This tutorial covers the introduction, installation, and configuration of DarwinPorts, a software package manager for the Tiger 10.4 version of Mac OS X, and a requisite tool for nearly all subsequent Server Codex tutorials.

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Posted at 6:00 AM PST with these tags: darwinports, mac, cli, tutorial

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MacDevCenter is host to an informative five-part series on using the Terminal in Mac OS X 10.4 — Tiger. Given that the tutorials found on Server Codex usually assume a basic familiarity with the command line, folks who haven’t spent much time in the Terminal should at least check out Part 1 below.

Part 1 - Basics

Part 2 - ssh, scp, sftp, and rsync

Part 3 - Network tools

Part 4 - Shell scripting

Part 5 - cron and launchd

Posted at 10:45 AM PST with these tags: mac, cli

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Dave Shea over at mezzoblue provides a great tutorial on how to keep a synchronized backup of remote web server documents on a local machine. Rsync can be a difficult tool to figure out, so this detailed how-to guide makes it much easier to get started. The post comments also contain a great deal of useful information.

Posted at 7:16 AM PDT with these tags: web, cli

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Daring Fireball is host to an interesting introduction to the Email:: hierarchy of CPAN modules. While few of us actually have the need to parse mbox mail archives via Perl, the new Email:: modules appear to be the best way should the need arise.

Posted at 6:43 PM PDT with these tags: email, cli

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Gentoo has announced the release of their Portage package management system for Mac OS X. Now available for download, Gentoo Mac OS X is a package manager that installs and updates Unix/Linux software on Mac OS X. Why do we need another package manager when Fink and DarwinPorts already exist, you ask? First of all, all three solutions are working together under the auspices of the Metapkg Alliance. Moreover, according to the Portage Manual, Portage offers a number of advanced features: multiple versions and revisions of the same package in the tree, conditional dependency resolution, fine-grained package management, sandboxed safe installation, and configuration file protection. There is a related wiki, as well as a number of screen shots: [1] | [2] | [3] | [4] | [5] | [6] | [7] | [8] | [9]

Posted at 11:06 AM PDT with these tags: mac, cli

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Ernest Rothman has an excellent tutorial on managing Unix software packages via DarwinPorts. DarwinPorts often complements Fink in that one sometimes offers ports that the other does not, and it seems they can be made to co-exist peacefully.

Posted at 3:08 PM PDT with these tags: mac, cli

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For those who may have missed it, Kevin O’Malley has put together a great guide to BBEdit and Unix for MacDevCenter. Part I is an introduction to BBEdit’s Unix support features, while Part II drills down into filters, scripts, and Emacs key bindings.

Posted at 2:38 PM PDT with these tags: mac, tools, cli

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MacDevCenter has some good tips on Panther Unix connectivity, including coverage of the handy Connect to Server capability built into the Panther Terminal. Protocols such as ssh, scp, and sftp are discussed, albeit with no mention of the excellent freeware tool Fugu.

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Posted at 6:58 AM PST with these tags: mac, network, cli

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One of the areas Apple’s Panther Server could have really differentiated itself is rule-based filtering. Providing a GUI to powerful filtering for viruses, spam, and other criteria would really set Panther Server apart from nearly every other server solution on the planet. Of course, you can always add non-GUI tools to achieve this, as Jason Deraleau explains in Sanitizing Mail on Panther Server. His MacDevCenter article describes how to install and configure tools such as procmail and Anomy Sanitizer for rule-based filtering on Mac OS X Server 10.3.

Posted at 12:14 PM PST with these tags: mac, email, cli

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When installing and using UNIX software on Mac OS X, one must often set environment variables. Sometimes these only need be set temporarily, and other times these variables should be set whenever a Terminal login session is started. Environment variables were previously set in Jaguar’s tcsh default shell using syntax such as:

setenv DBI_USER postgres

Panther includes bash as its default shell and uses the following syntax:

export DBI_USER=postgres

To set these at login session startup, take a look at these tips from OSXFAQ.

Posted at 11:15 PM PST with these tags: mac, cli

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