10 Essential Mac Tools for Enterprise Network Admins

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10 essential Mac tools for enterprise networkadmins10 PhotosDec 08, 2010 11:57 AM PST

CCIE and Mac enthusiast Brandon Carroll lists his must-have apps for network admins whouse a Mac and live in the Cisco World.

Zoc6 (via Emtec)

1 of 10

I've been an avid Mac user for a number of years now. I don't know what it is that makes theMac so appealing to me, but I know its tightly related to the quality of the applications thatI own and the usefulness of them. I'd like to share with you my top 10 must-have apps forsomeone who uses a Mac and lives in the Cisco World.Zoc6 is a fantastic terminal application that supports SSH, Telnet, SCP and Direct Consoleaccess. Since the Mac doesn't have a serial port and I need access to the console port ofmy routers and firewalls I went with a Keyspan USB adapter that I can then use to connect

http://content.techrepublic.com.com/2346-12849_11-490194.html

http://content.techrepublic.com.com/2346-12849_11-490194.html

http://www.emtec.com/zoc/index.html


a console cable to my Mac. The I use Zoc6 to connect to the CLI. Sure you can use screen,but its limited in its features and with Zoc6's scripting capability and it's ability to record youactions and save them as a script as well I love this app. One other aspect I appreciateis the colored tabs to indicate different connections. I like to quickly be able to identify myfavorite connections and the color coding helps me to do that.


iTerm (via Sourceforge)

2 of 10

I had to list iTerm here because I like it a lot, and I use it frequently. It's not my ideal terminalapplication, however, it is solid and gets the job done. It works well for telnet and sshconnections as well as your standard shell workflows, but it doesn't have an easy serialconnection capability that I have found, other than screen.

http://iterm.sourceforge.net/


ipcal (via Darwinports)

3 of 10

ipcalc is one of those little apps that are just handy. Basically what you have here is asubnet calculator that hides itself well. Being that I am on the command line most of the timeanyhow I appreciate simple command line utilities like this. Give it an address and mask andit will break down the Address, Netmask, Wildcard Mask [Useful in creating ACLs] as well asthe Network address, First Host, Last Host, and Broadcast address. Top it off with a decimaland binary representation of both and you have everything you were supposed to learn asan CCNA right in front of your eyes.

http://ipcalc.darwinports.com/


Omnigraffle (via the Omni Group)

4 of 10

Omnigraffle is the best alternative to Visio for the Mac. In fact, it's one of the only onesI've found. It's very powerful and even has an iPad version. If you have to create networkdiagrams this is the app for you.

http://www.omnigroup.com/products/omnigraffle/


Wireshark (via Wireshark.org)

5 of 10

It's a no-brainer that Wireshark makes my list. I've used Wireshark since back in the"Ethereal" days and I can't go without it. If you are doing something like Flexible PacketMatching [FPM] on a Router or even configuring the Modular Policy Framework [MPF] on anASA, Wireshark is your best friend. If you don't have it, what are you using currently?

http://www.wireshark.org/download.html


CorD (via Sourceforge)

6 of 10

CorD is a great app for accessing Remote Desktop devices and picks up where theWindows Version for Mac falls short. Basically this little app gives you a nice drawer tohouse all of your saved connections and allows you to easily switch between them.

http://cord.sourceforge.net/


TextWrangler (via Bare Bones)

7 of 10

If you spend a lot of time looking at config files then TextWrangler is a great free app. Ithighlights the lines you are looking at and has good find/replace capabilities. I've tried otherapps and for some reason I always go back to this one. It's simple and effective and for thatreason I don't see a real need to waste time looking at anything else.

http://www.barebones.com/products/textwrangler/


Transmit (via Panic)

8 of 10

When copying files to and from servers I recommend using Transmit. This well designedFTP/SFTP/WebDAV/S3 client is packet with power. I personally use the folders to savefavorites. I like the fact that it supports Amazon S3 and also how it allows me to easilyaccess my iDisk.

http://www.panic.com/transmit/


iStumbler (via iStumbler.net)

9 of 10

Work in an Wireless Environment or just interested in what else is out there? iStumbler takescare of that for you. This app is similar to the Windows Application "Network Stumbler" butit's free and it does what I need it to do.

http://www.istumbler.net/


Nmap (via Darwinports)

10 of 10

Nmap comes in handy if you want to find out what services are enabled on a particularserver. I use this when I create firewall rules so that I can ensure that I either allow or denyports based on what's needed, not what's open. I also use Nmap to make sure that mynetwork doesn't have anything out there that's listening but that I don't expect to be there.?Well that's my top 10. Please feel free to add you own in the comments section.?

http://nmap.darwinports.com/

10 Essential Mac Tools for Enterprise Network Admins

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