The Server 3 app is great. But when you go making changes to some things, you’re just going to cause problems, sometimes something as simple as just upgrading to the latest and greatest version of Server… 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… And upgrades that use a migration wizard… Um, 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 do that restore, let’s try one more thing. Let’s try and rebuild some certificates and configuration settings that shouldn’t impact actual service operation. Let’s try to reset the Server app and let a fresh install of the Server see if it can fix issues.
Now, I want to be clear, this is the last resort before restoration. I’ve had a lot of luck with services remaining functional and preserving settings when I do this, but don’t expect that. Basically, we’re going to do what we looked at doing back in ’09 with AppleSetupDone but one designed just for servers, so the file is in the same place (/var/db) and called .ServerSetupDone. To remove it, close Server app and run the following command:
sudo rm /var/db/.ServerSetupDone
Once removed, open the Server app again and then let the Server app run as though it’s new. Cruft, begone!
