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. But many still need a terrestrial server and for predominantly Apple environments, a Server app running on OS X El Capitan isn’t exactly a bad idea. There are a number of protocols built into OS X Server dedicated to serving files, including AFP, SMB and WebDAV. These services, combined comprise the File Sharing service in OS X Server running El Capitan or…
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Xsan Command Line Options
Let’s start out with what’s actually available in the Server Admin CLI: serveradmin. The serveradmin command, followed by settings, followed by san shows a few pieces of information: bash-3.2# serveradmin settings san san:computers = _empty_array san:primaryController = "95C99FB1-80F2-5016-B9C3-BE3916E6E5DC" san:ownerEmail = "krypted@me.com" san:sanName = "krypted" san:desiredSearchPolicy:_array_index:0 = "" san:serialNumbers = _empty_array san:dsType = 0 san:ownerName = "Charles Edge" san:managePrivateNetwork = yes san:metadataNetwork = "10.0.0.0/24" san:numberOfFibreChannelPorts = 2 san:role = "CONTROLLER" Here, we see the metadata network, the GUID of the primary (active) MDC, the name of the SAN, an array of serial numbers (if applicable – in a purely Mountain Lion/Mavericks SAN they aren’t), the owner info plugged in earlier and the metadata network interface being used. Next, we’ll take a peak at…
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Change Log Paths In OS X Server 5
The logs in Xcode Server (Server 5 for El Capitan and Yosemite) by default point to /Library/Server/XcodeLogs/credserver.log. This takes all of the output from xcscredd and xcscredhandler. If you’re doing a lot of debugging then logs can be pointed to another location, such as another drive. The path to the logs is defined in the /Applications/Server.app/Contents/ServerRoot/System/Library/LogConfiguration directory. The file to edit is a standard property list, XCSCredentialServer.plist: <?xml version=”1.0″ encoding=”UTF-8″?> <!DOCTYPE plist PUBLIC “-//Apple//DTD PLIST 1.0//EN” “http://www.apple.com/DTDs/PropertyList-1.0.dtd”> <plist version=”1.0″> <dict> <key>claimedFacilities</key> <array> <string>servermgrd</string> <string>servermgr-listener</string> <string>servermgr-notify</string> </array> <key>claimedSenders</key> <array> <string>servermgrd</string> <string>servermgr-listener</string> <string>servermgr-notify</string> </array> <key>logMaximumLevel</key> <string>debug</string> <key>logPath</key> <string>/Library/Server/Logs/servermgrd.log</string> </dict> </plist> Once open, look for a key called logPath. Change that to the…
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Official Help Documentation for OS X Server 5
I’ve written plenty about OS X Server 5 here on https://krypted.com/ but way more effort went into the official documentation. There’s lots of nuggets here at: http://help.apple.com/serverapp/mac/getstarted/5.0/ Enjoy!
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Configure The Mail Service in OS X Server 5
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 OS X Server 5 for El Capitan and Yosemite, 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 a systems administrator of a large number of mail servers, I firmly believe that there is a special kind of hell where…
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Setup FTP in OS X Server 5 for El Capitan and Yosemite
OS X Server 5 (for El Capitan and Yosemite) sees little change with the FTP Service. Instead of sharing out each directory the new incantation of the FTP service allows administrators to share a single directory out. This directory can be any share that has previously been configured in the File Sharing service or a website configured in the Websites service. To setup FTP, first open the Server app and then click on the FTP service. Once open, use the Share: drop-down list to select a share that already exists (output of sharing -l basically) and click on one of the shares or Custom to create a new share for FTP.…
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Use Time Machine Server in OS X Server 5
The Time Machine service in OS X Server 5 hasn’t changed much from the service in previous operating systems. To enable the Time Machine service, open the Server app, click on Time Machine in the SERVICES sidebar. If the service hasn’t been enabled to date, the ON/OFF switch will be in the OFF position and no “Backup destination” will be shown in the Settings pane. Click on the ON button to see the New Destination screen, used to configure a list of volumes as a destinations for Time Machine backups. The selection volume should be large enough to have space for all of the users that can potentially use the Time…
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Configure Messages Server in OS X Server 5
Getting started with Messages Server couldn’t really be easier. Messages Server in the OS X Server 5 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…
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Manage the VPN Service in Mac OS X Server 5
OS X Server has long had a VPN service that can be run. The server is capable of running the two most commonly used VPN protocols: PPTP and L2TP. The L2TP protocol is always in use, but the server can run both concurrently. You should use L2TP when at all possible. Sure, “All the great themes have been used up and turned into theme parks.” But security is a theme that it never hurts to keep in the forefront of your mind. If you were thinking of exposing the other services in OS X Server to the Internet without having users connect to a VPN service then you should think again,…
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Using the serverinfo Command in OS X Server 5
OS X Server 5 (for El Capitan and Yosemite) comes with the /usr/sbin/serverinfo command (introduced in Mountain Lion Server). The serverinfo command is useful when programmatically obtaining information about the very basic state of an Apple Server. The first option indicates whether the Server app has been downloaded from the app store, which is the –software option: serverinfo --software When used, this option reports the following if the Server.app can be found: This system has server software installed. Or if the software cannot be found, the following is indicated: This system does NOT have server software installed. The –productname option determines the name of the software app: serverinfo --productname If…