Mac Os X

Given the recent bash vulnerability disclosure[1] most linux distributions have released patches. Unfortunately Apple still expected users to compile their patches into bash. If you were using Homebrew or Macport you were in better standing and simply had to create symlinks to the patched executables. I’ve documented the steps I had to take on my Mac desktop.

Compile

1. mkdir bash
2. cd bash/
3. wget http://opensource.apple.com/tarballs/bash/bash-92.tar.gz
4. tar zxvf bash-92.tar.gz
5. cd bash-92
6. cd bash-3.2/
7. curl https://ftp.gnu.org/pub/gnu/bash/bash-3.2-patches/bash32-052 | patch -p0
8. curl https://ftp.gnu.org/pub/gnu/bash/bash-3.2-patches/bash32-053 | patch -p0
9. curl https://ftp.gnu.org/pub/gnu/bash/bash-3.2-patches/bash32-054 | patch -p0
10. cd ..
11. xcodebuild

Verify

During yet another LaTeX project on my MacBook, I added some algorithms to my paper. After checking a couple of examples online, and discussing with a colleage I decided to go with algorithm2e over others such as algorithm, algorithmic, algorithmicx, program and pseudocode[1].

However I got the following error “! LaTeX Error: File `algorithm2e.sty’ not found.” Since I am using macport, to resolve this I needed to install the texlive-science package by executing sudo port install texlive-science, and all was good again.

To connect to an OpenVPN server you need an appropriate OpenVPN client installed to establish the SSL link. For Apple Mac OS X systems, TunnelBlick (http://code.google.com/p/tunnelblick/) is a good graphical user interface. At the time of this blog the current latest stable version of TunnelBlick available was 3.2.7. These instructions were executed on an Apple iMac running Mac OS X 10.7.4. As with all other posts on this blog, the purpose of this post is not to provide a tutorial, but instead to documents the steps taken, for my own benefit.

Apple IU Software Update service allows uses to keep their Mac OS X machines updated with the latest software updates and security patched. In some controlled environments, the update servers are specified in the user profile. Sometimes there may be delays in the server updates, or problems with the local update server and users may desire to connect to Apple’s services directly. Here’s are some instructions that users may find useful. Please note that to make configuration changes you will need Administrative privileges on your Mac.