Apple is killing OS X Server. Does anyone else care?

I am really kinda ****** at apple for this. I mean the server app has been slowly getting worse and worse but it was a nice alternative to Micr$oft and Linux.

I migrated from Linux because it worked best with my iPhones and Laptops. I use almost all of it's features. It was easy clean and simple to distribute to devices. Plus the macMini was a nice small spaced device with a lot of reliability.

Just ***** apple.

There is this thread about the subject too.

what about opendirectory ?

We all care. But as I said there. In windows people still run Server2008, so.. If we do not like the deprecation, for some years to come you still can stay where you are.

However it is a pity, that apple does not care about this corporate market anymore.

Now that Server.app is dead, I’m looking at a few hardware upgrade paths.

There are some great highly performant, low power, OpenBSD-based server options out there, like this fanless atom system:

• SUPERMICRO MBD-A1SRi-2758F-O Mini ITX Server Motherboard DDR3 1600/1333 - Newegg.com
• https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00HS4NLHA/

This solution could handle the PF firewall, DHCP, DNS, Apache, OpenVPN, all at multi Gb/s on the LAN, drawing maybe 10 Watts, and at a tiny fraction (perhaps a fifth) of the expected cost of the new Mac Pro’s promised this year.

I was planning on a new MP before the demise of Server.app, and I’d still prefer an all-Apple vertically integrated solution to mitigate the multiplatform maintenance, but this looks tough without Server.app. The replacement for Mail/Calendar/Contacts is a tbd, but could also be done on a micro if a NAS is added to the build.

An atom SoC also has the advantage of not having services withdrawn or unstable once it’s been configured.

I seriously care. I use every one of the features being axed.

This are the points that I sent to Apple that should be mindful.

1. this is not enough time for something that is so essential to so many users.
2. the solutions provided are no where even in the same solar system of ease of use and understanding.
3. Server is being gutted of every single useful feature that there is. I use every one of the features being removed and finding a unified solution is going to be a nightmare.
4. Apple provides no information about the possibility for those that want to keep using this past the time of official support.
5. macOS High Sierra should maintain support for this and be the last supporting version of the full software package.
6. macOS 10.13 is the version that this should be removed, not 10.12. So that those with implementations that must remain on this system can still get the security software updates they need and have time to migrate elsewhere if Apple still insists on moving forward with this insane and continued abandonment of all of their professional users.

"few bucks" multiplied by 12 multiplied by the number of users can easily rise to "significant bucks"...

Personally, for my family and its small businesses, 100% apple equipped, I am going to move calendar, contacts and mail to iCloud and do mail forwarding from my domains to iCloud. The advantages are that it supports push for iOS and is very reasonably priced (0$ per month for less than 5Go and just 1$ per month for 50Go). For now, I'll keep using the Mac OS Server smtp server with a modded generic file to send mail with my domain name, and the Web Server to renew my certificate with letsencrypt. In the event Apple ditches postfix and apache entirely from Mac OS, it shouldn't be very difficult to find it on MacPorts. This being said, in my opinion, Apple doing that is unlikely because

1. postfix and apache2 are part of the "standard" distribution of Mac OS in the /etc directory, so it must be used for more than Mac OS Server,
2. what stays in Mac OS Server (for instance, profile management, certificate management or server alerts) will need these or similar components.

Regarding Webmin, as it says in their site that it supports OS X, did anyone tries to install it on a "standard" distribution of OS X and configure server features ? I would be interested to know how it goes.

We will die of iPhones and iPads.......

Since the Xserve death, Server application became a pain in the *** for Apple.
And for those like us who work in the professional area, became a disaster.
Apple should consider to stop definitely and not "joke" with our professionality

I care. We have an entire small org (30+ people, so not tiny) using OS X Server. Wikis. Calendars. Contacts. Mail. DNS. DHCP. VPN. File sharing. For most of the 10 years we've been in operation we've not needed a full time sys admin as it was all easy. Now it seems we have to migrate. Quite a lot of pain. Made worse by the fact that Apple haven't so far been helpful on HOW to migrate. For example, how do you migrate hundreds of Wiki pages without rewriting them all (very expensive)? How do you migrate calendars (and meeting room resources)?

Me too. Have been using macOS Server as my one and only server platform in many organizations for more than 10 years because it brings the best of the Microsoft and Linux worlds together – an easy to use interface plus all the extra horsepower and extendability via command line.

Not sure where we're going from here.

This is just one more recent betrayal by Apple, undermining its own ecosystem. My message to the company is, teenagers diddling with phones does not make Apple cool, rather it's creative professionals who create the market mystique. Don't drive us from the platform.

Yes, we also care.

We are a small business and have been using a version of Apple's server software going back to what I think was called ServerIP before the release of OS X. Like others here I am not an IT manager. I run our IT as a "fun" sideline. The press to eliminate services and drive for everyone to have their own device rather than "hot desking" is a real problem for our company due to the nature of our business. This transition is going to force me to become a legitimate server manager and deal with manually installing and managing the services we need. It may force us to go to a more expensive package that will probably force a server OS change too; which will eliminate the hot desking we prefer. Apple used to offer everything we needed in one package. With the decline of services and quality of the Server software product since 10.6.8 our managed systems have been getting more and more troublesome and my job running our IT has been less and less fun. Direct connections from unmangaged devices have remained easy and trouble free.

Through the decades we have been transitioning constantly through various directory methods, networking methods, FileMaker systems, printing systems, file systems, etc. Each of those steps was challenging because of the changes required. This is just another step along the way. It is a shame that at a time when Apple devices are being used more and more in enterprise, (finally catching up with the rest of us!) Apple seems to be removing easily managed services and the easy management of remaining services geared towards those devices.

One of the things that Apple has done over the years is to control ALL things vertically. My company took advantage of that and enjoyed its benefits. Some of these changes are leaving holes in that structure. Let's get our thoughts out there but also plan for our own future. If that future doesn't include Apple server because of their decisions, so be it. Like Apple, we make business decisions too.

-Erich

I use DNS, DHCP, as well as mail and websites for 5 domains. I have a Mac mini running OSX server just for my home. I’ve appreciated the simplicity of setting up these services with a simple UI, and an easy way to check logs from other macs on my network. I’m greatly disappointed in this decision. It’s going to make my environment way more complicated.

While I am capable of digging into config files to set this stuff up, its a pain and frankly I’d prefer not to have to spend the time.

That would remove everything I use macOS X Server for and leave nothing that I need.

I moved from running my servers on SCO UNIX and looks like I'm heading back to BSD/Linux.

Puts a question mark over Apple for enterprise use.

I absolutely care. This is unfortunate and certainly breaks my small business configuration. Yes apple server has been bled to death and barely functions, but it was doing what I needed until the update following spring 18, apparently. Now I have to figure out how to migrate all the email and other services out of the mess Apple made into something that will require even more of my time. Awesome. (and no I have no interest in paying someone to host/posses my data).

looks like i'll be building a Linux machine for my next hardware update.

Likely migrating to some combination of Synology boxes and BSD Unix instances, if Apple continues on the current path with Server.app. Synology supports packages that provide most of what macOS with Server.app supports, if not more. These packages well beyond their applicability as NAS boxes. Including an optional Mail Server package. Will be running a mix of prototypes including OpenSMTP on BSD, and while waiting for further details from Apple including from the upcoming Spring 2018 announcement.

YES!

Every time my in-house installs work when the internet goes out...

How about businesses in rural areas with crappy internet?

Does anyone in Cupertino design for anyone outside of Cupertino? That fabulous lifestyle in the infinite loop is beginning to contrast with most of the rest of the world that isn't in the 1% of income or the kids of them.