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 Server app and click on Open Directory.
From the Open Directory screen, click on the minus button in the Servers section. When prompted to Delete the directory service, click on the Delete button.
You’ll then see that the server is demoting.
Once the process is complete, you’ll be able to setup a new directory server, back at the initial Open Directory screen. The process takes awhile, so be patient.
Note: This process can fail on Open Directory replicas. Make sure you can ssh into the master from the replica, and that you can access all required slurpd services.
