Although you can hit Command-K to access the Connect to Server dialog box in the Finder, if you're not in the Finder, you need to first switch to it. This hint will create an application that can be stored on your desktop, in your dock, in DragThing, DropDrawers, etc., making Connect to Server accessible from anywhere without the need to first activate the Finder.

Open Script Editor (in your Utilities folder) and type in this program:

 tell application "Finder"
   open location (choose URL showing File servers with editable URL)
 end tell

Save it as an application on the desktop, or wherever. I even copied the "Network" icon from the left most finder column view pane and pasted it over the new app's icon, and named the app "Connect to Server".

Even more interesting, if you remove the "showing file servers" portion of the second line, then you get a new pop-up menu in the dialog. This pop-up menu lists all possible types of connections, which is pretty interesting in itself!

This is a set of directions for anyone wanting to set up a wireless network which includes non-Aiport PowerBooks (Note: this works for any PowerBook with CardBus). Instructions:

1. Check the FAQ on wirelessdriver.sourceforge.net to find a PC Card for the PowerBook
   
2. Get an 802.11b WiFi certified base station and configure it to share your Internet connection --or-- put an Airport card in an available Internet-wired desktop and configure it to share the connection using the Airport card (in System Preferences under Sharing in the Internet tab).
   
3. Install the driver from the sourceforge site on the PowerBook and install the PC Card
   
4. Configure the PowerBook to connect via Airport using DHCP

You should now have your wireless network working.

[Editor's note: I haven't tested these instructions myself ... we've run other hints pointing at the sourceforge project site, but not with a set of instructions on how to use it.]

A recent hint here explained how to enable NAT on boot, but this one enables Apple's actual Internet Sharing option from the Sharing panel during startup. Here's what you need to do.

[Editor's note: I have not tested this myself ... and yes, it's distinct from the above referenced hint. That hint launched NAT at startup, the command-line version of internet sharing; this hint enables Apple's version, which apparently has some differences according to the comments to the first hint.]

It seems to be a good idea to make NFS mounts soft and interruptible on OS X. If a server disappears, or you disconnect your laptop, your machine is royally screwed if you touch a hard mounted file system. Finder will lock up waiting for a response from the server, and you will lose the ability to launch new programs via Finder, you won't be able to unmount, and you won't be able to reboot (even with /sbin/halt).

So I use the automounter and specify the -i and -s flags to enable interruptible and soft mounts. This solution may not save you from the Finder locking up (you'll have to wait for the soft timeout), but if you have Terminal running, you can terminate stalled programs, such as the Finder.

But I discovered a memory of sorts in the kernel ... mounts once mounted as hard mounts will not demonstrate the behavior of interruptible or soft mounts when remounted. A reboot is required. Umounting and then remounting does not prove sufficient.

Did you know rsync is available under Mac OS X 10.2? Cool, now you can remotely mirror directories rather than using rcp or scp. rsync can be tunneled over ssh, making it as secure as scp. I'll not go into that for this hint; you'll need to get the general idea first.

Scenario
As a Solaris admin, I have a hardware failover server, and I need to mirror the web_site directory from the primary to secondary server. I use rsync running as a daemon on the "server" to mirror (synchronize) the secondary client. I do this via a cron job at midnight, so I'm never more than 24 hours behind.

One of the first things I tried to do under OS X 10.2 Jaguar was to configure my HP Laserjet 6L, which was connected through an HP JetDirect Print Server. This printer does not support Postscript, and does not appear in the printer list in the Printer Center application. Attempts to print to it failed miserably, resulting in postscript formatting commands appearing on the printer.

Thankfully, Jaguar implements Common UNIX Printing System (CUPS). The solution was readily apparent after reading a few pages of the CUPS system admin guide from the CUPS System Administation Manual on my Mac. The solution was to delete the printer from the Print Center application, and add it from the terminal application. In my case, I typed the following command from the terminal application:

 % sudo lpadmin -p laserjet6L -E -v socket:192.168.0.100
   -m laserjet.ppd

[Shown on two lines; enter on one with a space between the "100" and the "-m".] Not only does the printer now work (no more PostScript garbage), but it shows up in the Print Center as laserjet6L instead of the default _192.168.0.100 name it was assigned when I tried to add it from the GUI.

[Editor's note: Regarding CUPS printing hints, my general approach is to publish as many hints on the subject as possible, given the wide range of printers and connection options available. So apologies if this one is a dup that slipped through my searching. I also haven't tested it as I don't have a non-PostScript printer to test with.]

If you're a UNIX user before Mac, then you'll probly know this hint and say this lame, and if you're a Mac Only user you'll (hopefully) say "Wow, that's cool!"

OK picture this. I've been working all night long on a PowerPoint Presentation on my desktop at home. In the morning, I pick up my trusty iBook and go to the office ready for my presentation, but I find that I forgot to copy the file to the laptop!

I don't shutdown my desktop at home, and my internet connection is always on. I also allow SSH (secure shell) connections through my firewall, and my Mac has the "Remote Login" option ticked in the sharing prefs (which enables SSH). So I open up my laptop at work, connect to the office network, then open up Terminal and type:

 % scp zed@192.9.200.1:/Users/zed/Documents/MySlides.ppt .

Note that the above is all one line, and don't forget the fullstop on the end.

Basically, this command (scp = secure copy; type 'man scp' for more information) uses the SSH tunnel (encrypted) to make a connection to my system at home (192.9.200.1) and login as zed. It asks for my password and then downloads that file I specify. I have to know the path but I could ssh in first to check that out. The fullstop at the end says "save the file here," so that's where ever you are in the directory when you issue the command.

You can also run the command the other way around to copy a file from your local system to the remote:

 % scp MySlides.ppt zed@192.9.200.1:/Users/zed/Documents/

It's also worth noting that if your user names are the same on the remote system and the local system, then you do not need to type zed@192.9.200.1 but rather you can just type 192.9.200.1. Replace these numbers with your home machine's IP address, of course.

All the data transfered this way is encrypted and means that you do not have to run web servers or FTP servers which are not secure!

On OS X 10.2 (Jaguar), you can access a printer that has been shared on a Windows computer. Just follow these steps:

1. Launch Print Center
   
2. Hold down the Option key while clicking the Add button (in the Printer List window)
   
3. Select Advanced from the first pop-up menu.
   
4. Pick "Windows Printer via SAMBA" in the "Device" pop-up menu.
   
5. Enter whatever you want in "Device Name"
   
6. Enter the URI in "Device URI". The syntax is: smb://Server Name/Share Name
   
7. Pick the printer vendor from the Printer Model pop-up menu, and the subsequent model.

You should be good to go! You may, however, also need to download printer drivers from Gimp-Print.

[Editor's note: My apologies if this is a duplicate; I thought we had run something similar recently, but can't find anything in the archives...]

I'm working on a Mac OS X port of SystemImager, an automated software installation and distribution tool.

The first thing I needed was a configurable DHCP server that supports NetBooting.
I suspect bootp (aka DHCP) on Mac OS X Server does this, but I've never been able to figure out how to create statically assigned IP addresses assigned by MAC address. Gave up and replaced the built in bootp with the standards-based dhcpd from ISC, modified to support NetBoot, configured to sit cozy on Mac OS X.

Below are the directions, for anyone that might find it useful.

[Editor's note: I have not tested this hint myself, as it's well beyond my skill set! However, I don't see anything malicious in the script, and it might prove useful to some of you, so here it is...]

I was continually frustrated with SMB in OS X 10.2. It is extremely unreliable, crashes the Finder, and times out for large files. So, I found the simple solution, both of which I think also work in 10.1: use FTP Access or Personal Web Sharing (Apache). In the Sharing system prefs pane, check one of them.

If you use Personal Web Sharing, put the files you want to transfer in ~/Sites, then on the Windows machine, go to http://ip/~shortusername/ to access your files. If you want to do bidirectional transfers (i.e., from Windows to Mac and vice versa), use FTP Access. On the Windows machine, connect to the Mac using your short username and password.

Using either method, you can only browse your home directory, but that's where you should be storing documents and such anyway. If you're concerned about security, use something like Norton Personal Firewall (I use it on my iBook because I use multiple wireless networks).

I'm now happily transferring files at 600 KB/sec over Airport to Windows after struggling for weeks with Samba!