| Mac OS X Server | |
|---|---|
 Mac OS X Snow Leopard Server running Server Admin on Desktop | |
| Developer | Apple |
| Written in | C,C++,Objective-C, andHTML for settings |
| OS family | |
| Working state | Discontinued on April 21, 2022 |
| Source model | Closed-source (withopen-source components) |
| Initial release | March 16, 1999; 26 years ago (1999-03-16) |
| Final release | 5.12[2] / December 8, 2021 (2021-12-08) |
| Available in | English, Japanese, French, German, Simplified Chinese, Dutch, Italian, Korean, Spanish, Traditional Chinese[3] |
| Supported platforms | |
| Kernel type | Hybrid (XNU) (mostlymonolithic) |
| Default user interface | Aqua |
| License | Commercialproprietary software |
| Official website | Mac OS X Server at theWayback Machine (archived 2020-11-09) |
Mac OS X Server is a series ofdiscontinuedUnix-like serveroperating systems developed byApple, based onmacOS. It provided server functionality and system administration tools, and tools to manage both macOS-based computers andiOS-based devices,network services such as amail transfer agent,AFP andSMB servers, anLDAP server, and adomain name server, as well as server applications including aWeb server,database, andcalendar server.[4]
Starting withOS X Lion, Apple stopped selling a standalone server operating system, instead releasing an add-on Server app marketed asOS X Server (and latermacOS Server), which was sold through theMac 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, andmobile 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]
Mac OS X Server is based on anopen source foundation calledDarwin and uses open industry standards and protocols. Mac OS X Server was provided as the operating system forXserve computers, andrack-mountedserver computers designed by Apple. It was optionallypre-installed on theMac Mini andMac Pro and was sold separately for use on anyMacintosh computer meeting its minimum requirements.
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 onRhapsody, a hybrid ofOPENSTEP from NeXT Computer andMac OS 8.5.1. TheGUI looked like a mixture of Mac OS 8's Platinum appearance with OPENSTEP'sNeXT-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 untilMac OS X's Classic environment. Apple File Services, Macintosh Manager, QuickTime Streaming Server,WebObjects, andNetBoot were included with Mac OS X Server 1.0. It could not useFireWire devices. The last release is Mac OS X Server 1.2v3.
Mac OS X Server 10.0 (released May 21, 2001) included the newAqua user interface,Apache,PHP,MySQL,Tomcat,WebDAV support, Macintosh Manager, andNetBoot.
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 (released August 23, 2002) includes updatedOpen Directory user and file management, which with this release is based onLDAP, beginning the deprecation of the NeXT-originatedNetInfo architecture. The new Workgroup Manager interface improved configuration significantly. The release also saw major updates toNetBoot andNetInstall. Many common network services are provided such asNTP,SNMP, web server (Apache), mail server (Postfix andCyrus), LDAP (OpenLDAP),AFP, and print server. The inclusion ofSamba version 3 allows tight integration withWindows clients and servers.MySQL v4.0.16 andPHP v4.3.7 are also included.
Mac OS X Server 10.3 (released October 24, 2003) release includes updatedOpen Directory user and file management, which with this release is based onLDAP, beginning the deprecation of the NeXT-originatedNetInfo architecture. The new Workgroup Manager interface improved configuration significantly. Many common network services are provided such as NTP, SNMP, web server (Apache), mail server (Postfix andCyrus), LDAP (OpenLDAP),AFP, and print server. The inclusion ofSamba version 3 allows tight integration withWindows clients and servers.MySQL v4.0.16 andPHP v4.3.7 are also included.[citation needed]
The 10.4 release (April 29, 2005) adds64-bit application support,Access Control Lists,Xgrid,link aggregation,e-mail spam filtering (SpamAssassin), virus detection (ClamAV), Gateway Setup Assistant, and servers forSoftware Update,iChat Server usingXMPP,[7] Boot Camp Assistant, Dashboard, and Weblog Server based on the open-sourceBlojsom project (Java).[8]
On August 10, 2006, Apple announced the firstUniversal Binary release of Mac OS X Server, version 10.4.7, supporting both PowerPC and Intel processors. At the same time Apple announced the release of the Intel-basedMac Pro andXserve systems.
Leopard Server (released October 26, 2007) sold for $999 for an unlimited-client license.[9] Mac OS X Server version 10.5.x ‘Leopard’ was the last major version of Mac OS X Server to supportPowerPC-based servers and workstations, such as the AppleXserve G5 andPower Mac G5.
Features:
Mac OS X Snow Leopard Server (released August 28, 2009) sold for $499 and included unlimited client licenses.[9]
New Features:
In releasing the developer preview ofMac OS X Lion in February 2011, Apple indicated that beginning with Lion, Mac OS X Server would be bundled with the operating system and would not be marketed as a separate product.[13] However, a few months later, the company said it would instead sell the server components as aUS$49.99 add-on to Lion, distributed through theMac App Store (as well as Lion itself).[14] The combined cost of an upgrade to Lion and the purchase of the OS X Server add-on, which costs approximately US$50,[9] was nonetheless significantly lower than the retail cost of Snow Leopard Server (US$499). Lion Server came with unlimited client licenses as did Snow Leopard Server. Lion Server includes new versions ofiCal Server,Wiki Server, andMail Server.[15] More significantly, Lion Server can be used for iOS mobile device management. Starting with Apple Mac OS X Server Version 10.7 “Lion,”PostgreSQL replacesMySQL as the database provided with Mac OS X Server, coinciding withOracle Corporation’s acquisition ofSun Microsystems and Oracle’s subsequent attempts to tighten MySQL’s licensing restrictions and to exert influence on MySQL’s previously open and independent development model.[16]
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 andXsan.[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]
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 controllingRAIDs, usuallyXserve RAIDs. It was written in Java,[19] and could run on Windows or Linux.
Other bundled tools include:
Beginning with the release ofOS X Mountain Lion (version 10.8), there is only one Administrative tool, an app called "Server", which can be bought and downloaded from theMac 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.
Apple's Address Book Server, iCal Server, Wiki Server, and Web Server are mostly written in thePython programming language, relying on theTwisted 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 is a contacts server, and the first commercial server to have implementedCardDAV, which relies on theWebDAV protocol. It was added inMac OS X Server 10.6.[20]
iCal Server is the first commercial calendar server to have implemented theCalDAV standard, built on top of WebDAV. iCal Server was added inMac OS X Server 10.5, and was also released under the open-sourceApache License 2.0 as Darwin Calendar Server.[20]
The server, named "caldavd", is adaemon background service. It has beenported to non-Apple computer platforms. It is currently possible to install it onFreeBSD and several flavours ofLinux. The server uses an SQL database for storage of calendar data.
iChat Server is an XMPP server that was added inMac OS X Server 10.4, and was upgraded to version 2 with the release of Mac OS X 10.5 Server in October 2007.[21] iChat Server was originally based on jabberd 1.4.3 and is named after Apple'siChatonline chat client software.[22] Version 2 of the software is based onjabberd2 2.0s9 and supports server federation,[23] which allows chat clients to talk directly with other systems that supportXMPP. It also supports server-based chat archiving.[24]
Wiki Server was a set of services which have shipped with all versions of Mac OS X Server sincev10.5 untilmacOS High Sierra. Mac OS X Server includes web-basedWiki,Weblog, Calendaring, and Contact services. Additionally, it includes a Cocoa application called Directory which allows directory viewing as well as enabling of group services.
Server 5.7.1, the version aligned withmacOS 10.14 and released on September 30, 2018, removed the Wiki Server functionality from Server.app.
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]
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
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