14 DAY TRIAL // Yesterday, Apple released Mac OS X 10.6.5, the fifth maintenance and security update to its Snow Leopard operating system. Available in both Client and Server form, OS X 10.6.5 is recommended for all users running Mac OS X Snow Leopard and includes general operating system fixes that enhance the stability, compatibility, and security of your Mac.
Weighing in on the Mac OS X 10.6.5 update for Snow Leopard Server users, Apple reveals on the Support area of its web site that “This update includes improvements listed below, as well as ones delivered with the Mac OS X Server version 10.6.1, 10.6.2, 10.6.3 and 10.6.4 updates.”
For Chat Service, Apple was able to fix an issue that could prevent Chat Service from starting after a system update, while Chat Service now responds correctly if the server hostname is changed.
On the Client Management side, OS X 10.6.5 Server provides the ability to manage IPP print queues, enables management of iChat preferences, using the com.apple.iChat preference manifest, enables management of iCal preferences, using the com.apple.iCal preference manifest, and supports the creation of an external account with a home directory on a FAT32 filesystem, to name a few important changes.
Directory Services users will see the reliability of Directory Services improved. Apple claims to have fixed issues that prevented users from authenticating, or caused other services to stop responding.
10.6.5 also improves the reliability of Open Directory and Password Server replication.
Finally, administrators can now import user records that contain a period in the user's short name. The ldap_start_tls function has been fixed as well.
One Mail Service improvement is documented. According to Apple, the 10.6.5 update eliminates extraneous "user exists more than once" message from Mail Service in system.log.
Podcast Service updates include an improved Podcast Producer setup, enabling Active Directory users to publish podcasts to the Wiki Service, and a tweak in Podcast Capture which make it ask about storing a password in keychain only once.
The Software Update Service now properly allows administrators to host older updates (such as Mac OS X v10.6.4) after a superseding update (such as 10.6.5) is released, the changelog reveals on.
Updates PHP to version 5.3.3 are mentioned for Web Service users. Similar maintenance tweaks are listed for Wiki Service and Web Calendar, Xsan, Server Admin, and System Image Utility.
As with every system update to Mac OS X, Apple also included a bunch of security fixes which Softpedia will be analyzing later on through the day.
Finally, the Cupertino-based electronics and software company confirms that Mac OS X Server 10.6.5 also includes all the improvements delivered in the Client version of Mac OS X 10.6.5.