14 DAY TRIAL // Apple this week released an incremental update to OS X Server customers addressing issues with log files and CPU usage by Profile Manager. The company makes no mention of these fixes in the official release notes.
We reported earlier today that Apple rolled out OS X Server 3.1.1 with the same set of changes as noted by the Mac maker last week, when OS X Server 3.1 was deployed.
A Support document regarding font profiles with payload larger than 2MB seemed to indicate at least one fix present in this release, but according to a thread on Apple Support Communities, the reason for updating Server to 3.1.1 was another one altogether.
Several customers discussing on the respective thread indicate that Server 3.1 suffers from a problem involving Profile Manager logs and high CPU usage. At least two users claim to have spoken to Apple and reportedly confirmed the issue with the mother ship.
“I just got off the phone with Apple Enterprise support about the Server 3.1 Profile Manager log issue (my server had a 455GB php.log this morning!),” writes one frustrated user.
Apple Enterprise reportedly handed him a couple of SQL statements to use as a temporary fix.
“A fix is in the works allegedly, the above commands take care of it for 1 month,” this person added.
User ceotjoe says, “It's not just regarding the logs. In my case Profile Manager sent pushs like [expletive] to all devices. I noticed it, because my iPhone drained a lot of power in only a few hours. Examining the logs of the iPhone showed mdmd getting push notifications all the time.”
“This caused installd (it had a couple of hours CPU time, which seemed very unsusual for me comparing to the other processes) running also consuming a lot of CPU and in the end draining the battery. Applying the two SQL statements mentioned in this thread also fixed the exessive [sic] pushing in my case,” adds ceotjoe.
One customer who has spoken with Apple Enterprise Support claims to have received the following notice from the company: “It appears though that the log files and CPU usage from profile manager should be resolved in 3.1.1, which was released today.”
So there you have it. In case you were wondering why OS X Server 3.1.1 came about, this seems to be the reason. However, it wouldn’t hurt to have an official explanation from Apple. Download OS X Server 3.1.1 and apply the patch today.