sebastianlory

Q: Update Mac OS X Snow Leopard Server to Yosemite

I have a Mac Pro (Model Identifier: MacPro5,1) running OS X 10.6.8. The machine serves to the web a couple of MySQL databases (v. 5.0.92) as well as a Redmine installation (with a Subversion repository). Server administration is done using the "Server" application stack (/Applications/Server/Server Admin.app etc.).

I am now considering updating the system to Yosemite (and the new Server.app), but I am hesitating, seeing several reports online about trouble with MySQL installations getting messed up, as well as issues with the Ruby framework. My questions are:

  • Have any of you some experience with updating from 10.6 towards 10.10 in a server setting?
  • Is it more sensible in any way to update in steps, i.e., update to 10.8 first, then to 10.10? If yes, why?
  • What steps need to be taken in order to update the MySQL installation? Again, is it more sensible to upgrade in steps?

 

EDIT: I have now tried to simply run the upgrade to Yosemite, directly on top of Snow Leopard (obviously, I previously backed up the entire system via Time Machine using an external HD). I then installed the new Server.app application using the App Store. After this, the following problems emerged: 

  • MySQL was still in the original location (/usr/local), but could not be run in Terminal, complaining about a missing socket file. Installing more recent binaries of MySQL did not resolve the issue; I will do further research and report again.
  • My Ruby/Redmine installation did not run either. My fear is that I will have to do a complete reinstall of Redmine, since the installation procedure differs from Snow Leopard to Yosemite. Setting up this part of the system was particularly painful (e.g., getting Redmine to communicate with SVN).

Since I need a running system, I downgraded again after this try using my Snow Leopard backup. In sum, I almost tend to not do the upgrade at all, if there is no real pressure from the security side of things.

Mac Pro, Mac OS X (10.6.8)

Posted on Jul 23, 2015 3:30 AM

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Q: Update Mac OS X Snow Leopard Server to Yosemite

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  • by John Lockwood,Helpful

    John Lockwood John Lockwood Jul 23, 2015 4:20 AM in response to sebastianlory
    Level 6 (9,349 points)
    Servers Enterprise
    Jul 23, 2015 4:20 AM in response to sebastianlory

    There is no benefit to upgrading from 10.6 to 10.7, to 10.8, to 10.9, to 10.10 or similar. In fact unless you already have the appropriate versions of Server.app you may find this impossible anyway. By the way, yet another new version will be out later this year, if you want to be on the bleeding edge it might be worth waiting.

     

    Apple stopped including MySQL a long time ago, however you can go the Oracle website and download a MySQL installer. It is likely that it will install to a different location. See http://dev.mysql.com/downloads/mysql/

     

    Also see http://www.macminivault.com/mysql-yosemite/ and http://stackoverflow.com/questions/25954230/mysql-does-not-start-in-osx-yosemite -10-10 and http://macosxbits.com/2015/03/download-install-mysql-server-in-mac-os-x/ and http://osxdaily.com/2014/11/26/start-stop-mysql-commands-mac-os-x/

     

    Personally I have switched to running MySQL in an Ubuntu VM and connect to it from the Mac.

     

    I have not used Ruby or Redmine but see http://www.redmine.org/projects/redmine/wiki/RedmineInstallOSXMavericksServer

     

    One could argue there is a security pressure to move on from Snow Leopard. Apple stopped issuing security fixes for Snow Leopard a long time ago. Currently they issue updates for Mavericks and Yosemite, and sometimes Mountain Lion but anything older than that is considered obsolete. As it sounds like you are wanting to run Internet connected systems this is something you need to take into consideration.

  • by sebastianlory,

    sebastianlory sebastianlory Jul 23, 2015 5:36 AM in response to John Lockwood
    Level 1 (1 points)
    Jul 23, 2015 5:36 AM in response to John Lockwood

    Thanks, John. I completely share your thoughts about the necessity of the upgrade - while there is no immediate benefit, there may be increasing security pressure. (By the way, in my specific case, one benefit would be that I could use a single software package for administrating this particular server and another one that has already been upgraded to Yosemite. This is currently impossible: I have to use the previous Server Admin.app etc. stack for administration of the Snow Leopard Server, and the new Server.app for the Yosemite server.)

     

    Thanks also for the links - I have come across most of these at some point, and obviously need to do some more research to find out exactly what changes would become necessary in Yosemite.

     

    Would you mind detailing the necessary steps to set up the Ubuntu VM for running MySQL and to configure OS X for looking up databases on the VM? The idea sounds intriguing.

  • by John Lockwood,

    John Lockwood John Lockwood Jul 23, 2015 6:52 AM in response to sebastianlory
    Level 6 (9,349 points)
    Servers Enterprise
    Jul 23, 2015 6:52 AM in response to sebastianlory

    Actually thinking about it, in your case using a Linux hosted MySQL may not save that much effort. You need to install pretty much the full MySQL to act as a client anyway. I am using multiple Linux VMs and have them all talking to the same one running the main MySQL server. However I also have a free GUI tool I can use on the Mac to administer it. See http://www.sequelpro.com/ the same site also has an article on installing MySQL itself on a Mac http://www.sequelpro.com/docs/Install_MySQL_on_your_Mac

     

    I have three different open-source web packages each running on their own individual Linux VM, and all using a single MySQL server on its own Linux VM (a total of four VMs). For Linux it is normally just the standard approach for installing MySQL client or MySQL server and any additional libraries for things like python. As I use Ubuntu the command format is sudo apt-get install packagename

     

    I have a slightly more complex setup than usual as normally you just edit the mysql.conf file to enable network connectivity rather than local only connectivity. In my case I did not enable normal mysql network connectivity but instead setup a series of SSH tunnels between the Linux VMs using auto-ssh, this ensured all the traffic is encrypted. In theory you can do the same thing with SSL certificates but MySQL does not like OpenSSL very much.

     

    If your running the webpackage (Redmine) and MySQL on the same Mac the setup will be a lot simpler for you as it will be local only.