Mac – Mt Lion – Disable Notification Center

Posted on November 27, 2013 by

With Mt Lion, Apple introduced a unified notification center application that alerts you to a number of things like email, etc.  Unfortunately, it also alerts you to recommended system updates. All of this is unwanted on lab/classroom computers.

I have found that the best way to stop the notification center is to hide the application were it lives.  To hide things on Mac OS X, just like in unix, rename them to something that starts with a “.”  Therefore, in /System/Library/CoreServices rename  NotificationCenter.app to .NotificationCenter.app

This command may do the trick ….

sudo mv /System/Library/CoreServices/NotificationCenter.app /System/Library/CoreServices/.NotificationCenter.app

 

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Mac – Turn wireless on or off via command line

Posted on October 8, 2013 by

To control the network settings with the command line try:

networksetup -listnetworkserviceorder

Then:

To display current state of wireless:

networksetup -getairportpower <device name>

Or to turn wireless off or on:

networksetup -setairportpower <device name> <on off>

For a longer description of these see:

http://reviews.cnet.com/8301-13727_7-57566448-263/how-to-adjust-network-settings-in-os-x-via-the-command-line/

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Software – VectorWorks nethasp.ini network license file locations

Posted on August 26, 2013 by

For VectorWorks we use a “dongle” attached to a network license server.  To configure this on the clients use the “nethasp.ini” file pointed to our license server. That file needs to live in /etc on Macs and in the program directory on windows.  For more information see:

http://kbase.vectorworks.net/questions/469/NetHASP.ini+Configuration+Guide

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Kace – Windows software installs from Network Share

Posted on August 6, 2013 by

I had been testing using KACE to do software installs from it’s “alternative” download feature but it seemed easier just to run the software installs from a network file server …

Here is a process that is working for me ….

1) Copy the install files to \\kstore\apps (Gabe needs to give your AD account write permission to that share.)

2) Write a batch file that mounts that network share and runs the installer … an example using Sophos 10 is below.

3) Distribute that batch file with Kace a file distributionto a known location on the target computer and then call that batch file with a Kace Script.  (One may be able to combine these two steps into one …)

@echo off
rem network file server sophos 10 install - Lynna Jackson, Williams College, 2012

rem mount network file share read-only 
rem using the IP numeric address seems faster, replace XXXX with real pword
net use s: \\137.165.4.80\apps /user:kstore\kuser XXXX

rem run sophos install in silent mode
s:\sophos10\sophos10\setup.exe -s -updp http://sophos.williams.edu/SophosUpdate/CIDs/S027/SAVSCFXP/

rem wait awhile so that sophos has a chance to update
ping 127.0.0.1 -n 360 >nul

rem dismount the network drive
net use s: /delete
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Mac – Startup – GUI to create and edit plist startup files for launchdeamons

Posted on July 30, 2013 by

Using Lingo version 2.1.1 I am able to use a GUI to create a plist file to allow something to run at a specified time on a Mac.  I tested this on Mac OS 10.8.4 to great a plist file to run at startup to set the screen resolution with cscreen.  It worked great.  You do have to lower the security preferences to allow applications from anywhere to allow Lingo to run.  There is a newer version of this available from the app store which my be worth the money …

With FileEventer I can watch where the plist file gets saved.  In my case test, setting screen resolution with the application cscreen at boot time, the plist file was saved to:

/Library/LaunchDeamons

I was then able to copy the saved plist file to other macs.

See the longish blog posting on this at:

http://blog.aitrus.com/2012/12/20/a-gui-utility-to-view-edit-agents-daemons-for-os-x-peter-borgs-lingon/

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Mac – Adding/Changing an icon for a file or folder

Posted on July 18, 2013 by

This is so easy that I forget how to do it !!!

Cut and paste your image onto the icon in the top left hand corner of the “Get Info” window for a file or folder.

For an example and for reference see:

http://www.maclife.com/article/howtos/how_create_your_own_custom_desktop_icons_mac_os_x

 

 

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Mac – Add Login items – Startup programs for all user

Posted on June 28, 2013 by

On the mac to have an application start automatically for all users add the application to the file “loginwindow.plist” in /Library/Preferences.

An example:

<?xml version=”1.0″ encoding=”UTF-8″?>
<!DOCTYPE plist PUBLIC “-//Apple//DTD PLIST 1.0//EN” “http://www.apple.com/DTDs/PropertyList-1.0.dtd”>
<plist version=”1.0″>
<dict>
<key>AutoLaunchedApplicationDictionary</key>
<array>
<dict>
<key>Hide</key>
<false/>
<key>Path</key>
<string>/Applications/PCClient.app</string>
</dict>
</array>
</dict>
</plist>

For details see:

https://sites.google.com/site/selkirkitknowledgebase/home/mac-os-x/startup-item-for-all-users

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Software – SPSS – Installer Blank Screen

Posted on June 26, 2013 by

There appears to be an incompatibly between some installers, like SPSS, and Java version 1.6.0_51.  The symptom is a blank screen when running the installer. Manually updating Java is the suggested fix.

For details see the link at: http://www-01.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=swg21641495

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Software – SPSS 20 Silent Install on Mac

Posted on June 26, 2013 by

Instructions for running the silent install on a mac are at:

http://www-01.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=swg21515821

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