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 5.4 on High Sierra is similar to the DHCP service that was included in Server 10.2 and 10.2 and 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…
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Promote A macOS Server Open Directory Replica To An Open Directory Master
Previously, we looked at setting up an Open Directory Master in macOS. An Open Directory Replica keeps a copy of the Open Directory database available for users even when the Master goes offline. But it can also take a part of the load from the Open Directory Master and when using the new Locales feature, balance network traffic. To get started with an Open Directory Replica, first enable SSH, now disabled by default. If SSH is not enabled, you will not be able to create an Open Directory Replica. SSH is enabled on a server by opening the Server app, clicking on the name of the server and then clicking…
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Managing DNS Services In macOS Server 5.2
The changes in the Server app were far more substantial in the El Capitan version (OS X Server 5) than in the macOS Server 5.2 version that we’re now looking at. All of the options from OS X are still there and the dnsconfig command line interface for managing the service are basically unchanged. The DNS service in OS X Server, as with previous versions, is based on bind 9 (BIND 9.9.7-P3 to be exact). This is very much compatible with practically every DNS server in the world, including those hosted on Windows, OS X, Linux and even Zoe-R. The first time you open the DNS Service click on the DNS service in the…
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Disable The Connect To Server Option
You can disable the Connect to Server menu in OS X. This can be done via MDM or using defaults. To do so with the defaults command, send a ProhibitConnectTo key into com.apple.finder as True and then restart the Finder, as follows using the defaults command: defaults write com.apple.finder ProhibitConnectTo -bool true ; killall Finder To undo: defaults write com.apple.finder ProhibitConnectTo -bool false
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Get the OS X Server Version
You can find the version of the Server app that an OS X Server is running using the serveradmin command. To do so, run the serveradmin command followed by the -version option: sudo /Applications/Server.app/Contents/ServerRoot/usr/sbin/serveradmin --version The output would be as follows: Version 15S5127
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Repair Permissions Using The Command Line In El Capitan
Repair permissions was unceremoniously removed from OS X in El Capitan. This staple of the Mac gurus toolkit disappeared. There was no 21 gun salute, there was no flaming casket sent out to sea and there was no sweet, sweet wake to get drunk at. Instead, there was pain. There was pain, because when the button disappeared, the need did not. Need proof? If you haven’t yet run it, let’s check your system to verify the permissions of the standard packages: sudo /usr/libexec/repair_packages --verify --standard-pkgs --volume / In the above command, we used the repair_packages binary, which has not changed in awhile. We then feed that the –verify option and the…
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Using the Caching Service Command Line Interface
The Caching Server in OS X Server 5 is pretty simple, right? You open up the server app and then click on the On button and you’re… off… to… the… races… Yup. There are also a few options that you can configure using the Server app. You can configure which IP addresses (or networks) are able to access your server. You can configure where the cache is stored. You can configure the amount of Cached used. And you can clear out that cache. Boom. Including the ON button, you’ve only got 5 things you can do here. Pretty easy. To script kicking off the service as just a proxy that…
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Setup NetBoot On OS X Server 5 for El Capitan and Yosemite
The NetBoot service allows administrators of OS X computers to leverage images hosted on a server to boot computers to a central location and put a new image on them, upgrade them and perform automations based on upgrades and images. Since the very first versions of OS X, the service has been called NetBoot. In the Server app, Apple provides a number of options surrounding the NetInstall service, based on Automator-style actions, now calling the service NetInstall. The first step to configuring the NetInstall service is to decide what you want the service to do. There are three options available in System Image Utility (available under the Tools menu of…
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Use dnsconfig in OS X Server 5
DNS is DNS. And named is named. Except in OS X Server. Sometimes. The configuration files for the DNS services in OS X Server are stored in /Library/Server/named. This represents a faux root of named configuration data, similar to how that configuration data is stored in /var/named on most other platforms. Having the data in /Library/Server/ makes it more portable across systems. The current version of BIND is 9.9.7-P2. Traditionally, you would edit this configuration data by simply editing the configuration files, and that’s absolutely still an option. In OS X Server 5 (for El Capitan and Yosemite), a new command is available at /Applications/Server.app/Contents/ServerRoot/System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/DNSManager.framework called dnsconfig. The dnsconfig command appears simple at…
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Configure Alerts In OS X Server 5
OS X Server 5, running on El Capitan or Yosemite, 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…
