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Disable Office v.X network serial number check
Authored by: voldenuit on Jan 20, '06 11:52:29AM

The only way to automatically include a firewall rule to stop Office from broadcasting packets we don't want to see on the network so far were written in Applescript and required to store the admin password in cleartext in the script if you don't want the user to type it in on every restart.

That didn't quite fit my idea of elegance and security.

For machines running Tiger, the solution is quite simple:
create the file

/etc/rc.local :

#!/bin/sh

# block serial check for M$ Office:

/sbin/ipfw add 0 deny udp from any to any 2222

and it works beautifully.

It should be owned by root and be executable:

sudo chown root:wheel /etc/rc.local
sudo chmod 755 /etc/rc.local

For Panther, I've created a system-wide StartupItem.

In case someone wants to do the same, I've put the whole thing here as a file attachment in this thread in the forums:

http://forums.macosxhints.com/showthread.php?t=50342

It contains two files:


/Library/StartupItems/Office_fix/Office_fix

#!/bin/sh

# block serial check for M$ Office:

/sbin/ipfw add 0 deny udp from any to any 2222


/Library/StartupItems/Office_fix/StartupParameters.plist

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<!DOCTYPE plist PUBLIC "-//Apple Computer//DTD PLIST 1.0//EN" "http://www.apple.com/DTDs/PropertyList-1.0.dtd">
<plist version="1.0">
<dict>
<key>Description</key>
<string>Office_fix</string>
<key>Messages</key>
<dict>
<key>start</key>
<string>Starting Office_fix</string>
<key>stop</key>
<string>Stopping Office_fix</string>
</dict>
<key>OrderPreference</key>
<string>Last</string>
<key>Provides</key>
<array>
<string>Office_fix</string>
</array>
<key>Requires</key>
<array>
<string>NetworkExtensions</string>
</array>
</dict>
</plist>

File ownership and permissions are the same as for the rc.local file.



[ Reply to This | # ]
Disable Office v.X network serial number check
Authored by: jarrellgriarte on Feb 12, '06 09:34:54AM

Would it be possible to tell me step by step how to do this? I'm fairly new to Mac.

How do you create a file under /etc and what programs are used.
I am assuming the following lines are written in Terminal

sudo chown root:wheel /etc/rc.local
sudo chmod 755 /etc/rc.local

but where to these lines get written?

#!/bin/sh

# block serial check for M$ Office:

/sbin/ipfw add 0 deny udp from any to any 2222


I wrote them in text editor and tried to save it under /etc/rc.local but I received a message saying I cannot modify the folder.

I would like to be able to understand my mac a little more and would appreciate any help.

Thanks



[ Reply to This | # ]
Disable Office v.X network serial number check
Authored by: boydwick on Jan 03, '07 04:05:06PM
To make the file in terminal, type the following one line at a time (<return> means hit the return key) at the command line:

cd /etc <return>
sudo vi rc.local <return>

At this point you will be asked for your administrative password. Type it in and hit the <return> key.

Once the file is open, hit the <i> key on your keyboard and paste or type in the following (provided in voldenuit's post above):

#!/bin/sh

# block serial check for M$ Office:

/sbin/ipfw add 0 deny udp from any to any 2222

When you have finished pasting or typing them in, hit the <esc> key on your keyboard followed by the <shift> <:>, <w>, and <q> keys, then hit <return>.


Make sure to set the file ownership and permissions as voldenuit suggests by typing in the following one at a time followed by a <return>:

sudo chown root:wheel /etc/rc.local <return>

sudo chmod 755 /etc/rc.local <return>

That should do it.

You probably don't want to enable the root user in terminal for any of this, but just in case:

http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=106290

For help learning commands for the basic shell editor "vi":

http://www.cs.colostate.edu/helpdocs/vi.html


[ Reply to This | # ]
Disable Office v.X network serial number check
Authored by: apfhex on Jun 09, '08 02:08:08PM

I know this is an old hint but I am in a situation where I'm still using Office v.X and voldenuit's + boydwick's posts where fantastic in resolving this issue.



[ Reply to This | # ]