sw_vers - Mac OS X system version information

sw_vers prints version information about the Mac OS X or Mac OS X Server operating system running on the local machine. The build version number is included in the standard out and this command could be helpful for categorizing or maintaining specific disk images or different specialized builds of the OS.

server:~ user$ sw_vers ProductName: Mac OS X Server ProductVersion: 10.4.10 BuildVersion: 8R2218b

SW_VERS(1) BSD General Commands Manual SW_VERS(1) NAME sw_vers -- print Mac OS X operating system version information SYNOPSIS sw_vers sw_vers -productName sw_vers -productVersion sw_vers -buildVersion DESCRIPTION sw_vers prints version information about the Mac OS X or Mac OS X Server operating system running on the local machine. When executed with no options sw_vers prints a short list of version properties: % sw_vers ProductName: Mac OS X ProductVersion: 10.3 BuildVersion: 7A100 The ProductName property provides the name of the operating system release (typically either "Mac OS X" or "Mac OS X Server"). The ProductVersion property defines the version of the operating system release (for example, "10.2.4" or "10.3"). The BuildVersion property provides the specific revision of the operating system as generated by the Mac OS X build system. OPTIONS The output of sw_vers can be refined by the following options. -productName Print just the value of the ProductName property. -productVersion Print just the value of the ProductVersion property. -buildVersion Print just the value of the BuildVersion property. EXAMPLES % sw_vers -productName Mac OS X % sw_vers -productVersion 10.3 % sw_vers -buildVersion 7A100 FILES /System/Library/CoreServices/SystemVersion.plist /System/Library/CoreServices/ServerVersion.plist Mac OS X March 10, 2003 Mac OS X

Open Directory and .htpasswd

Fascinating! I worked on a project* once that involved a complete rewrite of the command-line utility passwd in order to keep a number of system services including a .htpasswd file in sync with users account passwords. Mac OS X Hints noted this is made simple with Mac OS X Leopard (10.5) and Open Directory.

Virtualized Xserver

Media Temple labs has a private beta for what it’s calling Xserve-Virtual . This system has been added quickly added to my MT wish list along with the Django GridContainer which, perhaps I wont need if I move over to a full-on-mirror of my development environment using a virtual OS X Server.

A virtual Mac OS X Leopard Server running on a fully loaded cluster of Xserves virtualized using Parallels Server . I want one, … or three, … yeah that should be enough …. maybe four, for symmetry.

Fedora 9 root password mismatch resolution

Having started my journey down the command-line with Fedora 3, I was excited to try out Fedora 9. The install completed with ease (the first time around) but once I logged onto the system and attempted to configure some of the system settings, my root password didn’t work.

Why? CAPS LOCK bit was set by default during the install process making a different root password.