Slashdot Mirror
Fake Your Own .Mac Server
c13v3rm0nk3y writes "A clever fellow named Otto Moerbeek has publish a short article on getting an OpenBSD box to emulate a .Mac server. Using Apache/DAV/SSL and a roll a duct-tape, he describes how you can get most .Mac functionality without paying Apple for it."
This is useful because then you can use apple's backup tools to backup to a local server, and not have to backup over your piddly internet connection.
Nice name for a geek.
I wonder how many comments will get posted here before Apple cease and desists them.
This kind ofstuff is great. Appletakes advantage of open protocols like webDAV to implement their services, and they'll still make lots of money off of .Mac. But for those who want to put in the time and have a spare machine lying around they can now get a lot of the advantages of .Mac, which might entice them to buy a new mac where they wouldn't have if it meant forking over for .Mac.
I'm sur eApple saw this coming, and if they really wanted to prevent it they would have just added an authentication mechanism or something to block unauthorized servers.
___
Cogito cogito, ergo cogito sum.
Stop Whining. Just change your preferences and you'll never have to read about Macs again.
I am, and always will be, an idiot. Karma: Coma (mostly effected by
According to the article you need to configure your server to return trialAccountDaysLeft = -1 How long before Apple changes that variable name, or obfuscates it somehow?
Writers imply. Readers infer.
....but I think it should be noted that this doesn't depend on any BSD specific stuff, and can (pretty much, gotta get that https server up) just as easily be done under the /. championed linux.
I like this idea. So we can emulate .Mac servers, BNETD servers, advertising servers, Cydoor servers, and even :CueCat servers. Setting up independent servers has the obvious advantage of being independent from an ultimate authority, decentralizing the service and making it more useful to the Internet community. So I ask Slashdot, what commericial or otherwise propertiary server will be reverse-engineered and cloned next? My vote is in for an Oscar/TOC server so one could use AOL-IM to communicate with one's LAN.
"The lesson to be learned is not to take the comments on slashdot too literally." --Vinnie Falco, BearShare
Actually, I agree with the post just above this. Apple is giving away software, basically because it is *not* the value-added portion of the service. The value-added portion of their service is the provision of a back-up location and other niceties. This article is not how to steal those. Rather it is about how to use their value-less software to your own ends, while *still using their hardware*.
Windows backup:
Mount smb share
find invent -print | cpio -oBcv >/dev/rStp0
umount smb share.
You think that I'm crazy, you should see this guy!
"-2, didn't read article". :)
This isn't condoning the use of software without paying for it, it's giving a user a choice of "vendors" including users being a vendor themselves. If this were Microsoft that were being run-around, you'd probably say that it'd be a great thing. By Apple using open standards (the kind of thing /. has been clamoring vendors to do for ages now), they are allowing this as an option.
.Mac.
Apple has a feature built into their OS. If you like that feature, you have to:
1. Pay for their hardware
2. Pay for their OS
3. Find a service to use for
It's not like they're not getting any money in the deal here. Last I heard #1 & #2 were how Apple has been making it's bread & butter for years now. I'm glad Apple has let this happen, since I don't want to back up my notebook over a slow connection and rely on their server. I'd rather use a LAN, my server and my tape drive to provide extra backups. That's part of the reason I bought OS X. (read: Paid Apple Money for the software.)
I am, and always will be, an idiot. Karma: Coma (mostly effected by
...getting a fixed IP costs way more than a .mac account.
Well, I can sell you 192.168.0.1 really cheap, just mail me you kredit card number.
Livetime access granted.
Isn't interoperability considered fair use in copyright law (Patent milage may vary). IANAL, however.
;)
;))
I would assume that the author of the parent post is opposed to SAMBA and the SAMBA Howto information
(I confess, I don't use Samba anymore-- without Windows systems it sort of loses its appeal
LedgerSMB: Open source Accounting/ERP
Jeremy Beker has more informations about using iSync to syncronize calenders, addresses, etc. without using .Mac
Somewhere in the heavens... they are waiting.
I think there is a difference here. This isn't stealing software, Someone already paid for Mac OSX and the apple hardware, this is replicating a service locally. You aren't getting a service for free ala directv card hacking, you are using your own server to provide the service instead of the companies, much like replacing windows update with your own -less broken version ( does anyone not block those ip/dns addresses?)
Only if EULAs are valid where you live. I do not know any european countries where they are valid.
That's MY IP number....
Someone sold me that one awhile back.
nbfn
I am more interested in figuring out how to make a PC (Linux, Windows or whatever) appear as a mac to .Mac. Of course the other way is cool too! :)
Gorkman
What pirated software are you referring to? The software Apple *sold* me as a part of OSX? Or something else?
Apple has written software to be used with their .Mac service. The cost of the software is included in the price of the service. When you use the software without paying for the service you are, in effect, pirating the software. You may justify this in your own mind by claiming that the price of the hardware and the OS should entitle you to the use of the .Mac backup software but that's not how it was intended. The backup software is not a part of the OS. It is not included with the computer. It is a download available to .Mac users. It has built-in safegaurds to prevent use by people who do not pay for a .Mac subscription. By circumventing these mechanisms you are pirating the software.
Now, I'm not going to chide anybody for software piracy itself. What I am doing is pointing a finger at Slashdot for promoting the act. If you choose to pirate software, there's nothing anybody can do about it short of a lawsuit but when you openly encourage others to pirate software, you have crossed the line of ethical behavior.
This isn't authenticating you to apple's backup server which unlimited trial days, it's authenticating you to your own backup server with unlimited trial days. Hence the rest of the article explaining about setting up DAV and whatnot to do the actual backups. Nothing illegal about that.
God does not play dice - Einstein
Not only does God play dice, he sometimes throws them where they
Does this mean it will be down half the time and slow as hell?
I'll form my OWN solar system! With blackjack! And hookers!
Unfortunately my psychic skills are not high enough to see clearly enough into your CD collection. Maybe if you and your friends form a ring to work as a repeater on your end, I would see clearer.
Ohh, thanks for telling that. I was obviously mistaken once again :) Sorry. Should not say anything about any Mac related SW, as I am clueless. :)
"A clever fellow named Otto Moerbeek has publish a short article on getting an OpenBSD box to emulate a .Mac server. Using Apache/DAV/SSL and a roll a duct-tape, he describes how you can get most .Mac functionality without paying Apple for it."
Is it just me or is anyone else trying to figure out what the duct tape is for?
LedgerSMB: Open source Accounting/ERP
Really. I wanted to see an innovative use of duct tape on a Mac.
Lousy Slashdot editors. Convincing me to read a story when there's actually no duct tape involved.
A witty [sig] proves nothing. --Voltaire
Yeah - I just noticed that. A clip from other leaf of the thread:
"I was obviously mistaken once again :) Sorry. Should not say anything about any Mac related SW, as I am clueless. :)"
My apologies to you too. :)
So by using my AOL cd as a coaster, I'm essentially stealing from AOL because I'm using something that they *gave* me in a way for which it was not intended? If you don't want me to use something, then don't give it to me.
You think that I'm crazy, you should see this guy!
Provided by Mr HOSTBOT
RudeDude
Perl/Linux/PHP hacker
Comment removed based on user account deletion
There's nothing illegal about changing your /etc/hosts file. There's nothing illegal about setting up a WebDAV server for yourself.
This isn't illegal. But try advertising a public iDisk server, or try redistributing Apple's Backup utility & you'll probably be needing a lawyer.
Apple may be quick about protecting a "look and feel," but to keep Microsoft from "innovating" them any more, I think they have every right. This has been around for months, been advertised on MacSlash & is still running strong.
Notes From Under *nix: blas.phemo.us
You don't need one, just use dyndns.org
Karma: The shiznight, mostly because I am the Drizzle.
Ok, for the third - my apologies. I should not have posted the comment, as I had no clue about how the licensing conditions under which the related SW was shipped. And what comes to the island of idiots, I think all the 7 continents are already populated. :)
Now I can charge myself $99 a year!
A self signed certificate will do, since Backup does not check the certificate.
That's really bad. It means that anyone can launch a man-in-the-middle attack against someone using .Mac for backup purposes. I'm sure people are using .Mac to backup their Quicken financial data and other things they'd consider sensitive.
I hope Apple fixes that...I'd be pretty pissed if I were a .mac user.
The fact is that a lot of people want .Mac functionality but with a little bit more control on their part. I think that Apple may initially fight this but eventually will be forced to allow user controlled .Mac servers. Hell, perhaps they'll see it as an opportunity and sell a XServe.Mac.
But AOL CDs are unsolicited, and under that laws of most western countrise, if you recive anything unsolicited, its yours to do with as you please. You DON'T have to even RTS it.
Actually, I use those for Skeet shooting, so now I owe the clay pidgeon manufacturers. Maybe if I used those as soupbowls...
Oh wait...
You think that I'm crazy, you should see this guy!
This is patently false.
Apple has written software to be used with their .Mac service. The cost of the software is included in the price of the service.
No, because the software in question is not delivered upon payment for its associated service. It is delivered upon payment for a different product -- it's a bundle, obviously.
When you use the software without paying for the service you are, in effect, pirating the software.
Actually, anyone who does this is simply using the software they own (it came with OS X, and they bought that, right?) in a manner inconsistent with its design. That's not illegal! Requisite analogy: A car manufacturer sells cupholders emblazoned with the Coca-Cola logo. Is it then [sarcasm]piracy[/sarcasm] to use said cupholders to hold a Dr. Pepper, or worse yet, your own no-name water bottle?
You may justify this in your own mind by claiming that the price of the hardware and the OS should entitle you to the use of the .Mac backup software but that's not how it was intended.
I don't give a flying fsck about intentions. Apple created a product and bundled it with their operating system; I bought the operating system, and thus I've purchased that product legitimately. It is not their business how I use that product; it's mine, and I don't remember reading a EULA that forbade me to use it with another service. (Even if it did, this comes pretty close to Connectix/Sony for obvious reasons.) As such, I am more than welcome to use my purchase any way I want, even if it means in a way that it's not intended to be used.
The backup software is not a part of the OS. It is not included with the computer. It is a download available to .Mac users. It has built-in safegaurds to prevent use by people who do not pay for a .Mac subscription. By circumventing these mechanisms you are pirating the software.
Yes, a .Mac subscription from Apple. But the poster is not cheating Apple; he's not accessing their servers and using their services. And because he's not using THEIR servers, there's no reason that he should pay them anything.
got standards? --- http://www.w3.org/
ok, it's faking one bit of it so you can make backup work.
I'm one of those that thinks .mac is a decent value and paid my money for it. I also find it ironic that Microsoft has yet to find any .Net services that people want to buy. MSN 8? I still haven't figured out what you get with MSN 8 that is so special. Spam filtering? You could do much better and get better filtering results by spending $30/year on a spamcop.net e-mail account.
I originally thought that .mac was a cheesy ripoff of the .net name, but now I am loving the irony of Apple ripping off a Microsoft idea instead of the other way around.
I don't read ACs: If a post isn't worth so much as a nom de plume to its author then I wont bother either.
Apple can't "crush" this workaround. Once you have the software, you can use it. And you can use any WebDAV capable client to access your "iDisk" server.
Yep, it would be pretty easy to do this on a Windows/Mac network, if Windows actually handled WebDAV folders as well as, say OS X, or Mandrake Linux. But since Microsoft has decided that WebDAV filesystems are neither web-pages or mountable filesystems, you can't really automate backups to WebDAV servers with your Windows machines. In WindowsXP you can do something like this, so long as you have a server that understands Microsoft's perversion of WebDAV.
Someday Microsoft might "innovate" real WebDAV mounts into the filesystem (think flying pigs now), but until then, they are only good for point-and-click uses.
It would be extremely easy to write a batch file to do this if you could mount the remote WebDAV server (like you can with a mac). After you write your batch file, you could just set up a scheduled task to copy the files over to the WebDAV server (basically what the Backup utility makes so easy).
If you can use OS X or Mandrake Linux (probably other distros to--but I can't say for sure) you can have this functionality right now.
Notes From Under *nix: blas.phemo.us
I dug around my idisk where it uploads the iphoto stuff thinking I could just copy it to my own web server after it was generated, but it uses too many server-side scripts as well as obfuscating things behind hidden directories, etc...
they'll just use the auto-update feature to fix this obvious "bug".
Well, there is a legitimate use for this information - you might well want to backup a number of machines against your own server - so I think this is ok. Assuming you own the machines and have a ".Mac" account.
Apple suggest using their service to sync your laptop, home Mac and office Mac - so I don't see an issue installing "Backup.app" on all the Macs you own. Anyone know if I'm reading this correctly?
Yes, it seems very reasonable for Apple to leave the possibility open and not block it. That way they don't deprive their expert users of a useful facility, but at the same time they don't have to document, explain, support... something that gives them no revenue and would be hell to support anyway because it involves non-Apple machines.
From the Apple iCal website:
.Mac membership or a WebDAV server. "
"Publishing calendars on the Internet requires a
So Apple expects, condones, and appreciates what Morebeer has done.
I don't know anything about .Mac, but if the main point is backups and file synchronization, why is proprietary software necessary? Hfspax works great for archiving files without losing their macintosh resource fork, and unison is a wonderful file syncrhonization that I use to sync up my various Linux and MacOS X accounts.
Find free books.
Can anyone who knows of other free imap email accounts please list them here? Apple cut off my Mac.com email account after twice asking them not to, and since they have chosen to wrap up Mac.com email accounts with .Mac and charge me $160 for one useful email account and a bunch of other completely useless services, I would like to see what sort of other IMAP accounts are out there, preferably ones that can be interfaced with Outlook Express.
Thanks.
You know, this isn't really giving you all of the functionality of .Mac. Some of us aren't HTML-fluent, and this doesn't let you use the homepage programs (which made me a much nicer page for my newborn than the ATT Broadband tools did). I'm sure that here on Slashdot most people will scoff at this, but I personally find it to be the best way to build a relatively nice looking place to post movies, pictures, sounds, etc. for the grandmother to download... and those of you with children will most assuredly agree this is a big deal.
There are lots of neat things that .mac does (I paid my $50), but it'd be great if I could do them locally. Backup is a HUGE one - 100Base-T is a lot better than DSL! But being able to use the pretty slick webmail for my own mail domain would be very useful as well, instead of having to forward to my mac.com address. Local iCal would be very nice as well.
.mac services to my local users. Sure, there are variety of ways to hack it together, but if it all "just worked" that'd be better yet.
I can certainly understand why Apple doesn't want to make these available everywhere for free, but it'd be great if MacOS X Server 10.3 or whatever made it possible to provide some
This would certainly give me a reason to pay $1K to upgrade from the 10.1.5 server I'm running right now.
And on an unrelated note, 10.3 REALLY should include a graphical DNS admin. It's really jarring to have all these great, simple controls for the whole server experience, except DNS. Webmin works, but still, that's hardly the MacOS X vision!
My video compression blog
Well, smoking crack is illegal and you're obviously doing a lot of that.
The article explains how to customize Apple's backup software, included in OSX for which you paid over $100, to backup to a different server.
That's about as unethical as using a Mister Microphone rather than listening to commercial radio.
"Patriotism is your conviction that this country is superior to all other countries because you were born in it." -- GBS
You don't need a static IP, or at least you do not need a routable one. Unless, or course, you intend to serve .Mac to a bunch of friends on different networks. The point of the article was to make a local .Mac-like server for iCal, and iDisk access.
Remember, you always have 10.x, 192.x and friends to play with all you want at home. This article interests me because I have a stable of Macs on my internal network. Implementing this means that it is trivial to get folks to do regular backups, publish calendars and such without having to install any new software.
It's all about leveraging existing Apple software with open standards.
-- clvrmnky
But being able to use the pretty slick webmail for my own mail domain would be very useful as well, instead of having to forward to my mac.com address.
Well, if you use Entourage or Outlook Express, check this out. It'll give you web-based control of either of those mail apps, as well as iTunes. I haven't given it as thorough a test as i'd like yet, but if it's customizable enough, I'm hoping I can scrap the Entourage web access stuff I've written in AppleScript for my own use.
~Philly
I'd much rather they spend the time and make Apple Mail Server not suck. Maybe replace it with a GUI for Postfix or something. ;)
The DNS service works ok, you just need to tinker with vi & the zone files.
I'm sure they'll add a GUI to DNS eventually. It's been a commonly requested feature for quite a while now.
I always hate hearing this... IT'S A FRIGGIN' UNIX BOX!!! You can set it up to do anything a Unix box can do.
You can have it e-mail an obscene message to Apple or Microsoft when the backup finishes. You can have it DoS slashdot.com every five minutes. You can have it insert a different virus into each file after the backup has finished... You can do anything with it that you can do with Unix.
In conclusion: IT'S A FRIGGIN' UNIX BOX!!!
Slashdot gets worse every day... Pipedot: News for nerds, without the corporate slant
Ah, but I bought 10.0 server over a year ago, and am using the $20 10.1 upgrade to that. So I can't really complain. It's just that 10.2 doesn't do enough different than 10.1 for the stuff I do (file server, FTP, email).
I look forward to Apple figuring out compelling resons for me to give them my money (something they have an excellent record of with laptops...).
My video compression blog
What's wrong with the mail server? My needs aren't complex, but it's been running without a hitch for me for ages.
As for t"just tinker with via & the zone files," that is rather antithetical to whole reason why I'd use MacOS X Server in the first place! Back in the summer of 1989, I worked at a company that did banking software, and the whole company was on SCO. vi was the standard word processor!
I'm a pico man now.
My video compression blog
The point is that you can use a local, non-routable IP address for a fake .Mac server (or any server, for that matter), and you do not have to pay for a publicly routable static IP. This seemed to be a point of confusion for the top post of this thread.
I wasn't indicating anything else in my reply. The exact range you use and how to use it is left as an exercise for the reader.
-- clvrmnky
with AMS? Check out the Mac OS X Server mailing list (at lists.apple.com) archives. The vast majority of users have replaced it with Communigate Pro or Postfix/uw-imap/ipop3d
;) Like I said, I'm pretty sure they'll add some sort of GUI to the DNS server. It's a commonly requested feature and honestly, I can't think of a reason why they wouldn't take a stab at it with the next rev of OS X Server. I'm surprised that 10.2 Server didn't get an upgrade in that realm. At least 10.2 Server got webmail built in. :-)
*spam filtering is too limited
*pitiful support for multiple domains
*no logical way to add server-side mail filtering, like procmail or spamassassin.
*handles mail like ASIP used to.
It's fine for a small office, and I have my OS X Server getting mail for 1 subdomain that I've had for years, but now that they're touting it as they are, the mail server could definately use an upgrade.
And you can still use pico on the zone files!
If Apple sold the .Mac clients as a client-suite, they would have to commit
publically to open protocols, not merely use them. The way it is, they can
change things around whenever they like and leave any intranet that has come
to rely on them high-and-dry. And change around things they can because
of the update pipeline that every Internet-connected Mac more-or-less has
to subscribe to.
.Mac services for a
fraction of Apple's service. And intranets and corporate users would
end up using their own internal servers.
But Apple probably will never commit to using specific protocols that because then third parties could make a business of offering
If you think this is legitimate, maybe Apple will next start charging for iTunes. They can wipe it from your disk any time they please (through one of their software updates), and they never promised you that you could keep using it for free. Or maybe the whole OS will just stop working on Jan 1 2003--nobody ever guaranteed that you could keep using it indefinitely.
Actually, anyone who does this is simply using the software they own (it came with OS X, and they bought that, right?) in a manner inconsistent with its design.
.Mac service. You can download it when you sign up for the free trial account but the software disables itself when your trial account expires. By tricking the software into running after the account's expiration (by setting the trialAccountDaysLeft = -1) you are bypassing the subscription model of the software.
.Mac subscription which you are expected to PAY FOR. If it was bundled with the OS, you might have a leg to stand on. But it isn't. You have to sign up for the .Mac service in order to get the software. When your subscription ends, so does your right to use the software.
.Mac subscription from Apple. But the poster is not cheating Apple; he's not accessing their servers and using their services. And because he's not using THEIR servers, there's no reason that he should pay them anything.
.Mac backup software without paying for it doesn't mean it's legal either.
Here is where your argument is flawed. The software does NOT come with OSX. You get the backup software when you sign up for the
I don't give a flying fsck about intentions. Apple created a product and bundled it with their operating system;
Hello? Is your IQ above 40? The software is NOT bundled with the operating system. The software is bundled with the
Yes, a
This is ridiculous. So people should be free to use whatever software they want without paying the author as long as they aren't using any of the author's other services? Apple put money into developing the software with the SOLE intention of it being used by paying subscribers to their service. As I pointed out, they even went so far as to make the software disable itself if you stop paying for their service. Someone found a way to disable the subscription check by spoofing server information. That doesn't make it legitimate. It's like software that generates CD keys. Just because it is possible to run Windows without paying for it doesn't mean it's legal. Just because it's possible to run the
But you're out to get something for nothing and that's an attitude you just can't argue with. You feel entitled to something that someone else made and there's just no persuading you otherwise.
I actually run SUS at my work and it is very nice... but its a privacy concern for me at home.. I don't need to have microsoft know what I have at home or that I have two of my 4 computers using the same XP prof code even if they are legit and part of another corporate license and so forth... anyways thanks for the answer, SUS is a great product...
Neat. Under MacOS 9 you'll have to use a real WebDAV client (!= Network Browser) such as Goliath
In case someone is interested, I created a quick and dirty how-to here
You don't actually have to sign up for the .mac scam to get a copy. It's a free download from Apple's website. There aren't any restrictions on the download that I can see, but it has had it's functionality restricted to interoperate solely with .mac.
.mac service -- and anyone who says otherwise is a wanker!
This is just a nice little hack to provide additional functionality without taking anything away from either Apple or the
And here's where you're wrong:
You assumed that my argument referred solely to the backup program, and that it is only accessed by downloading software. I can tell you, right now, that when I booted my eMac for the first time one of the Applications sitting on my system was Backup, and it was designed to work with .Mac. Furthermore, even if the Backup program was only accessed via downloading, there are still plenty of other parts of .Mac that do not require a download; to make things even better, go read the license yourself and eat your post. The user is not obligated to fulfill Apple's intentions by downloading the software, and since nothing in the license explicitly prohibits using an alternate server, people are well within their rights to bypass Apple entirely.
Please, tell me how that's illegal.
got standards? --- http://www.w3.org/
I just want an iSync replacement server instead of .Mac. I find it odd that if I buy a third party handheld, I can sync to it just fine, but I need a .Mac account to sync to my Apple hardware (Powerbook). Doesn't this just discourage Powerbook and iBook sales in favor of PDAs for those people who are borderline (well, that would mostly be iBook sales, but still). Seems an odd approach to marketing to lose some $1000 sales to make a few $100 sales. As my dad was fond of saying, "If it doesn't help make a sale, don't do it!" I'll be waiting for the bean-counters to settle it out with the actuaries.
- Tjp
I am in wallow with my inner money grubbing capitalistic pig. ... Oink!
this is ancient news (and... didn't you gys already cover the o'reilly version ????).
- I am made of meat.
And on an unrelated note, 10.3 REALLY should include a graphical DNS admin. It's really jarring to have all these great, simple controls for the whole server experience, except DNS. Webmin works, but still, that's hardly the MacOS X vision!
If you want a good, easy to use DNS server, try MyDNS. It includes a nice PHP based web interface.
Quite informative. Thanks a bunch. I stand corrected. ;)
My vote's for fastmail too (postinbox is one of their secondary domain names).
Not sure what you mean, but I publish my iCal calendars to my WebDAV server all the time. This is actually unrelated to the iDisk-fake stuff in this article.
It's pure WebDAV, with a proper <LIMIT> section for the iCal directory. I can publish, and others can subscribe with iCal.
All done on an OpenBSD server.
-- clvrmnky
Speaking as someone who shelled out money for .Mac, I don't want my data going on Apple's servers... so this helps me without reducing the money Apple gets. Piracy? Or Fair use?
Of course, I've long been hoping that they'd roll out ".Mac for Corporations", or something, to push OS X Server. Sell you the software they use in .Mac (IMAP, DAV, web publishing, the whole bit), and let you provide the .Mac service to employees/clients/whatever. If it were per-seat, but cheaper than .Mac, they'd make money hand over fist because it was cheaper for end users and cheaper for Apple (and we IT guys would be able to eat the hardware cost pretty easily, too, because we wouldn't have as many clients as Apple).
--Matthew
You can sync your PDA and Apple hardware just fine using iSync, you just can't store the synched info on a remote server, unless you hack one up as described in other posts.
-- My Weblog.
That's why this is not a threat to .Mac - people like you who can see the added value of using the paid service that Apple is offering.
(Not to mention using Apple's incredible bandwidth to store the 50MB quicktime movie of the kids...)
This is just a sort of neat hack for those of us who like this kind of stuff...
-- My Weblog.