Mac OS X Server
 Mac OS X Snow Leopard Server running Server Admin on Desktop | |
| Developer | Apple Inc. |
|---|---|
| Written in | C, C++, Objective-C, and HTML for settings |
| OS family | |
| Working state | Discontinued on April 21, 2022 |
| Source model | Closed-source (with open-source components) |
| Initial release | March 16, 1999 |
| Final release | 5.12[2] / December 8, 2021 |
| Available in | English, Japanese, French, German, Simplified Chinese, Dutch, Italian, Korean, Spanish, Traditional Chinese[3] |
| Platforms | |
| Kernel type | Hybrid (XNU) (mostly monolithic) |
| Default user interface | Aqua |
| License | Commercial proprietary software |
| Official website | Mac OS X Server at the Wayback Machine (archived 2020-11-09) |
Mac OS X Server is a series of
Starting with OS X Lion, Apple stopped selling a standalone server operating system, instead releasing an add-on Server app marketed as OS X Server (and later macOS Server), which was sold through the Mac App Store.[3][5] The Server app lacked many features from Mac OS X Server, and later versions of the app only included functionality related to user and group management, Xsan, and mobile device management through profiles. The Server app was discontinued on April 21, 2022, and Apple said that later versions of macOS would drop support for it.[2]
History
Mac OS X Server is based on an
Mac OS X Server 1.0 (Rhapsody)
Mac OS X Server 1.0 was released in March 1999, predating the release of the consumer version of Mac OS X by two years. Mac OS X Server 1.0 was based on Rhapsody, a hybrid of OPENSTEP from NeXT Computer and Mac OS 8.5.1. The GUI looked like a mixture of Mac OS 8's Platinum appearance with OPENSTEP's NeXT-based interface. It included a runtime layer called Blue Box for running legacy Mac OS-based applications within a separate window. There was discussion of implementing a 'transparent blue box' which would intermix Mac OS applications with those written for Rhapsody's Yellow Box environment, but this would not happen until Mac OS X's Classic environment. Apple File Services, Macintosh Manager, QuickTime Streaming Server, WebObjects, and NetBoot were included with Mac OS X Server 1.0. It could not use FireWire devices. The last release is Mac OS X Server 1.2v3.
Mac OS X Server 10.0 (Cheetah)
Mac OS X Server 10.0 (released May 21, 2001) included the new Aqua user interface, Apache, PHP, MySQL, Tomcat, WebDAV support, Macintosh Manager, and NetBoot.
Mac OS X Server 10.1 (Puma)
Mac OS X Server 10.1 (released September 25, 2001) featured improved performance, increased system stability, and decreased file transfer times compared to Mac OS X Server 10.0. Support was added for RAID 0 and RAID 1 storage configurations, and Mac OS 9.2.1 in NetBoot.[6]
Mac OS X Server 10.2 (Jaguar)
Mac OS X Server 10.2 (released August 23, 2002) includes updated
v4.3.7 are also included.Mac OS X Server 10.3 (Panther)
Mac OS X Server 10.3 (released October 24, 2003) release includes updated
Mac OS X Server 10.4 (Tiger)
The 10.4 release (April 29, 2005) adds
On August 10, 2006, Apple announced the first
Mac OS X Server 10.5 (Leopard)
Leopard Server (released October 26, 2007) sold for $999 for an unlimited-client license.
Features:
- RADIUS Server. Leopard Server includes FreeRADIUS for network authentication. It ships with support for wireless access stations however can be modified into a fully functioning FreeRADIUS server.[10]
Mac OS X Server 10.6 (Snow Leopard)
Mac OS X Snow Leopard Server (released August 28, 2009) sold for $499 and included unlimited client licenses.[9]
New Features:
- Full 64-bit operating system. On appropriate systems with 4 GB of RAM or more, Snow Leopard Server uses a 64-bit kernel to address up to a theoretical 16 TB of RAM.[12]
- iCal Server 2 with improved CalDAVsupport, a new web calendaring application, push notifications and the ability to send email invitations to non-iCal users.
- Address Book Server provides a central location for users to store and access personal contacts across multiple Macs and synchronized iPhones. Based on the CardDAVprotocol standard.
- Wiki Server 2, with server side Quick Look and the ability to view wiki content on iPhone.
- A new Mail serverengine that supports push email so users receive immediate access to new messages. However, Apple's implementation of push email is not supported for Apple's iPhone.
- Podcast Producer 2 with dual-source video support. Also includes a new Podcast Composer application to automate the production process, making it simple to create podcasts with a customized, consistent look and feel. Podcast Composer creates a workflow to add titles, transitions and effects, save to a desired format and share to wikis, blogs, iTunes U, Final Cut Serveror Podcast Library.
- Mobile Access Server enables iPhone and Mac users to access secured network services, including corporate websites, online business applications, email, calendars and contacts. Without requiring additional software, Mobile Access Server acts as a reverse proxy server and provides SSL encryption and authentication between the user's iPhone or Mac and a private network.
Server app
In releasing the developer preview of
Like Lion, Mountain Lion had no separate server edition. An OS X Server package was available for Mountain Lion from the Mac App Store for US$19.99, which included a server management application called Server, as well as other additional administrative tools to manage client profiles and Xsan.[17][18] Mountain Lion Server, like Lion Server, was provided with unlimited client licenses, and once purchased could be run on an unlimited number of systems.
Server 5.7 (released September 28, 2018) stopped bundling open source services such as Calendar Server, Contacts Server, the Mail Server, DNS, DHCP, VPN Server, and Websites.[2] Included services are now limited to Profile Manager, Open Directory and Xsan.[2]
Server 5.8 (released March 25, 2019) added new restrictions, payloads, and commands to Profile Manager.
The Server app does not support versions of macOS newer than Monterey, marking the end of Mac OS X Server product line.[2]
Bundled applications
Prior to OS X Mountain Lion
One of Mac OS X Server's main administrative tools was the Server Administrator app, which allowed users to configure server services, and turn them on or off.
RAID Admin was a utility for administering and controlling RAIDs, usually Xserve RAIDs. It was written in Java,[19] and could run on Windows or Linux.
Other bundled tools include:
- Server Preferences (application)
- Server Assistant
- Server Monitor
- System Image Utility
- Workgroup Manager
- Xgrid Admin
After OS X Mountain Lion
Beginning with the release of OS X Mountain Lion (version 10.8), there is only one Administrative tool, an app called "Server", which can be bought and downloaded from the Mac App Store, and is updated independently of OS X. This Server tool is used to configure, maintain and monitor one or more macOS Server installations.
Server services
Apple's Address Book Server, iCal Server, Wiki Server, and Web Server are mostly written in the Python programming language, relying on the Twisted framework.[20] Most[clarification needed] of these services were discontinued and removed in version 5.7.1 of the Server app, released on September 30, 2018.
Address Book Server
Address Book Server is a contacts server, and the first commercial server to have implemented CardDAV, which relies on the WebDAV protocol. It was added in Mac OS X Server 10.6.[20]
iCal Server
iCal Server is the first commercial calendar server to have implemented the
The server, named "caldavd", is a
iChat Server
iChat Server is an XMPP server that was added in Mac OS X Server 10.4, and was upgraded to version 2 with the release of Mac OS X 10.5 Server in October 2007.
Discontinuation
On April 21, 2022, Apple announced that they have discontinued macOS Server and that the most popular features (Caching Server, File Sharing Server, and Time Machine Server) are already bundled with every copy of macOS High Sierra and later, so customers will still have access to them. Existing macOS Server customers can still download and use the app with macOS Monterey.[2]
Technical specifications
|
File and print services Directory services and authentication
Mail services
Calendaring
Web hosting
|
Collaboration services
Application servers
Media streaming
Client management
Networking and VPN |
Distributed computing
High-availability features
File systems
Management features
|
References
- ^ "Mac OS X Version 10.6 on Intel-based Macintosh computers". The Open Group. Retrieved December 4, 2014.
- ^ a b c d e f "About macOS Server 5.7.1 and later". Apple. Apple. May 12, 2022.
- ^ a b "Apple - macOS Server - Read the technical specifications". Apple Inc. Archived from the original on November 14, 2016. Retrieved November 2, 2016.
- ^ "Mac OS X Server Snow Leopard - UNIX". Apple. Archived from the original on June 9, 2011. Retrieved November 25, 2012.
- ^ "OS X Server: Admin tools compatibility information". Apple Inc. July 25, 2012. Retrieved October 21, 2013.
- ^ "Major Mac OS X Server v10.1 Update Now Available". Apple Newsroom. Retrieved November 21, 2020.
- ^ "Apple - Mac OS X Server - Collaboration Services". Archived from the original on August 13, 2006. Retrieved November 25, 2012.
- ^ "Apple Previews Mac OS X Server "Tiger"". Apple Newsroom. June 28, 2004. Retrieved May 31, 2022.
- ^ a b c In depth with Lion OS X Server – Anandtech, August 2, 2011
- ^ "10.5: Enable full RADIUS support on OS X Server". Mac OS X Hints. Archived from the original on September 18, 2009.
- ^ David (August 7, 2006), "Ruby on Rails will ship with OS X 10.5 (Leopard)", RubyOnRails.org
- ^ "Apple - Mac OS X Server Snow Leopard - 64-bit Computing". Archived from the original on June 8, 2011. Retrieved August 26, 2009.
- ^ "Apple Releases Developer Preview of Mac OS X Lion" (Press release). Apple. February 24, 2011. Retrieved March 14, 2018.
- ^ "Mac OS X Lion With 250 New Features Available in July From Mac App Store" (Press release). Apple. June 6, 2011. Retrieved March 14, 2018.
- ^ Apple Inc. (November 15, 2011). "OS X Lion Server - Technical Specifications". Retrieved November 25, 2012.
- ^ Pearce, Rohan (March 28, 2013). "Dead database walking: MySQL's creator on why the future belongs to MariaDB". Computerworld.com.au. Computerworld. Retrieved October 7, 2020.
- ^ "OS X Server" (PDF). Apple Inc. June 2012. Archived (PDF) from the original on June 19, 2012. Retrieved July 31, 2012.
- ^ Andrew Cunningham (July 29, 2012). "Server, simplified: A power user's guide to OS X Server". Ars Technica. Retrieved July 31, 2012.
- ^ "Apple Unveils New Xserve RAID Storage System" (Press release). Apple. January 6, 2004.
- ^ ISBN 9780470521311.
- ^ Leopard features
- ^ jabberd14 copyright and version number from source
- ^ jabberd2 copyright and version number from source
- ^ Inside Apple's Leopard Server OS on InformationWeek, March 27, 2007.
- ^ Schellworth, Ph. "osx:ipfailover". Archived from the original on March 11, 2016. Retrieved September 11, 2014.
External links
- Apple – macOS Server
- Official feedback page
- Apple Introduces Mac OS X Server – Apple press release
- Major Mac OS X Server v10.1 Update Now Available – Apple press release
- Apple Announces Mac OS X Server “Jaguar”, World’s Easiest-to-Manage UNIX-Based Server Software – Apple press release
- Apple Announces Mac OS X Server “Panther” – Apple press release
- Apple Announces Mac OS X Server “Tiger” – Apple press release
- Apple Announces New Mac OS X Server "Leopard" Features – Apple press release
- Apple Introduces Mac OS X Server Snow Leopard – Apple press release