Although xRAID has been discontinued by Apple, enterprise infrastructure will continue to support the once popular storage solution for many years to come.  RAID Admin is a Mac OS X Server application used to administer and control xRAID.  The user interface was designed to easily navigate between specific set of operations.  In this article, I’m going to highlight the key operations of RAID Admin and show you how easily and quickly RAID can be configured for your environment.

Monitor the status of arrays, drives, components, fibre channels, network, and events/ logs.  The xServe on the example above has 2 arrays with RAID 5 configuration.  The first drive on second array is designated as a spare.  If one of the drive fails, the distributed parity in RAID 5 configuration will automatically be written to the spare drive.

To create an array, choose a RAID Level and select drives to be included in the array.  For additional information on RAID Level, please refer to Article #30 What is RAID?

To delete array, select the array.  Deleting array will result to data loss.  Take extreme caution when deleting an array.

Configure network addressing, fibre channel, and performance for RAID controllers in Settings.

Following operations are available in Utilities.  If array integrity verification detects problem, use the rebuild function to rebuild the parity data.

Slice or expand an existing array to manage storage capacity within Advanced option.

Note: There is an email link embedded within this post, please visit this post to email it.

Font Agent Pro is by far the most advanced font manging solution for enterprise networks.   From the support and administrative aspect, Font Agent Pro Server provides single point of administration to easily manage fonts across the organization.  Enterprise users on Open/Active Directory can seamlessly be integrated without the need of any additional configurations.  From the administrative management console:
users and groups can be synchronized from the Workgroup Manager,
fonts can be assigned into multiple libraries for organization,
track font licenses and purchase histories,
and monitor font usage.
The illustrations below highlight key features built-in to Font Agent Pro Server.

From the Workgroup Manager of Mac OS X server, assign Open/Active Directory users into member groups.  New font users can be added in from the Workgroup Manager.

Install Font Agent Pro Server software on the server.  Enter client and server licenses in the Licenses tab.  Start the server.

From any client computers, Font Agent Pro can be administered by logging in with administrator account.

Anytime changes are made to Workgroup Manager, Directory Services will need to be synchronized for changes to reflect immediately.

Fonts can be assigned into multiple Libraries to organize and categorize its collections.

Assign Libraries to the group of users.  Individual Groups will only have access to fonts defined in the Libraries.

When user logs in for the first time, they are prompted to download assigned Libraries.  Anytime fonts/Libraries are added or removed from the Group, users will be prompted with the update screen.

Note: There is an email link embedded within this post, please visit this post to email it.

Airpwn

Download Airpwn 1.4 to use the config files.  Custom config files can also be created but for instructional purpose, I will use the pre-configured config files with moderate changes of my own.

Extract the downloaded Airpwn 1.4 package.

List the directory of the root with ls command.  Change the directory to airpwn-1.4 folder with cd airpwn-1.4 command.

List the directory of airpwn-1.4 folder with ls command.
From the current directory, run the following command to execute the attack: airpwn -c conf/greet_html -i wlan0 -d r8180 -vvv -k 12:34:56:78:90
airpwn is the application
-c conf/greet_html is the location of the configuration file.
-i wlan0 is the interface to listen, control, and inject with.
-d r8180 is the driver used for the wlan0 interface.  Alfa AWUS036H wireless adapter use r8180 driver from Airpwn.
-vvv increase verbosity by three times.
-k 12:34:56:78:90 is the WEP key of the wireless network used to de/encryption packets.  For publice WiFi with no encryption, this command can be disregarded.

When targeted clients try to visit any website, Airpwn will inject the custom content specified from configuration file.

For additional, please visit the documentation and manual page.

Note: There is an email link embedded within this post, please visit this post to email it.

Tetherberry

Download and install TetherBerry to your computer by clicking on the link of your operating system:
Windows Version (7 Day Trial)
Mac OS X Leopard (Free Beta)

Download TetherBerry application from your BlackBerry by opening the following URL:
http://tetherberry.com/d/tetherberry.jad

Disable all network connections and run TetherBerry on computer and BlackBerry. When TetherBerry application is launched on the phone, you will be prompted with connection to use. Try Default connection first as this works for most of the users. If you are have problems connecting, change the setting through the menu to Direct, as this is the next best option for most people. As a final resort, use the BES/MDS option.

Connect the BlackBerry to your computer. If you have a password set on your BlackBerry the software on the computer will prompt for that password. You only have 10 attempts! After successful longon, you should now be able to browse the web. Please turn off any bandwidth consuming applications like BitTorrent to ensure high speeds.

Note: There is an email link embedded within this post, please visit this post to email it.

Install Steghide on BackTrack 4

The sender embed the file secret.txt in the cover file of images.jpeg
steghide is the steganography program
embed is to embed secret data in a cover file to create steganography
-cf is the cover file which must be in one the following formats: AU, BMP, JPEG, or WAV
images.jpeg is the cover file which is used to embed data
-ef is the embed file which contains the secret file
secret.txt is the secret text file which will be embedded into images.jpeg file

The recipient extracts the file secret.txt from the cover file images.jpeg
steghide is the steganography program
extract is to extract secret data from cover file
-sf is stego file that contains embedded file
images.jpeg is the cover file which is used to embed data

For additional documentation, please refer to the man page.





Note: There is an email link embedded within this post, please visit this post to email it.

Osalt

The mission of Osalt.com is to provide easy access to high quality open source alternatives to well-known commercial products.  The categorized software directory lists open source alternatives by its function.  Unlike other sites, Osalt.com only lists open source alternatives to commercial software.

AlternativeTo

The mission of AlternativeTo is to help you find the right software for your computer or mobile phone.  Based on user recommendations, they list high quality open source and commercial software alternatives.  The site is categorized by operating systems and results can be filtered by license type.

Wakoopa

Wakoopa is more of a social network site to help people discover software, games, and web applications.  The site allows you to create your own software profile to share with others.  Large results can be filtered by source, platform, categories, license, price, and number of users.  Wakoopa is an excellent site to discover alternative software based on user recommendations and user attributed tags.

Requirements:
Java Runtime Enviroment v1.6.0 or higher
Adito Installer by Lars Werner

Select Create New Certificate.  Select Next.

Create a Passphrase to generate a certificate.  Select Next.

Complete the form.  Select Next.

Select Active Directory if Adito will integrate with Windows directory server.
Select Built-in if Adito will integrate with local database.

Complete the form to setup a Super User (Administrator account).  Select Next.

Port is 443 and Protocol is HTTPS for secure SSL connection.  Select Next.

Configure Proxy if needed.  For this example, Proxy will be disabled.

Review summary of settings and select Finish.

Select Next to install Adito as service.  As a default, Adito service will automatically be enable/started.

When setup is complete, open web browser and log-in to Adito with Super User account.  Use the localhost (127.0.0.1) address and accept the unsigned certificate to access the Adito management console.

Select Accounts from Access Control panel to create VPN user accounts.

Select Create Account from Actions (Right).

Complete the required entries and mark the Enabled check box.  Select Save.

Enter the password for the user.  Mark Force user to change password at next logon if needed.  Select Save.

Repeat the previous steps to create additional VPN user accounts.  When complete with user account setups, select SSL Tunnels from Resources panel.

Select Create Tunnel from Actions (Right).

Assign a name and description to the SSL Tunnel connection.  Mark Add to favorites check box.  Select Next.

Source Interface is 127.0.0.1
Assign any Source Port.
Destination Port is the IP address of the router/gateway.
Assign any Source Port.
Mark Auto. start check box.
Select Next when complete.

Add Everyone to Selected Policies column.  Select Next.

Review the summary and select Finish when complete.

When complete with SSL-Tunneling setup, select Network Places from Resources.

Select Create Network Place from Actions (Right).

Assign a name and description for network place.  Mark Add to favorites check box.  Select Next.

Select Type of share.  Enter the IP address of the Host computer.  Enter the Path of the share folder on Host computer.  Mark Show Folders check box.  Select Next.

Add Everyone to Selected Policies.  Select Next.  Review the summary and select Finish.

Port forwarding will need to be configured on the router.  Forward port 443 to the private IP of the computer hosting Adito.

Test connection from another network.  Open web browser and enter your public IP address followed by https://
Accept the certificate.

Authenticate with username and password.

Users are prompted with My Favorites screen of Network Drives and SSL Tunnel.

Note: There is an email link embedded within this post, please visit this post to email it.

Start by creating a base image of the client computer with applications, updates, and configurations which can be deployed to all computers on the network.  Additional packaged applications can later be installed with System Imaging Utility specific to groups or hardware requirements.  Image can be created using Disk Utility, NetRestore Helper, System Image Utility, and etc.

Once the base image has been successfully created, mount the disk image.

Depending on the image of the OS, download and install Server Admin Tool 10.5.7 or Server Admin Tool 10.6.

Launch System Image Utility from the default location of /Applications/Server/System Image Utility

Mounted base image will automatically be detected.  Select Customize button.

Read the software license agreement and select Agree.

Select and drag Add Packages and Post-Install Scripts to System Image Utility screen.  See image below.

Additional actions can be defined in the Workflow tailored to your organization’s need.

Add packaged application(s) into Add Packages and Post-Install Scripts.  Select the destination path to save the file.  Provide a Name, Volume Name, and Description of the image.  Finally select Run to start image creation process.

While NetInstall image is being created, Mac OS X server (10.5 Leopard Server) will need to be configured for NetBoot/NetInstall services. Open Server Admin and select a server that will host NetBoot/NetInstall service. From Settings icon, select Services tab. Activate NetBoot and NFS services by marking the checkbox. When complete, select Save.

Start the NFS service by selecting Start NFS from bottom-left corner.

NetBoot/NetInstall configuration requires multiple steps. From Settings icon, select General tab. Enable NetBoot on at least one port by marking the checkbox (most frequently Ethernet 1). Select where to put images and client data by marking the checkbox. Select Save when complete.

Before proceeding to the next step of NetBoot/NetInstall configuration, upload the completed NetInstall image onto the server hosting Netboot/NetInstall services in /Library/NetBoot/NetBootSP0.

Upon uploading the NetInstall image, navigate to Settings icon, Images tab. The NetInstall image will auto populate. Enable the NetInstall image by marking the checkbox. This disk image is only compatible with Intel machines, therefore, filter clients by selecting Edit icon (Pencil icon).

Filter clients by allowing all Intel based models and select OK. Make sure to select Save from Images.

Start the NetBoot server by selecting Start NetBoot from bottom-left corner. Mac OS X Server configuration for NetBoot/NetInstall services is complete.

To image client computers, boot off the NetInstall image from the server. From System Preferences/ Startup Disk, select the NetInstall image and Restart. Holding down the N key when booting will also boot the computer to NetInsall image.






Note: There is an email link embedded within this post, please visit this post to email it.

Entering nmap command outputs general usage information of the program.

Entering man nmap outputs 2,523 lines of in-depth reference guide for Nmap.

nmap 192.168.2.0/24 scans all 256 IP addresses on the subnet to output open ports/services and MAC address.

nmap -v -A 192.168.2.0/24
-v increases verbosity level
-A enables OS and version detection

nmap -sP 192.168.2.0/24 only lists IP and MAC addresses of all hosts on 192.168.2.0 subnet.

Zenmap is the GUI version of Nmap.  Specify the IP address range to scan and use the default command if unsure.
nmap is the network scanner program
-T4 speeds scanning process by applying aggressive mode
-A enables OS and version detection
-v increases verbosity level
-PE sends ICMP echo request packets and expects echo reply for host discovery
-PS22,25,80 attempts to establish connection on ports 22, 25, and 80 by sending TCP packets with SYN flag set
-PA21,23,80,3389 sends TCP packets with ACK flag set on ports 21, 23, 80, and 3389.  Using both -PS (SYN) and -PA (ACK) ping probe maximizes the chance of bypassing the firewall.
192.168.2.0/24 is the specified IP address range of 256 hosts on 192.168.2.0 subnet.

Note: There is an email link embedded within this post, please visit this post to email it.

Download and install Server Admin Tool 10.6 to your computer.

Configure a client computer with applications, updates, and preferences to the latest hardware available.  When complete, restart the computer in Target Disk Mode by navigating to System Preferences/Startup Disk or restart while holding down the T key.  Connect the client machine to your computer with a firewire 400 or 800 cable.

Launch System Image Utility to create a NetBoot image of the client computer displayed as a Firewire drive.  Select NetBoot Image and Continue.

Enter the name and description of the Network Disk.  Select Create when complete.

Read the software license agreement and select Agree.

Enter a name of the NetBoot image file and select Save when complete.

Authenticate with an Administrator account.

NetBoot image creation process takes approximately 30 minutes.

While NetBoot image is being created, Mac OS X server (10.5 Leopard Server) will need to be configured for NetBoot service.  Open Server Admin and select a server that will host NetBoot service.  From Settings icon, select Services tab.  Activate NetBoot and NFS services by marking the checkbox.  When complete, select Save.

Start the NFS service by selecting Start NFS from bottom-left corner.

NetBoot configuration requires multiple steps.  From Settings icon, select General tab.  Enable NetBoot on at least one port by marking the checkbox (most frequently Ethernet 1).  Select where to put images and client data by marking the checkbox.  Select Save when complete.

Before proceeding to the next step of NetBoot configuration, upload the completed NetBoot image onto the server hosting Netboot service in /Library/NetBoot/NetBootSP0.

Upon uploading the NetBoot image, navigate to Settings icon, Images tab.  The NetBoot image will auto populate.  Enable the NetBoot image by marking the checkbox.  Since Snow Leopard is only compatible with Intel machines, filter clients by selecting Edit icon (Pencil icon).

Filter clients by allowing all Intel based models and select OK.  Make sure to select Save from Images.

Start the NetBoot server by selecting Start NetBoot from bottom-left corner.  Mac OS X Server configuration for NetBoot service is complete.

Test NetBoot service by booting off the NetBoot image from the server.  From System Preferences/ Startup Disk, select the NetBoot image and Restart.  Holding down the N key when booting will also boot the computer to NetBoot image.






Note: There is an email link embedded within this post, please visit this post to email it.