Ed Palma

Q: Caching Server 2 Has Broken Geolocation

OS X Maverick 10.9 Server 3.0 Caching Server 2 is a great idea: Create automatic local caches for all Apple Content.  Unfortunately it has one big undocumented flaw.  Caching server uses IP geolocation to avoid caching objects not available to be sold in other countries.  More than that it restricts its cache to objects available in the store that it thinks your IP is from and will not serve cached content to an Apple account associated with a different store local.

 

After wrestling for a week trying to get iOS and Mac App Store content to cache I did a simple experiment.  I created a new AppleID with no credit card and without changing the default country (India).  Caching server worked!  I downloaded an the free iOS app of the week and it loaded into the cache.  But when I switched to my US Apple ID and downloaded the same App it did not come from the cahce.  Switching back to the India Apple ID and the App came from the local cache again.

 

It's the same for iOS and Mac Apps.  The unfortunate part is that Apple's geolocation isn't even right.  I am in Mozambique, Africa, no where near India.  Our local provider, Movitel, is correctly identified by many other IP geolocation services but Apple thinks we are in India.  If I switch the App store account to another country, caching stops working.  We have a satellite backup for which the hub is in Switzerland but most geolocation services mark it as Italy.  Still, that's the wrong continent.

 

If you're having difficulties with caching server outside the US, create a new Apple ID and chack what the default country is (the flag on the bottom right of the create account page)  You may be having the same issue.

 

It's particularly tragic because bandwidth is so expensive here 1Mbit/s is $1130/month.  So caching server is a very valuable asset.

 

My recommendation to apple is to allow the cache to store objects from any country for which the requesting Apple ID has a billing address.  Moreover, objects that are the same across multiple countries should be stored as a single object in the cache and provided to any Apple ID with a billing address in any one of the multiple countries for which it is available.

 

The simplest way to do it is just drop your GeoFencing.  It's not the nature of the internet and causes the greatest harm to the locations that need caching the most.  We are a multinational NGO/aid organization, each day we have 130 devices sharing 1Mb/s of bandwidth and in the last 6 months people from over 29 nations, most of whom carry an iPhone, iPad or a MacBook.  We are the ultimate use case for caching server, please make it work.

 

We have a static IP

Our block on ARIN: http://whois.arin.net/rest/net/NET-197-0-0-0-1

freegeoip.net says we're in Mozambique

iplocation.net says we're in Mozambique and correctly identifies our ISP as Movitel SA, but in a city 2000km away

geobytes.com thinks we're in Italy (?)

Apple thinks this is India but also occationally South Africa, I wonder what caching server does when it changes it's mind about our IP?

Posted on Nov 8, 2013 11:45 PM

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Q: Caching Server 2 Has Broken Geolocation

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  • by rj_pc2,

    rj_pc2 rj_pc2 Nov 9, 2013 10:23 AM in response to Ed Palma
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    Nov 9, 2013 10:23 AM in response to Ed Palma

    I'm having the same issue in Nigeria. I desperately want this to work because of severe bandwidth restrictions, but it's useless with the geo restrictions. The only thing that works to any useful extent is OS X software updates.

     

    Apple, please drop the geo fencing in the caching server!

  • by chugues,

    chugues chugues Nov 9, 2013 5:45 PM in response to rj_pc2
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    Nov 9, 2013 5:45 PM in response to rj_pc2

    Same issue in French Polynesia.

  • by shuether,

    shuether shuether Nov 14, 2013 8:28 AM in response to Ed Palma
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    Nov 14, 2013 8:28 AM in response to Ed Palma

    Seems to be the same here in Canada. I contacted Apple Support and after checking my public IP they said they are aware of the problem.

  • by jsniskanen,

    jsniskanen jsniskanen Mar 6, 2014 9:36 AM in response to Ed Palma
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    Mar 6, 2014 9:36 AM in response to Ed Palma

    Is this still an issue?  Has Apple implemented any fixes for US users who are outside the country?

  • by Tariq Rashid,

    Tariq Rashid Tariq Rashid Jun 3, 2014 5:07 AM in response to Ed Palma
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    Jun 3, 2014 5:07 AM in response to Ed Palma

    I am in pakistan and also facing same issue. Apple should do something about this. Apps from my US store are not cached but apps from my pakistan based ID cached pefectally, But my huge used account is from US and i have bough thousads of apps from the US ID. it is ridiculous.

     

    Apple please do something to solve this.

  • by kjtooke,

    kjtooke kjtooke Nov 26, 2014 10:13 AM in response to Ed Palma
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    Nov 26, 2014 10:13 AM in response to Ed Palma

    Similar problem here...

     

    I only use OS X Server for Caching to reduce broadband usage on which we have a cap (we pay for over-usage). Prior to the following it contained many GB of data...

     

    I had to transfer a file securely from this server to another location, so used a VPN to establish the connection to the other Mac which is in another country (though also in Europe) (temporarily routing all traffic over the VPN - no other users at this hour). Now my cache is EMPTY, even after disabling the VPN...!

     

    I can understand why Apple wants/needs to use geofencing, but they should only prevent access to the data when the IP shows as being outside 'the fence' - not delete it completely...!

     

    This has rendered OS X Server useless for me...