DHCP, or Dynamic Host Control Protocol, is the service used to hand out IP addresses and other network settings by network appliances and servers. The DHCP Server built into macOS Server 5.2 on Sierra is similar to the DHCP service that was included in Server 10.2 from the good ‘ole Panther days. It’s pretty simple to use and transparent, just as DHCP services should be. To install the service, open the Server app and then click on the Show button beside Advanced in the server sidebar. Then click on DHCP. At the DHCP screen, you’ll see two tabs: Settings, used for managing the service and Clients, used to see leases in…
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Using The Messages Service In macOS Server 5.2
Getting started with Messages Server couldn’t really be easier. Messages Server in the macOS Server 5.2 version of the Server app uses the open source jabber project as their back-end code base. The jabber binary is located at /Applications/Server.app/Contents/ServerRoot/private/var/jabberd directory and the autobuddy binary is at /Applications/Server.app/Contents/ServerRoot/usr/bin/jabber_autobuddy. The actual jabberd binary is also stored at /Applications/Server.app/Contents/ServerRoot/usr/libexec/jabberd, where there are a couple of perl scripts used to migrate the service between various versions as well. Setting up the Messages service is simple. Open the Server app and click on Messages in the Server app sidebar.  Click on the Edit… button for the Permissions. Here, define which users and interfaces are allowed to…
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Manage The Contacts Service In macOS Server 5.2 Sierra
Every Mac by default has an application called Contacts. macOS Server 5.2, running on Sierra, has a service called Contacts. While the names might imply very different things that they do, you’ll be super-surprised that the two are designed to work with one another. The Contacts service is based on CardDAV, a protocol for storing contact information on the web, retrievable and digestible by client computers. However, there is a layer of database-driven obfuscation between the Contacts service and CardDAV. The Contacts service is also a conduit with which to read information from LDAP and display that information in the Contacts client, which is in a way similar to how the Global Address List…
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Reset an Unresponsive Server 5.2 on macOS Sierra
The Server 5 app that installs on Sierra is great. But sometimes a change doesn’t get committed properly or has a mismatch with a certificate, and the server doesn’t respond properly… I know, you’ve been told that host name changes and IP changes are all kinds of OK at this point; “look, Charles, there’s a button!” Well, go ahead, click it. Don’t mind me, you might just be alright. But then again, you might not if you’re running Open Directory, Profile Manager, or a few other services… When it works it’s a thing of beauty. But when it doesn’t, you might be restoring some stuff from backup. But just before you…
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Configure The Mail Service In macOS Server 5.2
Mail is one of the hardest services to manage. Actually, mail is pretty simple in and of itself: there’s protocols people use to access their mail (such as IMAP and POP), protocols used to communicate between mail servers and send mail (SMTP, SMTPS) and then there’s a database of mail and user information. In macOS Server 5.2 for Sierra, all of these are represented by a single ON button, so it really couldn’t be easier. But then there’s the ecoysystem and the evil spammers. As the former systems administrator of a large number of mail servers, I firmly believe that there is a special kind of hell where only spam is…
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Manage File Services In macOS Server 5.2
File Services are perhaps the most important aspect of any server because file servers are often the first server an organization purchases. This has been changing over the past few years, with many a file being hosted by cloud solutions, such as Box, Dropbox, Google Drive, and of course, iCloud. And rightfully so. But many still need a terrestrial server and for predominantly Apple environments, a macOS Server running on Sierra isn’t exactly a bad idea (for many it is, so whatever there). There are a number of protocols built into macOS Server dedicated to serving files, including AFP, SMB and WebDAV. These services, combined comprise the File Sharing service in macOS Server…
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Use The Software Update Service In macOS Server 5.2
The software patching configuration built into most operating systems is configured so that all a user has to do is open a box at home, join the network and start using the computer right away. As environments grow from homes to small offices and then small offices grow into enterprises, at some point software updates and patches need to be managed centrally. OS X Server 5.2 (on Sierra), as with its macOS Server predecessors has a Software Update service. The service in the Server app is known as Software Update and from the command line is known as swupdate. The Software Update service, by default, stores each update in the /var/db/swupd…
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Add a VPP Token to Profile Manager
In order to use the Apple Volume Purchase Program (VPP), you will need an MDM solution (Profile Manager, Casper, MobileIron, Meraki, FileWave, etc). The same program is used for device-based VPP or user-based VPP. One change since 10.11 is that there are now two programs, which is meant to simplify the experience of setting up your 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…
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Configure Alerts In macOS Server 5.2
macOS Server 5.2, running on Sierra, comes with a few new alerting options previously unavailable in versions of OS X. The alerts are sent to administrators via servermgrd and configured in the 5th version of the Server app. To configure alerts on the server, open the Server app and then click on Alerts in the Server app sidebar. Next, click on the Delivery tab. At the Delivery screen, click on the Edit button for Email Addresses and enter every email address that should receive alerts sent from the server. Then click on the Edit button for Push Notifications. Here, check the box for each administrator of the server. The email address on file…
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Configure Xcode Server On macOS Server 5.2
Apple developers in growing development teams invariably need a continuous integration system. This automates the build, analysis, and testing solution for software development using Xcode. macOS Server has an Xcode service, capable of integrating your developer account with git, providing many of the options required to build a continuous integration system. Before you configure the Xcode service that can take committed code and then test and build your software, you’ll need an Apple developer account. The Xcode service then links git to a developer account and runs automations, referred to as bots, in Xcode. Therefore, you’ll also need to have Xcode installed on the computer running the Xcode service. Bots are then managed and reported on using a…