Archive for the ‘Apple’ Category
Posted by jpluimers on 2019/07/29
logging – Where is “/var/log/messages” on mac-osx? – Server Fault
TL;DR: because most of it is in /var/log/system.log which is configured in /etc/asl.conf, but the documentation example about syslog.conf never got updated.
Long read
The example in syslog.conf is wrong at WayBack: Mac OS X Manual Page For syslog.conf(5) and man syslog.conf:
EXAMPLES
A configuration file might appear as follows:
...
# Log anything (except mail) of level info or higher.
# Don't log private authentication messages!
*.info;mail.none;authpriv.none /var/log/messages
...
FILES
/etc/syslog.conf The syslogd(8) configuration file.
It still is when writing this [WayBack]syslog.conf(5) Mac OS X Manual Page, so you have to look at /etc/syslog.conf on a live system:
# Note that flat file logs are now configured in /etc/asl.conf
install.* @127.0.0.1:32376
which means the actual configuration is in /etc/asl.conf:
# Rules for /var/log/system.log
> system.log mode=0640 format=bsd rotate=seq compress file_max=5M all_max=50M
? [= Sender kernel] file system.log
? [<= Level notice] file system.log
? [= Facility auth] [<= Level info] file system.log
? [= Facility authpriv] [<= Level info] file system.log
Documentation at [WayBack] asl.conf(5) Mac OS X Manual Page indicates this:
NAME
asl.conf -- configuration file for syslogd(8) and aslmanager(8)
DESCRIPTION
The syslogd(8) server reads the /etc/asl.conf file at startup, and re-reads the file when it receives a HUP signal. The aslmanager(8) daemon reads the file when it starts. See the
ASLMANAGER PARAMETER SETTINGS section for details on aslmanager-specific parameters.
Source
Based on [WayBack] logging – Where is “/var/log/messages” on mac-osx? – Server Fault:
Q:
When you read the man pages on Mac OS X, there are references to /var/log/messages, but if you look for the file, it doesn’t exist:
$ ls -l /var/log/messages
ls: /var/log/messages: No such file or directory
A:
2009 era: If you look at the actual /etc/syslog.conf instead of the man page, you see *.notice;authpriv,remoteauth,ftp,install.none;kern.debug;mail.crit /var/log/system.log
–jeroen
Posted in Apple, Mac OS X / OS X / MacOS, Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger, Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard, Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard, Mac OS X 10.7 Lion, macOS 10.12 Sierra, OS X 10.10 Yosemite, OS X 10.11 El Capitan, OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion, OS X 10.9 Mavericks, Power User | Leave a Comment »
Posted by jpluimers on 2019/07/12
At a site, something in the network filtering changed, so printing from a Mac failed.
In the end this was about port 631, which is for the IPP protocol a Mac uses.
—jeroen
Posted in Apple, Mac, Power User | Leave a Comment »
Posted by jpluimers on 2019/06/10
Via [WayBack] ms office – Keyboard shortcut to select all text in a cell in Excel – Ask Different a few keyboard tips.
Lets start with the shortest one:
- Put the focus on the cell (click, use arrow keys, etc)
- Press space
- Press
Command–Z or Control–Z to undo the change
This probably is unintended, but works great: all text is now selected, so you can copy/cut with Command-C/Command–X.
Now the “official” way:
- Put the focus on the cell (click, use arrow keys, etc)
- Press
Control–U or F2 to edit the cell (the cursor is now at the end)
- Press
Shift–Alt–Home or Shift–Control–Home (to select all text)
note: Home can also be Fn–Left.
Other selections you can make while the cell is in edit mode:
- Press
Shift–Alt–End or Shift–Control–End (to select to the end of the cell)
note: End can also be Fn–Right.
- Press
Shift–Alt–Right or Shift–Control–Right (to select one word to the right)
- Press
Shift–Alt–Left or Shift–Control–Left (to select one word to the left)
- Press
Shift–Alt–Down or Shift–Control–Down (to select to the same position on the line below)
- Press
Shift–Alt–Up or Shift–Control–Up (to select to the same position on the line up)
Keyboard symbols (more at [WayBack] Command, Option, & Shift Symbols in Unicode):
⇧ – Shift
^ – Control
⌥ – Alt which is the same as Option
⌘ – Command
Fn – Function
–jeroen
Posted in Apple, Excel, Mac, Mac OS X / OS X / MacOS, MacBook, MacBook Retina, MacBook-Air, MacBook-Pro, MacMini, macOS 10.12 Sierra, Office, Office 2011 for Mac, Power User | Leave a Comment »
Posted by jpluimers on 2019/06/10
It was fun while it lasted: [WayBack] Did Apple remove dashboard in MacOS Catalina? – Appleosophy
I especially like the iStat Pro (though unsupported) widget, and that you can have a dashboard without the need to go on-line.

Related: [WayBack] Dashboard (macOS) – Wikipedia
Via: [WayBack] Apple verwijdert dashboard met widgets uit macOS Catalina – Computer – Nieuws – Tweakers
If might be that Übersicht can help me, but I am not sure yet if there is a good iStat Pro equivalent for it.
Future links to investigate:
–jeroen
Posted in Apple, Mac OS X / OS X / MacOS, Power User | Leave a Comment »
Posted by jpluimers on 2019/06/07
For my link archive:
–jeroen
Posted in Apple, iMac, Mac, Mac OS X / OS X / MacOS, MacBook, MacBook Retina, MacBook-Air, MacBook-Pro, MacMini, macOS 10.12 Sierra, macOS 10.13 High Sierra, OS X 10.11 El Capitan, Power User | Leave a Comment »
Posted by jpluimers on 2019/06/03
What key combination do I have to press to create a line break in a cell in Excel for Mac 2011? The Windows combination of Alt+Enter does not work on the Mac.
Source: [WayBack] keyboard – How to add a line break in a cell in Excel for Mac – Ask Different
The answer depends on the Excel for Mac OS X version you are using.
Excel 2015 is simple (thanks esham): use Option+Enter.
In older Excel <= 2011 (thanks nwinkler), use Command+Option+Enter or Control+Option+Enter.
Some users report the also need the Fn key in addition to the above modifiers.
–jeroen
PS: Later I found out that [WayBack] Beckism.com: Use a linebreak in Excel on Mac also shows the Excel <= 2011 solution Control+Option+Return (note that Return is the same key as Enter).
Posted in Apple, Excel, Mac, Mac OS X / OS X / MacOS, MacBook, MacBook Retina, MacBook-Air, MacBook-Pro, macOS 10.12 Sierra, Office, Office 2011 for Mac, Power User | Leave a Comment »
Posted by jpluimers on 2019/04/29
From [WayBack] osx lion – osx change printer ip address without adding new printer – Super User:
Q
Is there a way to change a printer’s IP address in OSX (Lion) without having to add a new printer? I did find Printer IP Remedy, but was curious if there was an ‘official’ method.
A
You can do this in the CUPS web interface with the following steps:
- Open Terminal.app and run
cupsctl WebInterface=yes. This enables the CUPS web interface
- Open
http://127.0.0.1:631/printers in your web browser
- Click on the printer you want to change. From the “Administration” drop down, select “Modify Printer”.
- Log in with your local admin account
- Select the new printer IP either from “Discovered Network Printers” or add it manually with “Other Network Printers”. Make sure that you keep the same connection protocol as it says in “Current Connection” (for me, this was LPD).
Once you’re done with this, Mac OS X will directly print to the new IP address. There is no need to reboot or so. If you want to disable the CUPS web interface again, run cupsctl WebInterface=no.
The CUPS solution works splendid in MacOS as well, so there was no need for [Archive.is] Printer IP Remedy 1.3 free download for Mac | MacUpdate.
Without the CUPS web interface enabled, the web-interface at http://127.0.0.1:631/printers looks like this:
Web Interface is Disabled
The web interface is currently disabled. Run “cupsctl WebInterface=yes” to enable it.
After enabling it like the CUPS web interface wit cupsctl WebInterface=yes, you can see I have the same printer configured multiple times with different communication protocols and output languages:
Printers
Search in Printers:
Showing 6 of 6 printers.
| Queue Name |
Description |
Location |
Make and Model |
Status |
| OKI_MC342_36855D |
OKI-MC342-PSO-36855D |
Office |
MC342-AirPrint |
Idle |
| OKI_MC342_36855D_PCL |
OKI-MC342-36855D PCL |
1060NP-Office |
Generic PCL Laser Printer |
Idle |
| OKI_MC342_IPP |
OKI-MC342-IPP |
Office |
Generic PostScript Printer |
Idle |
| OKI_MC342_LPR |
OKI-MC342-LPR |
Office |
Generic PostScript Printer |
Idle |
The first two printers were mapped by DNS, but the last two were mapped by IP address.
Changing the IP address was simple:
- Click on each link
- Select “Modify printer”
- Authenticate (only needed for the first printer change)
- For IPP: note the current address (like ipp://192.168.71.52/), then
- Choose “Internet Printing Protocol (ipp) “
- Click “Continue”
- Enter the correct ipp://…./ address (help is at http://127.0.0.1:631/help/network.html or http://127.0.0.1:631/help/network.html?PRINTABLE=YES)
- Click “Continue”
- Check the modifications (optionally change Description/Location)
- Click “Continue”
- Keep the driver
- Click “Modify printer”
- For LPD, note the current address (like lpd://192.168.71.52/), then follow the IPP steps, but choose “LPD/LPR Host or Printer” and enter a valid lpd address.
This is also the place where you can change “Default options”, like paper size (which – for all but the first – somehow defaulted to US Letter 11 inch, while it is actually filled with A4 paper).
At the end, disable the web interface: cupsctl WebInterface=no.
Related:
–jeroen
Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in *nix, *nix-tools, Apple, iMac, Mac, MacBook, MacBook Retina, MacBook-Air, MacBook-Pro, MacMini, macOS 10.12 Sierra, macOS 10.13 High Sierra, Power User | Leave a Comment »
Posted by jpluimers on 2019/04/25
Yes, occasionally, people still use DVD or CD disks, so thanks [Archive.is] Chris Bensen: macOS How to create an ISO from a CD or DVD:
Put in your CD or DVD, Open Terminal, type:
ls /Volumes
Find the volume in the list, then type where /path/to/volume is the CD or DVD you want:
hdiutil makehybrid -iso -joliet -o Image.iso /path/to/volume
–jeroen
Posted in *nix, Apple, Mac, Mac OS X / OS X / MacOS, MacBook, MacBook Retina, MacBook-Pro, macOS 10.12 Sierra, Power User | Leave a Comment »
Posted by jpluimers on 2019/03/29
When connecting from my Mac to my ESXi rig, some commands (especially less) show this output:
WARNING: terminal is not fully functional
So I created this alias to connect from my Mac to the internal address of my ESXi rig:
alias ssh-esxi-X10SRH-CF-internal='TERM=xterm ssh -p 22 root@192.168.71.91'
The trick is the bold part: TERM=xterm (which you can also replace by export TERM=xterm; if you want future ssh sessions to use the same [wayback] TERM setting).
The reason is that the Mac defines the TERM variable as containing xterm-256 which is defined on the Mac itself, but ESXi has a hard time coping with it.
Some Mac OS and Xcode combinations had a problem with xterm-256 not being present ([WayBack] macos – Terminal strangeness after installing Xcode on Lion – Super User), but this isn’t the case on my system:
$ ls -alh `find /usr/share/terminfo | grep 'xterm-256color'`
-rw-r--r-- 1 root wheel 3.2K Jul 30 2016 /usr/share/terminfo/78/xterm-256color
On the Mac you really want to use xterm-256color as it looks way better than xterm-color or xterm: [WayBack] linux – What is the difference between xterm-color & xterm-256color? – Stack Overflow (thanks [WayBack] Chris Page!)
It seems I already did something similar on ESXi itself to get esxtop working: ESXi: when esxtop shows garbage. That was on the ESXi side and works as well for this problem too.
However, it is a bit harder to have a script run during ESXi boot time that sets this, so it is easier to fix this on the Mac side.
It works for all OS X and ESXi versions I’ve tested so far.
–jeroen
Posted in *nix, Apple, ESXi5.1, ESXi5.5, ESXi6, ESXi6.5, iMac, Mac, Mac OS X / OS X / MacOS, Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger, Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard, Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard, Mac OS X 10.7 Lion, MacBook, MacBook Retina, MacBook-Air, MacBook-Pro, MacMini, macOS 10.12 Sierra, OS X 10.10 Yosemite, OS X 10.11 El Capitan, OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion, OS X 10.9 Mavericks, Power User, Virtualization, VMware, VMware ESXi | Leave a Comment »