Tag: apple remote desktop

Apple Software Update Server – Client configuration

To switch a Mac client from collecting its updates from Apple to your Software Update Server then you will need to apply the following to the client machines

Open Terminal and paste the following text into it

For 10.7

sudo defaults write /Library/Preferences/com.apple.SoftwareUpdate CatalogURL http://YOURSERVERNAMEHERE:8088/index-lion-snowleopard-leopard.merged-1.sucatalog

if running from Apple Remote Desktop then you can send the following UNIX command as root user

defaults write /Library/Preferences/com.apple.SoftwareUpdate CatalogURL http://YOURSERVERNAMEHERE:8088/index-lion-snowleopard-leopard.merged-1.sucatalog

For 10.6

sudo defaults write /Library/Preferences/com.apple.SoftwareUpdate CatalogURL http://YOURSERVERNAMEHERE:8088/index-leopard-snowleopard.merged-1.sucatalog

or if running from ARD then you can send the following as root user

defaults write /Library/Preferences/com.apple.SoftwareUpdate CatalogURL http://YOURSERVERNAMEHERE:8088/index-leopard-snowleopard.merged-1.sucatalog

For 10.5

sudo defaults write /Library/Preferences/com.apple.SoftwareUpdate CatalogURL http://YOURSERVERNAMEHERE:8088/

again if running from ARD then you can send the following as root user

defaults write /Library/Preferences/com.apple.SoftwareUpdate CatalogURL http://YOURSERVERNAMEHERE:8088/

To confirm that this has worked, run Software Update on the client and it should add your servers name to the window during the check for updates.

To remove a machine from a local ASUS and collect updates from Apple again then type the following into the Terminal

sudo defaults delete /Library/Preferences/com.apple.SoftwareUpdate CatalogURL

or if running from ARD then do the following as root user

defaults delete /Library/Preferences/com.apple.SoftwareUpdate CatalogURL

Change passwords from the command line

If you believe that your admin password has been compromised then it is always a good idea to change it, the dilemma is, if you have the same password for hundreds of machines, then it will be quite a hassle to go round to them all and change it, so you have 2 options

1. Invest in Apple Remote Desktop (ARD) to manage your machines.
2. SSH into all machines and change them that way.

I have ARD, so I will guide you through using that, the solution is in essence the same for either option, it’s just a hell of a lot quicker with ARD.

First, you need to select all the machines you wish to make the amendment on, then, you need to select the Send Unix Task option, you will want to run this as root, so select that option, then type the following into the command window

dscl . -passwd /Users/USERNAME PASSWORD

change USERNAME for the short name of the account you wish to change the password of, and swap PASSWORD for the new password, if you don’t set a new password then it will blank the password and then you will need to set a new one the next time you log in

One downside to this timesaving tip is that the next time you log in to the machines, you will need to have knowledge of the old password, so you can unlock the login keychain for that account.

When using this via SSH, you will need to sudo, otherwise it will fail.

And it goes without saying that this should NEVER be attempted on an account that has been filevault encrypted!