As we begin, if you haven't already, you'll need to install the Apple Developer's Tools from your OS X install DVD, or download the latest from the Apple Developer Connection. If you don't have a membership, it's free to join the ADC. The Tools are needed to, amongst other things, compile our webserver applications, which requires GCC, a popular open source compiler. Also worthy of note, the Tools come with Xcode, a useful application for editing code (though I personally use and love Smultron), which is how we'll be configuring settings for our installations later on, which are usually written in xml format.

Next, open the NetInfo Manager, located in /Applications/Utilities/. It's not an app which is popular or often used, but we need to establish and secure the root user account before we continue. Once within the application, under the Security dropdown menu, authenticate using your administrator's password.

Then, from the same dropdown menu, enable the root user. You should see an alert box notifying you that the root password is currently blank, and you will be prompted to create one. As this account has unlimited privileges, your password should be difficult. This is not something to take lightly if you value what's on your machine! Once you've finished enabling the root account, you can quit the NetInfo Manager.

With the precursory steps now finished, we can move forward to downloading our source code packages...