derekfrombraydon

Q: Lion Server does it work?

Is it me or is Lion Server the most user unfriendly piece of junk launched by apple in years? I am no idiot but am a MAC virgin having moved from PCs and WHS only recently. I have issues with ACL / permissions being corrupted (my 2.0TB WD ext hard drive gets trashed with server on) - no Wiki or Profile Manager  - directories not working - no VPN and when it (the server) does seem to work - it crashes for no apparent reason. As for iCAl and email - that's a joke...I have a new 27 iMAC and the latest software and since installing the server app I have had to get a thumb drive to rebuild my iMAC when that too failed to restart (no doubt keychain was corrupted?).  And, what is going on between server and server admin - do they not speak to each other?  There are no bugs, the native system is clean and it works well - without server running. Is there an idiots guide devoid of MAC acronyms and Apache code that can take me through a simple set up without the need for a PhD in Apache?? The blogs are really useful and enterprise support is good - to the point of not being able to solve some of the complex set up issues. Until I know what can be going wrong I do not want to start playing with Terminal. Bill Gates forgive me....I was misled by my siblings and tempted by shiny baubles !!!!! Signed an old MS DOS user :-)

iPhone 4S, iOS 5.0.1

Posted on Mar 15, 2012 3:43 AM

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Q: Lion Server does it work?

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  • by chiccorosso,Helpful

    chiccorosso chiccorosso Mar 15, 2012 6:40 AM in response to derekfrombraydon
    Level 1 (145 points)
    Mar 15, 2012 6:40 AM in response to derekfrombraydon

    I think you would have been happier with a Snow Leopard Server. In my humble opinion Lion server is a transitional move that either produce a new server implementation or die completely.

     

    10.6 server was a mature product.

     

    Said this, i would recommend you these steps:

     

    - Machine--

    1. check your hardware (ram and Hard disk) for any possibile failure.

    2. format and reinstall osX (i know, that *****, but coming from MS-DOS you'll probably stand this ;-) )

     

    - Network -

    3. plan your network setup, the (static) ip you're going to assign to your server, domains, routes

    4. configure your mac network setup and THEN install server software

    5. quickly review your DNS service so that your server is properly visible and configured

     

    - Users -

    6. Configure open domain on your server, or set it up to get users from other servers

     

    - Services -

    7. configure your services (wiki, ichat, ical, iwhatever)

    8. configure apache

     

    This order of configuration usually avoids some errors you could stumble upon. As for apache if you have something internal and quick you can use it. I wouldn't use 10.7 as a webserver (i used 10.6 with satisfaction for a heavy load webserver).

     

    If you have more specific questions about Apache look up in these discussions and then ask if you don't find anything suitable for your needs.

     

    Server and Server Admin are a dirty patch of old and new. I don't understand why they came up with such a bad solution, but i guess they're going to transit everything to the new Server application very soon.

  • by chiccorosso,

    chiccorosso chiccorosso Mar 15, 2012 6:42 AM in response to chiccorosso
    Level 1 (145 points)
    Mar 15, 2012 6:42 AM in response to chiccorosso

    PS: Bill Gates left the pc industry years ago to focus on better stuff like charity and foundations... I think he's smarter than us ;-)

  • by derekfrombraydon,

    derekfrombraydon derekfrombraydon Mar 16, 2012 1:49 AM in response to chiccorosso
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Mar 16, 2012 1:49 AM in response to chiccorosso

    Thanks!

  • by chiccorosso,

    chiccorosso chiccorosso Mar 16, 2012 2:38 AM in response to derekfrombraydon
    Level 1 (145 points)
    Mar 16, 2012 2:38 AM in response to derekfrombraydon

    You're welcome!

  • by Sam Venning,

    Sam Venning Sam Venning Mar 22, 2012 5:11 PM in response to derekfrombraydon
    Level 1 (5 points)
    Mar 22, 2012 5:11 PM in response to derekfrombraydon

    VPN service is working fine for us.

     

    Major problems with ACLs being ignored in Mac OS 10.7.3 Server. With ACLs being ignored POSIX permissions apply – not at all satisfactory.

     

    I purchased 2x Mac mini Server computers with Mac OS 10.7 Server... one for Melbourne office (OD Master) and one for Sydney office (OD Replica). Erasing Mac OS 10.7 Server and installing Mac OS 10.6 Server is no small task. I'm not sure whether I should try install Mac OS 10.6 Server or wait for Mac OS 10.7.4 to (hopefully) fix this problem.

  • by SnakeDoc1,

    SnakeDoc1 SnakeDoc1 Mar 22, 2012 7:22 PM in response to derekfrombraydon
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Mar 22, 2012 7:22 PM in response to derekfrombraydon

    It is pretty much a piece of junk.  At worked we upgraded one of our 10.5 servers (Xserve) to Lion server on a Mini and its been nothing but a pain.

     

    At home I tried migrating from a WHS server to a Mac Mini with Lion Server.  I could NEVER even get just wide open guest access to work for more than a day for on the few Windows 7 PC's I have.

     

    Waiting for the iPad version I guess?