Show hidden files Mac OS X 10.7, 10.8, 10.9 and 10.10 Yosemite

OS XUnlike Microsoft Windows, by default OS X hides system files from end users. There is a perfectly reasonable explanation for this. Some of the files which are hidden, are important and damaging them could prevent your system from booting all together.

However – on the flip side, there is often a valid reason for needing access to those files. Anything from needing to change a system setting to removing files an unruly application has left behind.

There are several ways to show hidden files in OS X, the easiest would probably be to follow this tutorial on how to build an Automator script. This will give you an icon that you simply have to double-click on to show or hide the files.

Alternatively, if you are just looking for something in your Library folder, did you know that if you click “Go” in the menu bar whilst in Finder, then whilst the menu is expanded click the Alt key on your keyboard the Library menu will appear.

Another method would be to run a command in a terminal window to change the system setting. To do this all you need to do is:

  1. Open Finder
  2. Open the Utilities folder
  3. Open a terminal window
  4. Copy and paste the following line in:
  5. Press return
  6. Enter your administrator password when prompted
  7. Press return

You should find the finder window will disappear, along with the icons on your desktop. However, if you now launch a new finder instance you will now be able to see any hidden files or folders. Once you are done, perform the steps above however, replace the terminal command in step 4 with:

If the above is not working for you, you may want to try switching YES/NO to TRUE/FALSE .. Beware that this is case-sensitive!

If you are experiencing issues using the examples above, please post a comment using the comments system below.

Read More

Free up inactive memory in OS X Mavericks

Mavericks

MavericksOver the last few years OS X has got progressively more intuitive memory management, however – it’s still not completely flawless. This is obvious when using Virtual Machine technologies such as VMWare Fusion, OS X is not overly quick ‘mopping’ up memory once fusion is closed down. Which is where the terminal command PURGE comes in.

The purge command cleans out the memory and disk caches, and by doing a purge you are essentially replicating a system reboot.

To perform a purge, follow the instructions below:

  1. Open Finder
  2. Open the Utilities folder
  3. Open a terminal window
  4. Copy and paste the following line in:
  5. Press return
  6. Enter your admin password
  7. Press return

This one is worth a shot if you’re busy opening/closing applications and you feel performance slipping.

Read More

Disable OS X application persistence

Terminal
One feature which seems to divide the masses is OS X’s ability to relaunch your applications on startup/reboot. This feature is know as Apple Persistence, which is personally a feature I am not really a fan of. It’s very rare for me to want the same applications on each use of my MacBook, asides from the obvious email and unified comms clients of course.

So – to disable to ‘persistent’ application mode simply follow these simple steps below

  1. Open the Utilities folder
  2. Open a terminal window
  3. Copy and paste the following line in:
    sudo defaults write -g ApplePersistence -bool no
  4. Enter your password and press enter

Now the next time you reboot, you’ll be greeted with your beautiful desktop wallpaper, and not the plethora of apps and browser windows.

If you decide you miss the feature, all you need to do is switch the boolean value back to yes:

sudo defaults write -g ApplePersistence -bool yes

Read More

OS X & Google Chrome NTLM Authentication

ChromeGoogle Chrome for OS X generally doesn’t play well with proxy servers, especially those that require NTLM authentication. Those who have tried to use it in the past will be greeted with a constant barrage of proxy authentication prompts, each successful entry of credentials loads a tiny little bit more of the site..

However, there is a way to resolve this. Using a simple command in OS X terminal you can enable NTLM authentication in Chrome, and only have to enter your credentials once.

  1. Open Finder
  2. Open the Utilities folder
  3. Open a terminal window
  4. Copy and paste the following line in:
    Sudo /Applications/Google Chrome.app/Contents/MacOS/Google Chrome --auth-schemes="ntlm"
  5. Enter your password and press enter
  6. Now quit and relaunch all Chrome windows.

That’s it. You should never be prompted again, at least not until you change your password.

Read More

Obtain domain ‘whois’ information using nothing but OS X Terminal

Mike Hudson WhoIs ScreenshotDid you know that you can obtain domain whois information for any web domain using
nothing but OS X Terminal?

For years I’ve used many web services including (and probably my favourite) CentralOps, however, sometimes its handy to be able to do things without leaving the comfort of your current terminal session!

So.. To get some of the information web services can provide, launch Terminal and type:

whois google.co.uk

NOTE: You can replace google.co.uk with the domain name of your choice.

WHOIS (pronounced as the phrase who is) is a query and response protocol that is widely used for querying databases that store the registered users or assignees of an Internet resource, such as a domain name, an IP address block, or an autonomous system, but is also used for a wider range of other information. The protocol stores and delivers database content in a human-readable format. The WHOIS protocol is documented in RFC 3912.

Source

Read More