OpenVPN, Tunnelblick, bridged network (tap device), mDNSResponder, and daapd on OS X

tried to get the music library from a server running firefly to a mac via an OpenVPN tunnel 

- where the same server is also the OpenVPN server and is using a tap device and

- the mac was using Tunnelblick 

though this setup seemed to work for my linux machine it didn't quite do the job on the mac: there the mdns information was only used occasionally (though ethereal aka. wireshark confirmed that it was being transmitted).

currently i think that the mDNSResponder is behaving - at least - strange and a possible work-around seems to be 

- install the tun/tap-driver separately from Tunnelblick (so the driver is loaded at boot time and mDNSResponder is not 'surprised' by its late appearance...)

- turn the interface of the internet connection (the one tunnelblick uses to connect to the server - not the tap one...) off and on 

Use Time Machine (OS X) with a (samba) Network Drive

sudo defaults write com.apple.systempreferences TMShowUnsupportedNetworkVolumes 1

...but cf. http://pastebin.com/f47499d34 after update to 10.5.2.

references:

1. http://www.2putts4par.com/2007/11/10/use-time-machine-with-a-network-drive/
   

quick reminder: Getting X11 forwarding through ssh working after running su

$ xauth list $DISPLAY
You'll get something like

somehost.somedomain:10 mit-magic-cookie-1 4d22408a71a55b41ccd1657d377923ae

Then, after having done su, tell the new user what the cookie is:

$ xauth add somehost.somedomain:10 MIT-MAGIC-COOKIE-1 4d22408a71a55b41ccd1657d377923ae

(just copy'n-paste the output of the above 'xauth list' onto 'xauth add') That's it. Now, you _should_ be able to start any X application.


references:

1. http://www.debian-administration.org/articles/494

related:

1. http://www.windowsecurity.com/whitepapers/Improving_XWindows_security.html
   

Setup Samba for Bonjour networking with OS X 10.5 Leopard

put the following into /etc/avahi/services/[somename].service on a linux machine running samba and avahi-daemon:

<?xml version="1.0" standalone='no'?><!--*-nxml-*-->

<!DOCTYPE service-group SYSTEM "avahi-service.dtd">

<service-group>
<name replace-wildcards="yes">%h filer</name>
<service>
   <type>_smb._tcp</type>

   <port>139</port>
   <host-name>zaphod.bn.dev</host-name>
</service>
</service-group>

references:

1. http://www.askbjoernhansen.com/2007/10/27/setup_samba_for_bonjour_networking_with_os_x_105_l.html

related:

1. http://www.sanityinc.com/articles/mac-screen-sharing-with-linux