Hi all This is just one of those occasions when I really wish I could just bury myself under a rock and disappear. it's an error on my part which was probably due to a typo when I created the database entry way back in 2010.
Unfortunately, tomorrow it seems that our SSL certificate for the mail server mail.tft-bbs.co.uk is due to expire. As you may or may not be aware we are gradually phasing out the tft-bbs domains. 2 Of them have already expired; tft-bbs.com and tft-bbs.org.uk. It was intended that by the time the tft-bbs.co.uk certificate elapsed, (which I had on record as 13 July 2014), the mail and other services would have been switched over to a new domain more in keeping with what we are doing at present. In fact, I had intended that mac-access.net would replace the tft-bbs.co.uk domain for all services. And it is there, in the year column of the database, where I have made the error. Instead of expiring on 13 July 2014, the certificate actually expires on 13 July 2013 which, as you obviously are aware, is tomorrow. Even with this error in place, the switch-over would have been completed by now if, and it's a big if, Apple had not tinkered around with all of the server-side applications, making it far more difficult for an administrator who requires more than what Apple considers the standard services required by a company operating an Ingtranet. In other words, Apple has removed many of the useful elements of its server application and made others much more difficult to customise. The latter group includes both mail and web applications. Apache is one area where Apple has tinkered so much with the configuration data that it's becoming almost impossible to find it to make manual adjustments to services. They seem to think that all administrator will require no more than the jazzy new graphical tools they provide one with which to work in a corporate environment. Thus, I am having problems configuring websites to function in the new incarnation of Server. I would have been quite happy to simply renew the certificate and continue using the existing service. However, we have a problem there too. Since we no longer possess such a thing as a USB mouse, it is impossible for Lynne to upgrade the certificate for me. The process of doing that is, and has always been, inaccessible under Snow Leopard and earlier versions of Server. All this leaves me in a really difficult situation. Since I cannot cross-grade and I cannot upgrade, I'm stuck! Until I can find some way of having somebody with vision help me to upgrade the certificate on the old system remotely, or unless we can find a version of Apple Remote Desktop which is Mountain Lion compatible so that Lynne can access the server remotely, I'm stuck. All this means that there may bee some undesirable behaviour regarding mail and your clients for a while, until I can get this darn thing fixed! I am prepared to extend the lifetime of the tft-bbs.co.uk certificate by 12 months which, I hope, should make it possible for me to finish the task of switching over the services we offer to a new server. In the mean time, please accept my humble apologies for the error. It was a simple typing error, but it has now resulted in possible kayos for a while. OK, let me go find that rock under which I can curl up and hide for a while. You're within your rights to call me a bungler on this occasion, I really stuffed up big time! Kind regards <--- Gordon Smith ---> <--- Mac Access At Mac Access Dot Net ---> To reply to this post, please address your message to mac-access@mac-access.net You can find an archive of all messages posted to the Mac-Access forum at either the list's own dedicated web archive: <http://mail.tft-bbs.co.uk/pipermail/mac-access/index.html> or at the public Mail Archive: <http://www.mail-archive.com/mac-access@mac-access.net/>. Subscribe to the list's RSS feed from: <http://www.mail-archive.com/mac-access@mac-access.net/maillist.xml> As the Mac Access Dot Net administrators, we do our very best to ensure that the Mac-Access E-Mal list remains malware, spyware, Trojan, virus and worm-free. However, this should in no way replace your own security strategy. We assume neither liability nor responsibility should something unpredictable happen. Please remember to update your membership preferences periodically by visiting the list website at: <http://mail.tft-bbs.co.uk/mailman/listinfo/mac-access/options/>
