In an earlier article, I mentioned that MAMP Pro was still the best native GUI for managing web services on the Mac, now that macOS Server will no longer serve up those patchy services. After we cover the management in this article, you’ll likely understand why it comes it at $59. So you’ve installed MAMP. And you need more than the few basic buttons available there. So MAMP Pro came with it and you can try it for a couple of weeks for free. When you open MAMP Pro, you’ll see a screen where you can perform a number of management tasks. This is a more traditional side-bar-driven screen that…
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Migrating the Mail Service From macOS Server
Migrating from macOS Mail Server is going to be one of the stranger migrations you might do. Why? Unless you’re moving to basically a custom build of the same tools used in macOS Server (which you’d do by forklifting /Library/Server/Mail/ into a postfix environment and putting the various components Apple changed at compile-time back together), the process for moving to a modern system is going to rely on IMAP and look a little like this: Get a list of accounts Provide the password for each account Setup an initial sync of mailbox contents Look for errors On the day that you cut MX records, do another sync On the day…
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Migrating Data From The Apple Wiki Server
“Taking a new step, uttering a new word, is what people fear most.” ― Fyodor Dostoyevsky, Crime and Punishment The Apple Wiki Server is sadly going away. I always liked this service. It was thoughtfully designed and looked much nicer than most of the other tools available out there. Sure, you couldn’t write articles offline, write in markdown, or do a lot of other things that I’ve learned to both love and hate from other solutions, but honestly it always felt the most Apple of services in macOS Server because it didn’t have every-single-checkbox. So, I’ll pour a little Jaëger on the ground in memory of the wiki server and…
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macOS Server Changes Coming Soon To A Server Near You
Many of the people that read my articles undoubtedly arleady know this, but Apple has announced a sharp reduction in the number of services provided. Per this article, the Calendar, Contacts, DHCP, DNS, Mail, Messages, NetInstall, VPN, Websites, and Wiki services are being deprecated and Apple has provided a few services, per service, that they recommend moving to. Those services, per the above article, include the following: Calendar Calendar and Contacts Server DavMail Radicale Contacts Calendar and Contacts Server DavMail Citadel DHCP Kea Dnsmasq FreeRADIUS DNS BIND Unbound KnotDNS Mail KerioConnect dovecot/Postfix Courier Messages ejabberd Openfire Prosody NetInstall NetSUS BSDPy VPN OpenVPN SoftEther VPN Tcpcrypt Websites Apache HTTP Server Nginx Lighttpd…
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Setup The Caching Service On macOS High Sierra
High Sierra sees the Caching service moved out of macOS Server and into the client macOS. This means administrators no longer need to run the Server app on caching servers. Given the fact that the Caching service only stores volatile data easily recreated by caching updates again, there’s no need to back the service up, and it doesn’t interact with users or groups, so it’s easily divested from the rest of the Server services. And the setup of the Caching service has never been easier. To do so, first open System Preferences and click on the Sharing System Preferences pane. From here, click on the checkbox for Content Caching to…
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Demote an Open Directory Server using the Server app
macOS Server 5.4 running on High Sierra can have problems with Open Directory. Sometimes, you just need to reset your directory service. You can demote and restore the server if needed. But buyer beware, you may end up screwing things up while the directory server is being demoted and you’re restoring a backup. Or if you haven’t built out the directory server, you may end up just demoting the server and starting over. In this article, we’ll look at demoting the server. Note: If you demote the service, and you don’t have a replica, you will destroy all users and groups. To get started demoting the Open Directory master, first open the…
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Getting Help With Server 5.4
macOS Server 5.4, running on High Sierra, comes complete with lots of awesome features. And these features are made easier with some documentation to help you get up and running, started and owning the configuration of Apple Servers. One such is the built-in options to help manage your servers. Open Server, click Help, then click Server Help. You can then search and browse for information about things you’d like to accomplish using the Help Center. Now, click the arrow for each service for information about configuring that service. And just like that, simple and easy-to-use documentation, available live on macOS Server, guiding you to accessing the features you need. You…
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Backup the Settings on macOS Server 5.4 Running on High Sierra
In past versions of this guide, I covered Time Machine Server. Here, we’re going to look at backing up the settings of a macOS Server using Bender. To do so, we’re going to install a little app called Bender from the great folks at Robot Cloud. You can download that from http://robotcloud.screenstepslive.com/s/2459/m/5322/l/94467-bender-automated-backup-of-os-x-server-settings. Once downloaded, run the package installer. At the Welcome to Bender screen, click Continue. Agree to the licensing agreement by clicking the Continue button. Click Agree again (assuming of course that you agree to the license). Choose who you wish to install the software for and click Continue. I’d go ahead and install Bender at the default location,…
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Add A VPP Token To Profile Manager On macOS Server
In order to use the Apple Volume Purchase Program (VPP), you will need an MDM solution (Profile Manager, Jamf Pro, MobileIron, Meraki, FileWave, etc). The same program is used for device-based VPP or user-based VPP. There are two programs, which is meant to simplify the experience of setting up an MDM solution and long-term maintenance. The first is the traditional VPP account, available to companies and other non-educational environments that have a DUNS number. The second is the newer Apple School Manager, for educational institutions. Before starting to buy apps and associating those apps from an MDM solution, there are a few things you should know. The first is that…
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Manage Groups In macOS Server 5.4 Running On High Sierra
There are a couple of ways to create groups in macOS Server 5.4, running on High Sierra. The first is using the Server app, the second is using the Users & Groups System Preference pane and the third is using the command line. In this article we will look at creating groups in the directory service with the Server app. Once a server has been an Open Directory Master all user and group accounts created will be in the Local Network Group when created in Server app. Before that, all user and group objects are stored locally when created in Server app. Once promoted to an Open Directory server, groups are created in the…