNetworkStores true
  3. Press Return.
  4. Restart the computer.

  
  
  

  Tweak Safari

  Don't have Safari display PDF documents, rather have them downloaded instead:

  1. Open the Terminal.
  2. Enter: defaults write com.apple.Safari WebKitOmitPDFSupport -bool YES
  3. Press Return.
  4. Open the QuickTime preference pane in System Preferences.
  5. Click the Advanced tab, and then MIME Settings...
  6. Under the Images list, make sure PDF Image is not checked.

  
  
  

  Logitech V270 Bluetooth Mouse Scaling

  1. Open the Terminal.
  2. Enter: defaults write -g com.apple.mouse.scaling 0.03
  3. Press Return.

  
  
  

  Optimize Apple Mail

  1. Quit Mail and open Terminal.
  2. Enter: cd ~/Library/Mail
  3. Press Return.
  4. Enter: sqlite3 Envelope\ Index
  5. Press Return, a sqlite> prompt will appear.
  6. Enter: vacuum subjects;
  7. Press Return.
  8. Press control D after the prompt appears.
  9. Restart Mail.

  
  
  

  Flush DNS cache

  • OSX 10.4:sudo lookupd -flushcache
  • OSX 10.5:dscacheutil -flushcache

  
  
  

  Get rid of goofy dock style in Leopard

  1. defaults write com.apple.dock no-glass -boolean YES
  2. killall Dock

  
  
  

  remove all .DS_Store files from your_dir

  • find your_dir -type f -name .DS_Store -print0 | xargs -0 rm

  
  
  

  show network traffic in terminal

  • sudo tcpdump -i en0 port 80

  
  
• Keys to press, when booting your Mac

  Booting a Mac

  1. Hold down the C key at startup to boot from a CD.
  2. Hold down the T key at startup to boot current Mac as a firewire drive on another Mac. Called Firewire Target Disk Mode.
  3. Command-S boots into Single-User mode.
  4. Command-V boots into Verbose mode, displaying all startup text.
     1. To be verbose at every bootup:
        $ sudo nvram boot-args="-v"
     2. To turn it off:
        $ sudo nvram boot-args=""
  5. Hold down the Shift key to boot into Safe Mode (or "Safe Boot"),
     suppressing all non-basic Kernel extensions ("Kexts"), plus /System/Library/StartupItems.
     If Journaling is not enabled, fsck will run. Journaling is enabled in the Disk Utility.
     If Journaling is enabled, fsck should not be run, since they can conflict.
     1. Kernel Extensions can cause conflicts. Command-drag stuff out of System/Library/Extensions. Command-dragging moves a file to the Desktop, whereas simple dragging just copies file to the Desktop.
  6. Hold down the left mouse button at boot to eject a CD from your drive, before booting the system.
  7. Hold down the Option key at boot to access the Startup manager, to select the OS.
  8. Shift-Option-Command-Q logs you out without prompting.
  9. Shift-Option-Command-Delete (above return key) will force your mac to boot from any drive other than the default. [Thanks to Andy @ Clinical Sciences Centre (CSC)]
  10. If the Mac won't boot, hold down the X key until you see the OSX logo, to boot from the internal drive.
  11. Zap the Pram by holding down Command-Option-P-R at bootup until the Mac chimes 3 times.
  12. You can boot from the OSX Install-disk, launch Disk Utility, click First Aid, then Repair Permissions.
  13. You can hold down the Shift key when logging into a user account, and wait for the Desktop to appear, suppressing the Login items.
  14. If the Mac is set up to boot into your account automatically, hold down the Shift key right after the bluescreen OSX logo appears. This will bypass Safe-boot and force the Login window to appear, as opposed to bypassing it automatically, like normal.
  15. When you boot up, you can enter >console as the username and no password and then hit the Login button, you'll entering a text-only mode, and presented with another login prompt. Type reboot to re-enter the GUI mode.

  
  
• End of the Year Backup
  Since most documents and source file or also stored in a VCS like SubVersion or sit on my ISP's server or the iDisk, like probably most of us, I'm not too meticulously when it comes to backing up my stuff.
  Still backups are required once in a while so I did one last weekend.
  

  Maintain several iTunes Libraries on one Mac

  I like to keep PodCast and my music separated in different iTunes Libraries. Libra a Shareware tool Steve Roy has created, http://homepage.mac.com/sroy/libra allows conveniently to switch between iTunes libraries.
  

  iTunes Library Backup

  I haven't found the perfect way to backup my iTunes libraries but here is how I usually do this:
  In iTunes Pref. Advanced, I change the burning preferences from Audio CD to Data DVD.
  Then I create a new playlist and drag the whole Library into the playlist and click burn.
  This will not backup all the meta data, or album art, but at least all the audio files are stored on one or more DVDs.
  

  iPhoto Library Backup

  To backup an iPhoto Library is much easier, I just needed to burn my iPhoto Library Folder to a DVD, which fortunately did fit on a single disk.
  
  The other folder that is worth backing-up was my user folder of course ...
  Make a backup once in while, you will be glad you did!

  
  
• Mac Mini, the SubVersion Server, revisited
  I finally upgraded my Apple Developer Connection (ADC) Membership to a Select Membership, which comes with the benefit of getting access to Apple software like Mac OS X Server v10.4.
  
  [Related blog entry: Mac Mini, the perfect Project Automation Server]
  
  So I spent last weekend installing OSX Server on the Mac Mini and making it a SubVersion Server. OSX Server come with some cool admin. tools but everything I'm showing here, works on the regular OS X 10.4 Tiger install as well. Therefore, if you want to install SubVersion on your Mac or just want to know how it can be done, follow along.

  
  
• Mac Mini, the perfect Project Automation Server
  So I couldn't resist and shortly after Apple had lowered the price for memory and hard drive upgrades just a bit I put my order in. I bought the 1.25GHz Mac Mini configuration with memory and hard drive capacity doubled. And against the current trend, I'm not going to use the Mini as a domestic media server but as a development and project automation server instead.
  
  The Mini came with OSX 10.3 pre-installed - still the 10.4 Tiger Upgrade DVD was part of the package and a clean install took approximately 40 minutes. Ever since the OS install, the Mini runs pretty much "headless". SSH and once in a while ARD (Apple Remote Desktop) and Chicken of the VNC client make this easily possible.
  

  
  
• Motorola v551 really does iSync with Mac OS X 10.4 via Bluetooth
  OK, after upgrading to OS X 10.4 Tiger, I was quite disappointed to still not be able to synchronize (via Bluetooth) my Motorola v551 with the OS X address book.However, after reading a lot of entries on OSX as well Motorola message boards I finally got it to work.
  
  

  
  
• Create an iPoster with 98 of your Best Photos
  A few weeks ago Mike explained on his blog how to use iPhoto5 and PhotoShop to create a cool 20x30 inch poster built out of 98 of his photos. I read it but since I neither have PhotoShop nor iPhoto 5 yet, I forgot about it until last weekend, when I tried to get something like this done with just OSX 10.x and iPhoto 4.
  
  The result is amazing, using Ofoto or iPhoto's built-in "Order Prints" function, you end up with a 20x30 inch poster consisting of 98 of your photos for just $22.99.