Six Tips for Homemade "Dot Mac" Servers

lisam writes "Alan Graham has an article on O'Reilly's MacDevCenter offering tips for homemade dot mac servers. Tips include creating a central file server, how to set up a central repository for iTunes, sharing images, collaborating with WebDAV, etc."

Re:Wake me up ...

[PetWolverine]

Why does it need to be Linux? Darwin is *nix, and most of these functions are available straight out of the box. This page is mostly about configuring existing tools.

yes its mostly configuring built-in tools

[ihatewinXP]

but i for one (of _many_) had no idea that i could add a network drive to my login items and have it mount. between that little trick and how to save itunes prefs and playlists when moving to a completely new drive/machine - i just figured that out on my own yesterday (through much trial and error) and was honestly going to write up the experience because i had not seen these details anywhere. honestly, thank you sir for the write up, i had many of these idea floating around in my head, now i not only know they are possible but whenever i get some money for a new 12" powerbook that they will be a reality.

Re:Wake me up ...

[PetWolverine]

Read the parent comment and you will understand. My reply was not directly to the article.

This is your 5am wake up call

[Oculus Habent]

A few things, while you're groggy:

1. It's not Linux, but a BSD [apple.com] distro can do it, out of the box.

2. Some of the suggestions require a little effort on the client side as well (The global iTunes settings, for example).

3. There's a WebDAV module for Apache 2.0. If you don't want to use the one already available on a Mac, and you can't be bothered to set it up yourself, then don't complain about it not already being done for you.

--
Bitter? No, I'm not bitter. Semi-sweet, maybe.

Re:This is your 5am wake up call

[torpor]

Actually, I willingly paid for my mac.com address, given that its quite convenient and worth the money ... and unlike some, I see no reason not to pay for something if I find it useful and productive ...

Previous article

[Draoi]

This came up on /. before (tho' not the O'Reilly link). Read all about it here [slashdot.org]

Re:Previous article

[Greedo]

Yes, the previous article is (IMHO) much more informative, as it tells you how to set up a fake .MAC server.

The current article tells you what you can do with it ... kinda. The language is rather obtuse in some sections, and all of those tips rely on the server being an OS X machine. What if I want my central server to run Linux? BSD?

The useful articles are this one [drijf.net] which explains how to set up a fake .Mac server, and use Apple's Backup with it, and this one [confusticate.com] about making an iSync server.

*ack!*

[Draoi]

Not good. Reading the drijf.net [drijf.net] article reveals that iTools backs up in the clear across the 'net. Furthermore, authentication can be spoofed as backup doesn't check the authentication of the server cert. Scary ...

Thanks for the links, BTW!

Re:*ack!*

[Greedo]

• You are right, the server cert could be anything ... I use the Snakeoil one myself
  
• iTools uses MD5 to "encrypt" your password, so that's relatively safe
  
• I haven't used ethereal or anything to see if the actual backup data is encrypted (beyond SSL)
  

Still, I'd rather my backups were going to a server that I control, than one I don't.

Oh ... and faking an iCal server is pretty easy too. I'll write it up if you are interested.

Re:*ack!*

[Huge Pi Removal]

You don't need to fake an iCal server, you just set up WebDAV on whatever web server you have lying around. iCal doesn't care if you use .Mac or an in-house WebDAV sevrer.

Seventh tip...

[dotgod]

Don't put it in the oven [slashdot.org].

Re:Seventh tip...

[PetWolverine]

I hear file servers are good with curry...

Web servers, I expect, would be better with oregano. Somebody try it and tell me how it turns out.

MP3s from a central server

[PetWolverine]

Hmm, this smells suspiciously of fair use! The RIAA had better stomp on it quickly! I expect the author of the article will get into trouble with O'Reilly for getting them into legal trouble with the RIAA.

Just because you bought that music doesn't mean you have the right to listen to it! Err...listen to it in more than one location, I mean.

Speaking of central music servers, refer to my .sig for good things.

Instructions for a Linux .mac server?!

[cyman777]

Does somebody have instructions for setting up a Linux box as a .mac server replica?

Who can afford more than one Mac?? ;-)

My old P90 is readily waiting to double as a .mac server, so please dont let it down!

Dude! Sex tips!

[miguel_at_menino.com]

Dude!

I thought that said "Sex Tips for Homemade Dot Mac Servers"!

for all you mac server people....

[fredopalus]

you may also want to check out Setting up a Site Server with Jaguar [macdevcenter.com]

I wrote this piece...

[Anonymous Coward]

to give people who have already setup a "Homemade Dot Mac" server (previous articles) some additional ideas of what they can use it for. Prior to OS X I had no idea how useful running Apache could be...and I couldn't believe how easy it wat to get started. OS X never ceases to amaze me...everything I throw at it...it is capable of doing. You start with Apache and next thing you know you can't stop trying new things!

Using Rendezvous etc to do this

[Anonymous Coward]

Now that Rendezvous is out, Apple needs to do something like is described in the "Six Great Tips for Homemade Dot Mac Servers", except better and easier. I know this can be done with OS X Server today, but it is NOT easy.

The step I am referring to is the "Central File Server" option. Letting you log in from any machine to use your own home directory is (obviously) good as Sun and Apollo etc showed years ago. What is needed is to make it TRIVIAL to set up so that those houses that have 2 or more machines (this will be more and more common) can access it. The items in the tutorial are good, but should be easier. For example:
1. You would plug in your machine to the power and either via wire or airport it would discover the machines and users (and find one if it was already designated a "master" aka server) machine.
2. Then you would authenticate yourself to the server and access your home directory files - e.g. iTunes, iPhoto etc.
3. You could use the "auto-login" feature once it was authenticated etc.

Using NetInfo and OS X Server you can do it, but neither my mom nor my cousin could do it and that is the audience you want!

Also Syncing

[Razzak]

It should also be just as trivial to set up a server machine and the rest as client machines, where the home folders between the two are constantly sync'd. Network down? It's ok, you've got it stored on your pc. Take that laptop with you? no prob.

Backup and portability goodness.