ADPassMon updated to 1.4

This update makes ADPassMon compatible with Growl 1.3. If you’re still using an older version of Growl, you do not need this update, but it is also compatible with older versions of Growl.

Download version 1.4 here.

 

ADPassMon updated to 1.3

This minor update fixes an error that affects Macs with only one DNS server configured.

Download ADPassMon v1.3

ADPassMon and FileVault 2

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ADPassMon user Cesar Gonzalez sent me a nice note to let me know that Apple engineers suggested using ADPassMon to work around a problem he encountered after deploying FileVault 2. Due to the EFI boot authentication passthrough, his users are no longer notified of the pending password expirations at the login screen. Since ADPassMon runs after the login process, it works whether FileVault 2 is enabled or not.

Adding to ADPassMon’s feature list without any additional work seems like a big win to me. :) Thanks again, Cesar!

ADPassMon updated to v1.2

This minor update fixes a typo in a kerberos dialog box and a date calculation bug that affects Lion users in rare instances.

Grab the latest version here.

ADPassMon update for 32-bit support

A commenter requested a 32-bit version of ADPassMon so his older Intel Macs can run it. One quick setting change in Xcode and a short recompile later and it’s ready. Version 1.1 support both 32 and 64-bit Intel architectures.

I’ve updated the link on the ADPassMon page and you can download directly here.

Announcing ADPassMon

I just released my very first “real application” — written in that wonderful mashup language that is AppleScript ObjectiveC. ADPassMon is a menu bar app for Mac OS X 10.6 and higher — Lion, too — that monitors your Active Directory password’s age. It does a few more things that you may find useful. Please visit the product page for complete details and a download link.

RIP, Xserve

This picture attempts to capture the sturm und drang coming out of the Mac Enterprise IT community in the wake of Apple’s announcing the end of the Xserve.

Et tu, Mālum?

Just for fun: Forstall’s Eyes screensaver

Many people who’ve watched Apple’s iPad intro video have commented on a certain Apple employee’s eyes. The comments inspired me to create an animated Quartz Composer screensaver featuring him. The head wobbles, the eyes look back and forth, and Apple logos come streaming from behind his head. This still preview should give you a taste:

I can only hope the victim of this screensaver has a great sense of humor should he find out about this. :)

Click here to download your copy. (NOTE: This is an updated link and should work better than the last one.)

Print from Windows 7 to a Mac Shared Printer

I recently upgraded my wife’s laptop from Windows Vista to Windows 7 Home Premium. (The laptop manufacturer sent us a free upgrade coupon since we purchased it not too long before Windows 7 was released.) This morning she discovered that she can’t print to the Canon MP830 that is shared from the G5 Mac (running Mac OS X 10.5.8) in our living room. In Vista, I had it working via Bonjour. I’ve now learned a little too late that Bonjour doesn’t work in Windows 7. (see UPDATE) I googled for a solution, but all I was able to find was a bunch of other people complaining about the same thing: printing from Windows 7 to a printer shared from Mac OS X wasn’t working as it had been in Windows XP or Vista.

Not to worry, though. After about 30 minutes of trying various solutions and just poking around in Windows 7, I found that the solution is pretty simple. The following procedure assumes you already have Printer Sharing enabled on your Mac.

Configure Software iSCSI Load-balance Multipathing to vSphere Datastores

VMware vSphere 4 gives us the ability to actively use multiple iSCSI paths to reach a single LUN. You will need to use vSphere Client, your iSCSI storage management tools, and an ESX command-line interface (such as ssh, RCLI or vSphere Management Assistant) to get it working. This procedure can be used to add up to eight iSCSI paths per datastore, provided each path uses a unique physical NIC and that each physical NIC has a corresponding NIC on the iSCSI SAN side. In other words, setting up more paths on the VMware side than your iSCSI SAN can actually accommodate would be pointless.

This tutorial assumes that you are familiar with vSphere Client and can find your way around. Read on beyond the break.