Archive for the ‘MacOSX’ Category
Well, we got our new XServe, but after that, I discovered that it doesn’t have any video card. So… how can I complete installation process?
Reading XServe User Guide, Chapter 2: Starting Up the Xserve, Local and Remote Software Setup, it explains we can configure and install server by different ways:
- Screen Sharing: No way, it doesn’t work at the beginning
- Server Assistant: No way, I can’t see anything without Video Card.
- Apple Remote Desktop: Ok, but I don’t want to pay for something that I don’t use frequently.
- VNC Viewer: No way, it isn’t installed on system, and i can’t activate it if i don’t run Screen Sharing Service
- Connect to the serial port on XServe: Yep, I tried to access to Xserve using serial port, but it didn’t work for me. I used XServe Setup Guide, and I noted Serial Port Specifications. We’ll need a 9-pin D connector, and connect that cable to us Macbook/iMac using a Serial-USB conventer. It will create a new device called /dev/ttyUSB0 o something like that. Late, we just open a Terminal (Applications->Terminal) and write screen /dev/ttyUSB0. But, as I said, it didn’t work for me.
Ok, now I repeat: How can I connect to the server to configure it?
Easy, you’ll need:
- Connect first network interface to your network, and ensure you have any dhcp service running on it.
- Wait for dhcp lease and note IP that Xserve has configured.
- Serial Number of your Xserve: From XServe User Guide: “Slide out the system information tag from the back panel by pulling the small tab.“
Next, access to the server using SSH: ssh root@ip_xserve , and enter Serial Number as password. Then, we’ll start Screen Sharing service:
/System/Library/CoreServices/RemoteManagement/ARDAgent.app/Contents/Resources/kickstart -activate -configure -access -on -users admin -privs -all -restart -agent -menu
Ok, now we have Screen Sharing service running and we can use VNC Viewer app to access to server. On linux:
vncviewer ip_xserve
It will ask for a password, and we’ll enter Serial Number. Finally, we could finish installation process.
After reboot, Screen Sharing services won’t start. We’ll access again trought SSH and execute last command:
/System/Library/CoreServices/RemoteManagement/ARDAgent.app/Contents/Resources/kickstart -activate -configure -access -on -users admin -privs -all -restart -agent -menu
But, now we’ll need a Mac OS X to connect to server, because on Linux i received errors like in this thread: http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=1912914. This is caused of VNC support isn’t activated running Apple Remote Desktop Agent.
So, using a Mac OS X, Finder->Go->Connect to Server and write vnc://ip_xserve. We could use root user with SerialNumber as password, or user created on Server Installation Assistant.
Enjoy 🙂
First, i’m sorry for the title, but…
- Have you ever had a coworker that deleted a directory or some files of a server?
- Have you ever had to reinstall a MaOSX Server caused of deleted files?
Well, that happened to me. Yesterday a coworker deleted /usr/bin folder content of MacOSX Server. I tried to copy files from my own Macbook… No! Failure!
Well, today, i waked up because of i had a dream repairing this problem. Has it ever happened to you?
Ok, let’s understood how can we recover those files. The shopping list is:
- MacOSX Server Installation DVD
- Pacifist: http://www.charlessoft.com/
- Macbook or other kind of computer with Mac OS
- 30 minutes
Install Pacifist, open Apple Install Disc, and search next packages:
- BSD.pkg
- BaseSystem.pkg
Inside them we’ll find /usr/bin folders. Just extract them to a directory on your Mac.
But, there is another problem, if we copy files using scp, we won’t copy them because of server doesn’t have /usr/bin/scp.
Ok, let’s copy scp to a http server and then download the file using Safari.
Copy it to /usr/bin and now, we could copy all files using scp.
Funny 😉