Lion Server issues addressed in technotes
updated 12:40 am EST, Fri November 11, 2011
Deals with certificate, authorization issues
Apple has posted two new technotes outlining solutions to issues users have encountered in Lion Server, the separate server version of Mac OS X 10.7. The first deals with users who cannot view podcasts if the server certificate isn't trusted, while the second offers a fix to allow administrators to access all volumes and shared folders over SMB. Both were posted to Apple's technical support site late Thursday.
Technote TS4126 explains that podcasts and their thumbnails do not load when users visit a Lion Server-based website if the users have not established trust of the server's SSL certificate. The change is brought on by the move to 10.7.2, which introduced https hosting of podcasts and thus requires a secure connection.
Apple recommends the best solution as being to have website owners buy and install a CA certificate. If the user is using a self-signed certificate, the user must enable SSL on the main website in order for users to okay the certificate when they connect. Users will still see a warning about an untrusted certificate when they connect, but can view and opt to accept the self-signed certificate if they wish, whereupon they will be able to view podcast episodes on the server. A purchased certificate does not cause the issue.
The second technote, HT5038, reveals that a simple command-line change will enable administrators to have access to all volumes, including SMB shared folders. In addition to the command to grant access, the technote also offers a command to limit administrators to accessing only shared SMB folders.
The command is a change in the server preferences for VirtualAdminShares. Users must restart the server after running either of the commands. For those who cannot immediately reboot the server, users can un-share a currently-shared folder and then re-share it, or vice-versa.
