If you've decided you need a virtual private network (VPN), but you don't want to pay for a third-party VPN service, then macOS Server can be a great alternative. It's built on the macOS you already know and love and lets you quickly and easily get your very own VPN up and running.

Set up macOS Server

If you haven't already done so, download and install macOS Server and optionally enable remote administration for easier setup.

Find your router's internet-facing IP Address

Before we begin with the actual setup of the VPN service, you'll need to know your internet "co-ordinates" — your router's IP address.

It's quite easy to determine your current IP address by merely Googling: "What is my IP Address." Most home users have what's called a dynamic IP address, though. That means that your router's IP address may change every so often.

If you use a dynamic IP address to set up your VPN service, there is no guarantee that you'll have that IP address will still be yours in the future, and the remote connection will fail.

As a workaround, there are several dynamic domain name services you can purchase. That way, you'll get an alias known as a "hostname" that won't change, even if your IP address does.

Many ISPs also offer static IP addresses. These are typically used for business accounts but, depending on your ISP, can be available for an additional fee.

Once you have your static IP address or have a hostname for your dynamic IP address, you can go on and configure your VPN service in macOS Server.

Configure the macOS Server VPN service

1. Launch the Server app from your applications.
2. Log into your macOS Server.
3. Select VPN under the Services listings.

4. Under VPN Host Name, enter either your static IP address or dynamic hostname depending on the method you used when finding out your IP address above.
5. Click Edit Permissions and select the users you want to be able to connect to your VPN.

6. Create a new Shared Secret. The more complicated and random, the better.
7. Optionally click Client Addresses if you want to change the number of VPN clients that can simultaneously connect to your VPN server.
8. Optionally click DNS Settings if you want to change the default DNS server your VPN clients will use when connected to your VPN server.
9. Optionally click Routes if you need special networking routes you need to configure.
10. Optionally click Save Profile if you wish to create a configuration file so that clients can simply load your server's connection information for easier client setup.
11. Select your macOS Server computer name.
12. Select the Access tab.

13. Click the Add button (looks like +) and select VPN.
14. Select Allow Connections From only some users.
15. Enter the users you wish to have VPN access.
16. Click OK.
17. Select VPN under the Services listings.
18. Toggle the ON/OFF switch to On.

If you're on an Apple-centric network with an Airport Base Station, you'll be prompted to automatically setup your Airport Base Station to allow for connections to your macOS Server VPN service.

If you don't have an Apple Airport Base Station, you'll have to manually set up your router to allow for VPN traffic to travel through your router to your macOS Server. Here's how!

Allow VPN traffic through your router to macOS Server

Depending on who manufactured your router, you'll have to consult the documentation from the manufacturer to be able to allow VPN traffic to your internally networked macOS Server running the VPN service. The ports you need to have forwarded to your macOS Server are UDP 500, UDP 1701, and UDP 4500. Here is what it would like on an Airport Base Station if you were to set up port forwarding of VPN traffic manually.

1. Launch Airport Utility.
2. Select your router and click Edit.

3. Select the Network tab at the top.
4. Under Port Settings click the +.
5. Type VPN in the Description.
6. In Public UDP Ports type in 500, 1701, 4500.
7. In Private IP Address enter the internal IP address of your macOS Server running the VPN service.
8. In Private UDP Ports type in 500, 1701, 4500.

9. Click Save.
10. Click Update and allow your Airport Base Station to restart.

Connect using your various clients

All you have left to do is connect with your various client devices! The VPN service on macOS Server is using L2TP over IPSec as it's authentication module, so simply select that version of VPN when you set up your clients. Enter your user name and password as well as the shared key you created above.

How to configure and connect to a VPN on iPhone and iPad

Have you set up a macOS Server VPN?

The benefits of VPN access go beyond just having a secure connection to your home or office network. It allows for having encrypted traffic so that your private usage remains precisely that. Private. It offers a layer of protection from hackers trying to get access to your passwords. It deters ISPs from collecting your browsing habits.

Have you set up a macOS Server VPN? Are you considering it? Leave a comment or question below!

Apple is planning on changing the scope of it's macOS Server app to focus on the management of your network devices as opposed to offering hosting services such as HTTP, mail, calendar, VPN, DHCP, DNS and the like. As such, starting in the spring of 2018, Apple will depreciate these services and will eventually send them on the way of the Dodo leaving any macOS running Server without anymore Apple packaged updates.

• Why Apple is changing macOS Server
• Alternatives for contacts and calendars
• Alternatives for DNS, DHCP and HTTP
• Alternatives for mail and messaging
• Alternatives for VPN and netinstall

Cutting out the middle man

Apple is positioning this change as a way to cut out the middleman so to speak. All of the packages offered by Apple are from free and open source software (FOSS) and it claims that getting service packages directly from the maintainers allows administrators to get the best, most up-to-date, and secure versions available.

FOSS Calendar and Contact services

Apple is suggesting that administrators migrate to to the following for calendar and contact services.

DavMail is an ambitious project trying to be a standard compliant replacement for Microsoft Exchange. It supports CalDav and CardDav and LDAP protocols for your calendaring and address books as well as mail protocols of POP, IMAP and SMTP.

On the opposite spectrum is Radicale. It's only function is for calendaring and contacts. It prides itself on being a small and powerful implementation of the CalDAV and CardDAV protocols accessible also via HTTP. If all you require is calendaring and/or contact services, Radicale is for you.

Akin to DavMail to provide a full experience for contact management and collaboration, Citadel provides many other features like email and messaging in it's suite on top of the built in calendaring and address book features. If you want a full featured service but not necessarily a Microsoft Exchange replacement, Citadel might fit the bill.

Another possible solution is the Calendar and Contacts Server.

DNS, DHCP and HTTP

Many of the following programs may be familiar to you since administrators have had access to them under the macOS covers via terminal. The only difference is no GUI front end from the macOS Server app.

Kea is a standards compliant feature rich software for implementing DHCPv4 and DHCPv6.

Although the name implies it being a domain name server, Dnsmasq also provides a flexible DHCP service as well. So if you need a single program to provide both services, Dnsmasq can do that.

The venerable, powerful and highly scalable Apache HTTP server has had many years of development and hardening an still remains one of the best HTTP solutions available.

Other programs to provide these services: - FreeRADIUS - BIND - Unbound - Lighttpd

Mail and messaging

If you have requirements for mail and messaging specifically, Apple suggests some of the following solutions.

Courier takes a modular approach to your mail service needs with support for IMAP, SMTP, POP3, webmail and more. Can be configured as a relay or a straight server.

Based loosely on the OG mail service Sendmail, Postfix is widely considered, the best email solution for mission critical projects.

If email is not instant enough then Prosody IM may be what you are looking for. Prosody is an XMPP based instant messaging server so it allows for the use of many XMPP open standard clients.

More solutions for mail and messaging: - dovecot - ejabberd - Openfire

VPN and NetInstall

VPN services allow for secure connections between computers. NetInstall allows for diskless booting as well as writing images to disk.

Probably the most used and documented FOSS VPN solution, OpenVPN is supported on nearly every internet facing device out there. For business or for home OpenVPN gives you protected and private transmission of data to and from your server and client.

If you need NetBoot or Net Install services the NetSUS can provide it for you.

Final thoughts

I really liked Apple's take on service administration. Use the powerful FOSS solutions under the covers whilst providing the ease of access for standard setups via a nice frontend. I'm saddened that macOS Server will no longer be a hub for network services. I'm happy that Apple is pointing administrators to the open source world for their depreciated services. But this leads me to one last thought. Why stop there? Why not simply go completely FOSS and use a GNU/Linux distribution that will NOT remove service functionality instead of sticking with macOS?

Will you be migrating your services whilst still running macOS? Let us know in the comments!

Mikah Sargent, Lory Gil, and Rene Ritchie talk all about Apple's new HomePod, which is now available to pre-order in some countries. They also preview some of the new features coming in iOS 11.3, and discuss changes to MacOS Server. All that, plus Mikah shows off Farrago — Rogue Amoeba's new soundboard for Mac!

Listen now

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Show notes

• iMore show 591 video edition
• HomePod: This is Apple's Siri Speaker
• Should you buy multiple HomePod speakers?
• What's new in iOS 11.3?
• What you need to know about Health Records in iOS 11.3
• What's new with ARKit in iOS 11.3
• Farrago: A new soundboard for Mac from Rogue Amoeba

Sponsors

• Thrifter.com: All the best deals from Amazon, Best Buy, and more, fussily curated and constantly updated.

Hosts

• Rene Ritchie
• Georgia Dow
• Lory Gil
• Mikah Sargent
• Serenity Caldwell

Be part of the show!

Send in your comments, questions, feedback, or follow-up to:

• Email: imoreshow@imore.com
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• Web: Leave a comment below!

For some, upgrading to the latest software is a no-brainer. After all, you get all the new bells and whistles, right? WRONG! In a production environment, where stability and compatibility trump puny bells and whistles, the decision to upgrade has to be far more careful and considered.

For the macOS server administrator who wants to be as informed as possible before a potentially job-threatening upgrade, here are all the High Sierra changes you need to know about1

Removed Services

At one point or another, a feature or service may be discontinued due to various reasons. Be it, security, low usage, or simply shifting priorities, a service you've come to depend on may be deprecated or even removed entirely. Here are two such services in macOS Server 5.4.

File Sharing with iOS: You could previously use set up a shared repository on macOS Server for your iOS devices. Support for this feature is being removed entirely. All of your iOS devices will report that file sharing has been disabled on the server. Suggested alternatives are using WebDAV, and collaboration using Pages, Numbers, and Keynote.

File Transfer Protocol (FTP): A longtime a security risk, for example for sending password information in clear text, FTP support will be removed from macOS server if you upgrade.

Moved Services

Sometimes services will all be moved from one configuration manager to another. Apple has made some services are now available on all macOS High Sierra installation, even those running without macOS Server. Here are the services on macOS Server 5.4 that have been moved to all macOS High Sierra installs in the System Preferences app.

File Sharing: All fire sharing can now be configured in System Preferences > Sharing. There are some protocol depreciations due to the new APFS file sharing that will disable sharing over that filesystem.

Open Directory: Open Directly is no longer required for Profile management and, as such, has been "hidden" on macOS Server 5.4.

Caching Service: My favorite feature in macOS Server, it can now be easily found in System Preferences > Sharing. If you have multiple devices to update and maintain, it makes a local network cache for iCloud data, updates and more. Great if you want to save bandwidth.

Xcode Server: Any install of Xcode 9 now takes over the functionality of Xcode server from previous macOS Server installs.

Time Machine: You can now share a folder for backups using the increased capabilities of File Sharing on macOS High Sierra.

The upgrade you were looking for?

Some people may like that Apple is so decisive about how it simply cuts services per upgrade so that service "cruft" doesn't build up over many instances OS upgrades. Other people may find it maddening when a simple upgrade moves or removes features they were using. I tend to be in the latter group. I can understand no longer supporting FTP for example, but removing it completely is scorched earth.

What's your take? Let me know in the comments!

Every computer running macOS has the potential to run powerful server capabilities with a simple, low-cost download from the App Store call macOS Server. Unleash the power of macOS Server on your Mac with the help of our ultimate guide!

How to download and install macOS Server

Whether it's for privacy, control, or to simplify the sharing of data in small to medium sized organizations, macOS Server lets you create secure and easily managed services for all your macOS or iOS devices.

How to download and install macOS Server

How to administer all of your Macs from a single device using macOS Server

If you're running a small home office or business and have multiple Macs on which one serves files, another manages email, and a third runs a calendar service, you can manage them all from a single Mac using macOS Server. Here's how!

How to administer all of your Macs from a single device using macOS Server

How to set up file sharing on macOS Server

Do you like the idea of saving files in the cloud but want the privacy of running your own file server? Apple's macOS Server makes it easy between your Macs, iOS devices, and PCs!

How to set up file sharing on macOS Server

Speed up app installs and iCloud access on your Apple devices

Do you have a lot of Apple hardware to maintain? Perhaps you are a small office that manages numerous similar Apple devices? You can speed up the updating of your Macs, the downloading of your apps, and access to your iCloud data while at the same time reducing your internet bandwidth usage by installing the macOS Server Caching Service!

Speed up app installs and iCloud access on your Apple devices

How to setup your own VPN with macOS Server

If you've decided you need a virtual private network (VPN) but you don't want to pay for a third-party VPN service, macOS Server can be a great alternative. It's built on the macOS you already know and love and lets you quickly and easily get your very own VPN up and running.

How to setup your own VPN with macOS Server

How to create your own private messages service with macOS Server

If you're in need of an instant messaging service that avoids giving up your private information and only costs a nominal fee, regardless of the number of users you need, the messages service on macOS server may fit your bill.

How to create your own private messages service with macOS Server

Any other questions about macOS Server?

If you have any questions or comments let us know!

If you're a cinema buff, chances are you might have a computer connected to your big screen television or projector, dedicated to the playback and archiving of your favorite films. A computer dedicated to the playback of your content is called a Home Theater PC (HTPC). An HTPC can be used to contain and transcode your content for playback to various devices or simply to create a smaller file footprint to save disk space.

When purchasing a television, you get manufacturer controls to adjust the display properties. However, not all HTPCs are connected to televisions. Some are connected to computer monitors and projectors that lack those aforementioned controls to adjust settings.

Here's how to adjust the display settings on your Mac so that whatever you're watching looks perfect when presented via projector.

How to adjust your Mac display settings for a projector

Luckily, macOS has easy-to-use-and-configure projector settings so that I can get the correct brightness and color gamut during playback. Here's how!

1. Open System Preferences on your Mac.
2. Click Displays.
3. Click Color.

4. Click Projector.

There are now two adjustments you can make. A slider adjustment to set the correct brightness and a color wheel adjustment to set proper colors.

1. Click and drag the brightness slider until you can only see one rotating circle in the black circle.
2. Click and drag on the color wheel until the large circle within the color wheel appears to be a neutral white.

Final thoughts

Many projectors, including my own, have individual hue adjustments that can get complicated and tedious but can provide a much higher-fidelity picture, so if you need a quick and easy adjustment, macOS has you covered. Do you have a macOS-based HTPC? How good is your picture quality? Let us know in the comments!

Instant messaging is a must in today's business sharing and collaboration software toolset. There are instant messaging services that are free to use (but may need access to your data) or there are paid services that can charge per user.

If you're in need of an instant messaging service that avoids giving up your private information and only costs a nominal fee regardless of the number of users you need, then the messages service on macOS server may fit your bill.

We'll be showing you how to setup and create a private messaging service on macOS for your locally networked connected Macs, iOS devices, and PCs connected to your macOS Server VPN service. Although we can set up this service to allow access from anywhere on the internet without a VPN, we feel the purpose of offering a highly secure and private messaging service outweighs the convenience of being easily accessible.

Install macOS Server on one of your Macs

If you haven't already done so, you'll need to install macOS Server on one of your network Macs. You can follow our detailed guide if you need a little more help, but here is the express version.

1. Launch the App Store application.
2. Search for macOS Server in the search bar at the top right of the app.
3. Click Buy next to macOS Server or if already purchased, you'll be notified that you can download it for free.
4. Click Install.
5. Agree to the User Agreement.

Add users to your macOS Server

In order for your organization to start collaborating, you'll need to add the users whom you want to have access to the service.

1. Start the Server App.
2. Select Users from under the Accounts listing.
3. Click the Add button (it looks like a plus symbol) to add a new user.
4. Type in the Full Name of the user you want added.
5. Enter a Password for the user.
6. Verify the password for the user.
7. Click Create.

8. Repeat for as many users as required.

Configure the messages service

We'll now need to configure the messages service to only accept connections from your local network IP addresses.

1. Select Messages from the services listings in the Server App.
2. Click Edit Permissions.
3. Select private networks from the dropdown list under When connecting from.
4. Click OK.

5. Optionally check Archive all messages if you wish to save all of your organization's messages from every user to disk.Note: If you wish to secure this data, make certain to select an encrypted location to save this file to.
6. Toggle the ON/OFF switch to ON.

If you have an Airport Base Station, you will be prompted to allow for macOS Server to automatically open ports through your router so that external clients can connect to your messages server. Do not allow this. Although it's possible to set this up as a regular internet service to connect from anywhere, the purpose of this tutorial to keep it as secure and private as possible and that sort of setup is beyond the scope of this article.

Connect your Mac clients

For macOS, Apple has already built in functionality for the xmpp protocol, the software that underlies the messaging system used by macOS Server. This means that you needn't download any third party messaging clients and you can work seamlessly with the messages app.

1. Start your Messages app.
2. Click Messages in the App menu in the upper left corner of the screen.
3. Select Add Account from the drop-down menu.
4. Select Other Messages Account.
5. Click Continue.

6. Select Jabber from the Account Type dropdown list.
7. Enter the User Name you created on your macOS Server in the form of UserName@mac-mini-host-name.local.Note: It's very important to use the Host Name associated with your macOS Server otherwise you'll need to edit configuration files located in /Library/Server/Messages/Config/jabberd.
8. Enter the Password associated with the user name you entered.
9. Click Sign In.
10. Click Continue when prompted to accept the server certificate.

11. Set your Jabber status to available to log in.
12. Select a user on the same Local Account as the private server you connect to to start messaging.

Connect your iOS device

You can do a search for xmpp from the app store to see a list of xmpp clients available to download but we found that Monal is about as easy to set up as can be and works well with our macOS Server. Monal also runs on Android and has a native macOS client as well.

1. Open the App Store on your iOS device.
2. Search for Monal.
3. Tap Download.
4. Tap Install.
5. Tap Open.
6. Skip the Tutorial.
7. Add a New Account.
8. Under Jabber ID enter your UserName@macOS-server-host-name.local.Note: Make certain to enter a User you created on the messages server and also make certain you use the host name you used when setting up your macOS Server.
9. Set Self-Signed Certificate to on.

Connect your PCs

We won't go too deeply as to how to connect your Windows and linux PC's but xmpp.org has a nice list of different clients you can try to connect to your macOS messages server.

Connecting when on the local VPN

For you remote users, you can still take part in the private messaging service through the VPN (virtual private network) if you have one set up. You'll need to add your macOS Server's internal network IP address to your personal computer's Host file. Here's how you do it on macOS.

1. In finder or terminal navigate to /etc.
2. Edit hosts using your favourite text editor using an administrative account.
3. Append the IP Address and Host Name of your macOS Server. This will be in the form of "xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx Hostname.local". For example, mine looks like "192.168.15.154 anthonys-mac-mini.local".

4. Connect to the VPN on your network.
5. Set up your macOS computer to connect to messages as instructed above.

How do you keep your messages secure?

Now it's your turn! Let us know how you manage to keep your messages safe and secure or if you simply think this is much ado about nothing!

Do you have a lot of Apple hardware to maintain? Perhaps you are a small office that manages numerous similar Apple devices? You can speed up the updating of your Macs, the downloading of your apps, and access to your iCloud data while at the same time reducing your internet bandwidth usage by installing the macOS Server Caching Service!

What does the Caching service do?

In my household, we have (in their various forms): 4 iPads, 4 iPhones, 3 AppleTVs, 3 MacBook Pros, 2 MacBook Airs, 1 MacBook, and 1 iMac. That's a lot of downloading to do for iCloud synchronization and system updates across all of those devices. You may have a metered internet package or you might need to make certain your Apple-related downloads don't use up all of the bandwidth.

The Caching service helps by keeping a local network copy of app downloads, system updates, iCloud data, iBooks purchases and the like. Once one iPhone downloads a newly purchased app or goes on to synchronize documents in iCloud, the caching service will automatically save a copy of the file on its hard drive and the rest of your devices can look to the local macOS Server running the caching service to download it rather than downloading it from the internet. This speeds up installation and synchronization on all subsequent devices by many times!

Install macOS Server on one of your Macs

If you haven't already done so, you'll need to install macOS Server on one of your network Macs. You can follow our detailed guide if you need a little more help, but here is the express version.

1. Launch the App Store application.
2. Search for macOS Server in the search bar at the top right of the app.
3. Click Buy next to macOS Server or if already purchased, you'll be notified that you can download it for free.
4. Click Install.
5. Agree to the User Agreement.

How to set up the caching service

1. Launch the Server App
2. Select Caching under the Services listing.
3. Optionally select Edit Permissions to determine which devices on which networks are allowed to connect to your macOS Server.

4. Optionally select Edit Peering Permissions to select from what networks other Caching servers can be used to share data.
5. Leave Cache personal iCloud data enabled to allow for caching of iCloud data to quickly synchronize all of your iCloud-connected devices.

6. Click Change Location if you have a secondary storage device connected to your macOS Server to change the cache location.
7. Click and drag the Slider or type in the Cache Size to set how much of your storage device you want to use for the caching service.
8. Click the OFF/ON button to start the service.
9. Restart all of your Apple devices so that they can detect the caching service running on your network.

With that, your devices will automagically start using and storing data and files on your caching server. You can see what type of file and how much space is being used for each type of data populating your server. If ever you need to reset the data in the cache, you need to simply click on Reset on the caching service administration page.

Any comments or questions?

This is by far one of the most useful and simplest services to set up on your Apple-centric network. It's also one of the most impactful since the bandwidth and time saved can be dramatic across all of your hardware. If you have any questions or comments, leave it below!

"The cloud". That nebulous (pun intended) place, somewhere "out there" in internet-land that stores your files, photos, music, and more, so you needn't worry about getting access to to your digital files anywhere at any time. Sounds great! And it is. However, there are some dark aspects of "the cloud" that may make you think twice about putting sensitive documents or photos on just ANY server. For instance, computer crackers stealing sensitive data can happen to large corporations as easily as small ones. "The cloud" may sound like it's some large, ethereal thing, but in reality, there are real physical servers and hard disks that YOUR data is being stored on. And that data is administered by a person.

A person with flaws and foibles in charge of your personal finance information, medical history, or racy photos. I'm not trying to disparage computer admins of the world (I used to be one!). There are certainly extremely competent, ethical, and well-trained people managing your information on thousands of computers. However, there is an option available if you are privacy- and security-conscious and that option is to set up your own personal file server. One that integrates seamlessly with your Mac, iOS, and even PC. Securely sharing files on your own local network with family friends or in a small office is made easy with macOS Server. Here's how!

• Set up macOS Server
• How to set up file sharing on macOS Server
• How to connect to your personal file server

Set up macOS Server

If you haven't already done so, download and install macOS Server and optionally enable remote administration for easier setup.

How to set up file sharing on macOS Server

We'll be seeing up the file server for local network access. In a later tutorial, we'll show you how to connect to your home remotely via VPN and access your file server.

1. Launch the Server App.
2. Select File Sharing under the Services listing.
3. Click the "+" under Shared Folders to add a new folder to share. Apple recommends using a separate hard drive to share your files from. However, you can create a New Folder on your main Macintosh HD if you are lacking a second hard drive.

4. Click Choose once you've created your folder. Your new Shared Folder will now appear.
5. Click the new folder and click the Edit button.

6. Select all of the ways you want to be able to access your files.
   • Select iOS to be able to connect your mobile Apple devices.
   • Check Only allow encrypted connection if you need extra security. Note that this will disable the AFP protocol.
7. Click OK.
8. Click the OFF/ON button to start the service.

Your server is ready for local network connections!

How to connect to your personal file server

Now that your server is ready, you'll need to connect your Macs and iOS devices to get access to the data stored on your files.

1. Launch Finder.
2. Click your macOS Server computer under Shared in the menu on the left.
3. Click Connect As.
4. Enter your username and password from your file server and click Connect.

1. Launch Settings.
2. Select Mail.
3. Select Accounts.
4. Select Add Account.

5. Tap Other.
6. Tap Add macOS Server Account.
7. Tap a server from the list. If you don't see your server, select Other to manually enter the hostname or IP Address.
8. Enter your username and password and tap Next. You'll be prompted to accept the macOS Server Identity Certificate.

9. Tap Continue.
10. Tap Save.

You can now access your file server from an iOS app that has built in file server access support. For example, you can open up the Pages App and select or save files by selecting Locations and tapping on OS X Server.

Is it worth it? Your thoughts?

You may be wondering if all of this is worth the hassle of setting up the server, setting up file sharing, setting up your client devices, backing up your own files in case your file server goes down, etc. And for most people, it isn't worth the task. You can simply choose Apple's iCloud for a small fee to take care of all of that.

However, if you want true control over your data, your privacy, and your security, this is the way to go. With this minimal configuration, you'll not have remote access to your files (yet!), but that remote access will be added with a future tutorial on connecting and configuring a secure VPN connection to your macOS Server! Those are my thoughts. What are yours? Tell us in the comments below!

If you're running a small home office or business and have multiple Macs on which one serves files, another manages email and a third runs a calendar service, you can manage them all from a single Mac using macOS Server. Here's how!

Install macOS Server on your Macs

Even if you're not planning to run a service on your Mac, you'll need to install macOS Server from the App Store on each Mac you want to manage. You can follow our detailed how-to on installing macOS Server but if you only need a refresher, this is how you do it.

1. Launch the App Store application.
2. Search for macOS Server in the search bar at the top right of the app.
3. Click Buy macOS Server or if already purchased you'll be notified that you can download it for free.

4. Click Install.
5. Agree to the User Agreement.

6. That's it!

Enable remote administration on the Server Mac.

Before we can connect from another Mac, we'll need to prep the Mac server we want to administer to allow for remote connections.

1. Open Spotlight and type Server.
2. Choose This Mac and click Continue.

3. Enter your Administrator User Name and Password and click Connect.
4. On the Overview tab make a note of your Mac Server's Host Name. You'll need this later.

5. The Administrator Page will open and select the Settings tab.
6. Under Remote Access, checkmark the ways you want to remotely access this Mac. If you want to simply allow for the macOS Server App to run on a client Mac, simply select Use Server App on a remote Mac. If you need more accessibility, you can get command line access via Secure Shell Connections (SSH) or full blown GUI access with Screen Sharing.

7. You're done setting up the Server!

Setup your Client Mac to connect remotely.

Do you have a preferred Mac that you use daily? Then that's the Mac you'll need to install the same macOS Server App that you installed earlier on all of your Server Macs. Once installed, here's how you connect to your Mac Server.

1. Open Spotlight and type Server.
2. Click on Other Mac.

3. Enter the Host Name or IP Address of your Mac Server that you made note of in Step 4 in the Mac Server setup.
4. Enter the Administrator Name and Password of your Mac Server.

5. You'll be prompted to verify the identity of the server and will be prompted to Verify Certificate. Click Continue.
6. You're now connected to the remote Server's Administration App! Here, you can manage and setup services on the Server Mac as needed.

Connect to a Secure Shell Session (SSH) or Screen Sharing.

If you need more under the hood management, connecting to a command line session via SSH or to the full blown Desktop via Screen Sharing is a simple mouse click. Make certain you have enabled SSH and Screen Sharing in step 6 in the Mac Server setup and then follow these steps.

1. Open Spotlight and type Server.
2. Select the Mac server you wish to connect to or manually enter the Host Name or IP Address of your Mac Server that you made note of in Step 4 in the Mac Server setup.
3. Enter the Administrator Name and Password of your Mac Server.
4. To Verify Certificate, click Continue.

5. When the Server App starts, select the Settings tab.
6. To start a Secure Shell Session, click the small grey arrow to the right of Secure shell Connections (SSH). The Terminal App will launch automatically. Enter your Password to log into your shell.

7. To connect to your Mac's server Desktop, click the small grey arrow to the right of Screen Sharing and Apple Remote Desktop app. The Screen Sharing App will launch automatically and you'll be presented with a familiar Mac Login screen. Enter your credentials and use it like a normal Mac desktop.

Still more left to do

This sets you up to administer your different Macs from a centralized location when you're on the same network or have remote access to your Mac network. We'll be building on this by installing our own VPN server in a future macOS Server tutorial so that you'll be virtually connected to your home or office network anywhere you have internet access.

Comments or questions?

Let us know how many Macs you manage using macOS Server and if you have any comments, tips or questions, let us know in the comment section below!

Apple has launched OS X Server 5.0 in the Mac App Store for $19.99. The new version supports the upcoming release of OS X 10.11, also known as El Capitan. However, users of the current OS X 10.10.5 Yosemite can upgrade to OS X Server 5.0 for free.

In the past, the yearly upgrades to OS X Server have always cost $19.99, so allowing Yosemite users to get the new version for free is a change in Apple's business model. Here's the change log for OS X Server 5.0:

• OS X Server 5.0 features a cleaner, more consistent user interface.
• OS X Server 5.0 is now operating system version independent. The same version of Server can be used on Mac computers running OS X Yosemite 10.10.5 and OS X El Capitan 10.11.
• OS X Server can perform network diagnostic tests to verify that your server is accessible from the Internet. New diagnostic tests include the ability to verify when specific websites are no longer reachable and when DNS MX records are incorrectly configured or missing.

Caching Server

• Caching Server can accelerate the download of iCloud data, including documents in iCloud Drive and photos. Enabling iCloud Acceleration reduces the amount of iCloud data that must be downloaded when users have multiple devices on the same network.

File Sharing

• iOS 9 users can easily access and store documents on OS X Server. Once a share point is created, it can be shared to iOS devices and made available using traditional file sharing protocols such as SMB and AFP. This allows users to open, edit and save documents from both iOS 9 and OS X 10.11.

Profile Manager

• Profile Manager supports new MDM commands and queries as well as Configuration Profile payloads and settings introduced in iOS 9 and OS X 10.11.

iOS and OS X

• Device-based Volume Purchase Program (VPP) app assignment: Assign VPP apps to devices instead of a user's Apple ID. This allows for the installation of VPP apps on iOS devices and Mac computers without configuring an Apple ID or sending an invitation.
• VPP Managed Distribution migration: Migrate apps already installed on a device from assignment to a user's Apple ID to assignment to that device without deleting the app or user data.
• App installation improvements: App Store apps can be installed even if the App Store is disabled. This includes newly assigned apps and app updates.

iOS 9

• Single Sign-On: Apps configured to use Kerberos will automatically launch per-app VPN when a user logs in to that app.
• Skip steps in Setup Assistant: Devices enrolled in the Device Enrollment Program (DEP) can be configured to remove the new Move from Android option from the Setup pane in Setup Assistant.
• Update to latest iOS: Update DEP-enrolled supervised devices to the latest iOS.
• Network usage rules: Network usage rules allow organizations to specify how managed apps use networks, such as cellular data networks; for example, restricting the app's ability to connect over cellular or when roaming on other networks. These rules apply only to managed apps.
• New device restrictions: Prevent Mail Drop; prevent trusting new enterprise app authors; prevent the use of AirDrop when the app is managed.
• New restrictions for supervised devices: Prevent changing the wallpaper; prevent changing the device name; prevent enabling iCloud Photo Library; prevent keyboard shortcuts; prevent pairing with Apple Watch; prevent setting a passcode.
• OS X Server accounts can be added in the Mail, Contacts and Calendars section of the Settings application in iOS 9.

OS X El Capitan

• Create a standard account or skip account setup during DEP enrollment: Configure OS X Setup Assistant to create a new standard (non-admin) account or skip account creation entirely during DEP enrollment.
• Hidden administrator account: Automatically create an administrator account during initial system setup. The presence of this account can be hidden from standard users.
• New MDM commands: Install Software Update on DEP-enrolled Mac Computers; Get Active Managed Users.
• New restrictions: Prevent the use of iCloud documents and data; prevent Spotlight suggestions; prevent use of iSight camera; prevent sending diagnostic data to Apple; prevent dictionary lookup.

• $19.99 - Download now

That's the question posed to me in this week's Mac Help. Now, I'll extol the virtues of the Mac mini as a home and small business server until my dying day. Sometimes I think I'm the only one, then a question comes in that reminds me I'm not. This one focuses on storage for OS X Server, Time Machine and more.

R.S. writes:

R.S. has a setup like mine: The Mac mini is the household hub. It's already storing and streaming media content like movies, TV shows and music to other devices on the home Wi-Fi network. This saves me from having to burden my other Macs, including SSD-based Macs with more limited storage capacity, by piling on hundreds of gigabytes of media that I'm not in a hurry to get rid of, but don't need access to all the time.

The interesting wrinkle here is that R.S. is running OS X Server. It's a $19.99 download from the Mac App Store. Using OS X Server, you can back up every Mac on your network too. If you have the storage for backing up the whole network already hanging off the Mac mini server, then you can certain use it.

My Mac mini is set up with a CalDigit T4 Thunderbolt 2 RAID. I back up everything in the house to it as a Time Machine server and I use it for media storage and streaming too.

Thunderbolt is daisy-chainable; if you've already got a Thunderbolt drive you've got your media stored on, I'd recommend using an additional device to do the Time Machine backups.

As far as Network Attached Storage (NAS) is concerned, it adds another layer of network complexity that makes me uneasy. I prefer to keep my topology as simple and as fast as possible. Thunderbolt 2 RAID meets that criteria: It's fast and it has redundancy; if a drive fails my data is safe.

Buffalo's Terastation 3400 may fit the bill, though: It sports built-in support for Time Machine.

Most of us will get away just fine with a Time Capsule, Apple's Wi-Fi router with built-in network storage, presuming we want to spend the $299 or $399, depending on capacity. But if your interest is tweaked and you'd like to see what OS X Server can do, you can download it to any Mac running Yosemite.

• $19.99 - Download now

Apple had posted a copy of the OS X Server 4.0 Developer Preview that will work on OS X Yosemite to the developer center for download. The OS X Server 4.0 software, considered beta, comes just after Apple had released a second gold master of the OS X Yosemite beta for developers earlier this week. You can grab the download from Apple's developer portal.

The Apple TV isn't the best solution for everyone. The number of apps it works with are limited, and you can access most of that content from the web. What's more, it locks you into using iTunes as your media delivery system, whether it's sharing a library on a local computer or syncing via iTunes in the Cloud.

For those use cases and others, it may be better to make a Mac the center of your media center instead, so let's take a look at using a Mac as a media center instead. For this experiment, we're going to rely on a Mac mini, but in reality lots of Macs will do the same job.

Picking the right Mac mini

The Mac mini comes in two distinct flavors: a dual-core system clocked at 2.5 GHz and equipped with 4 GB RAM and a 500 GB hard disk drive, priced at $599; and a quad-core system priced at $799, equipped with 4 GB RAM and a 1 terabyte hard drive instead.

Your budget may guide you initially - perhaps you don't have the extra $200 or don't want to spend it, and that's fine. The basic Mac mini is a perfectly good system to act as the basis for your Mac media center. But the quad-core system may provide a bit more oomph when it comes to ripping video from various sources, like DVDs. Transcoding video is a pretty processor-intensive activity, and it's something that definitely benefits from having additional cores.

The basic 4 GB memory configuration should be adequate to serve up whatever media content you're going to be delivering through the Mac mini, and it's easily upgradable after the fact (the base of the Mac mini), so I wouldn't recommending paying Apple's penalty to upgrade RAM. You can do the job yourself and buy good quality third-party memory from a variety of vendors.

Storage is a different issue, though ...

Storage for your media

Media content - movies, TV shows, music, and more - will take up space. Movies and TV collections will take up lots of space, and you'll probably find that the 500 GB and even the 1 terabyte of internal storage is insufficient.

If you hit a storage ceiling for your Mac media center, moving it externally is the best solution. You can buy an external USB 3.0 or Thunderbolt-based hard drive and follow these instructions to move your iTunes library.

A Network Attached Storage (NAS) volume is another way to offload iTunes files, but there are a lot of caveats. It's broader than the scope of this article, though - I'm going to save that for another time.

Ripping content

Another thing to consider - the Mac mini doesn't have any sort of built-in optical drive. If you have a library of DVD or Blu-ray content, it's possible to ingest it to your Mac, but you're going to need an optical drive to do it.

Apple's $80 SuperDrive is a great option. It's slim, slot-loading and designed to complement the Mac mini and other Mac models. It's also pretty pricy for an external optical drive, and it's only capable of working with CDs and DVDs.

If you want to be able to ingest Blu-ray Disc content or if you're looking to save yourself money, there are plenty of external options available - and most, if not all, will work with the Mac.

One note on Blu-ray Disc content: Apple doesn't include decoding software to enable your Mac to play back video content mastered on Blu-ray. You can certainly add software to do so - again, beyond the scope of this article, but something to consider.

Connecting your Mac to your TV

If you're working with any Mac mini made since 2010, you just need to get an HDMI cable to connect it your HDTV. That's one of the beauties of using a Mac mini as a media center - it's really designed to work easily with a television. Other Macs include HDMI connectors too - the Retina MacBook Pro, for example, as well as the new Mac Pro.

If your Mac doesn't have HDMI but includes Thunderbolt, a Thunderbolt to HDMI connector will work just fine. Before Thunderbolt, Macs included Mini DisplayPort, which looks the same but isn't. And only some of those carry both an audio and video signal, making them easy to connect with an HDMI adapter. If your Mac is equipped with Mini DisplayPort, check out this Apple tech note to figure out if it's audio/video capable.

Other issues

The Mac mini comes equipped with 802.11n Wi-Fi wireless networking, which is perfectly suitable for streaming video content over the Internet. But if you're looking for more networking oomph because you're going to be transferring large files to your new media center, it may be a good idea to go hardline instead, and use the Gigabit Ethernet connector on the back of the Mac mini.

If you just use your Mac mini as a repository for media files, you're wasting a large aspect of what it can do - actually work as a computer. So to that end, I'd definitely recommend considering a Bluetooth keyboard and mouse or trackpad.

Apple's Wireless Keyboard and Magic Trackpad are both fine choices, especially if you have a coffee table or some other flat surface you can use. Twelve South's MagicWand enables you to attach the Wireless Keyboard and Magic Trackpad together into one integrated input device.

Another advantage of using the Mac mini as your media center - it's the only modern Mac still equipped with an infrared receiver, making it able to work with the Apple Remote and other infrared remote controls, like Logitech's Harmony products.

HDMI carries both video and audio, so if you're connecting your Mac media server to an HDTV or HDMI-equipped receiver, you'll get multichannel digital audio too. Don't forget about the Mac mini's audio line out minijack, however - it's digital/analog, so you can connect the Mac mini to a stereo receiver; if your receiver is equipped with digital optical (Toslink) input, you can use a Toslink to mini cable; if your receiver only has RCA analog inputs, you can use a 3.5 mm to RCA adapter instead.

More to come

That covers the basics of physically connecting your Mac mini to your home entertainment system and having a workable system that you can access from the couch. Next we're going to get into how to configure the software on your Mac mini for optimal media center use.

Have questions already? Have you set up a Mac mini media server yourself? Share your thoughts, questions or comments below. I can't wait to hear from you!

OS X Server, using the same underpinnings as OS X, provides server-strength file sharing capabilities, database publication (including contact and calendar functionality), live video streaming, e-mail service, wiki and Web site publication, iOS device management, and more. It includes powerful open source software like Python, a popular scripting language, PostgreSQL for Structured Query Language (SQL) database support, and Apache, a popular open-source web server.

Apple's senior vice president of Software Engineering, Craig Federighi, offered nary a word about OS X Server during his keynote presentation introducing Mavericks at Apple's Worldwide Developer Conference (WWDC) in San Francisco last month. Should you infer from that a disinterest in server software coming from Apple's senior management? No. In fact, the opposite is true. They're very interested in seeing OS X Server do well, because it's crucial to the entire Apple ecosystem.

Working hand-in-hand with OS X on desktop and laptop Macs

The history of Macs as servers is almost as long as the Mac itself. Apple has sold server products for years - even in the pre-OS X "Classic" Mac OS days. Up until fairly recently, however, OS X Server remained the rarified domain of corporate IT departments. In January, 2011 Apple discontinued its rack-mountable server product, the Xserve, and IT jocks (and analysts) panicked - it seemed like Apple was pulling up stakes out of the enterprise space all together.

How wrong we were.

Turns out the Mac mini has had smashing success as a server, for the lucrative Small to Medium Business (SMB) market and also as a workgroup server for small to medium-sized groups of employees in corporate environments. The diminutive laptop is available in a server-specific configuration with two internal 1TB hard disk drives for $999. But you can install OS X Server on any Mac you might have lying around that's running up-to-date operating system software.

That's because Apple also radically changed the way it sold OS X Server.

As recently as Apple's release of Snow Leopard, Mac OS X v10.6, the company sold Snow Leopard Server separately from the "regular" operating system. $499 netted you a single server installation with support for unlimited users.

An incredible value

Now OS X Server is actually included with the regular operating system. You can buy a server management application for $19.99 as a download through the Mac App Store.

That's not changing with OS X Mavericks - you'll still be able to buy a separate management app through the Mac App Store. Apple continues to build the core capabilities into the regular consumer operating system.

Here's what Apple has to say{.nofollow} about OS X Server in Mavericks:

A friend to iOS devices as well

In other words, OS X Server in Mavericks is pretty much going to be a continuation of what we've seen - enhancements, rather than a major upheaval, designed to facilitate better workgroup communication in areas where OS X Server is really useful - teams of programmers working together on projects in Xcode, Apple's development environment for OS X and iOS applications alike, for example. Or businesses that are leveraging iOS devices like the iPhone and iPad among their employees, whether it's standard-issue policy or Bring Your Own Device (BYOD). Caching Server 2 promises to reduce wasted employee time by hastening the speed at which OS X Server will download content from iTunes, the Mac App Store or the App Store for iOS.

But don't think OS X Server is only good for Macs, iPads and iPhones. It's built on the same open standards and proven technology as the rest of OS X. It is OS X. It's a good corporate citizen that plays well with Windows PCs, Linux boxes and other various and sundry computing devices, too.

Some pundits and analysts erroneously think that Apple doesn't care about the enterprise space - those blowhards don't see Apple selling server hardware to compete with Dell, IBM and other companies, and assume the company is MIA. Nothing is further from the truth - Apple's been here all along. It's just that they have a very different handle on the market than most of the other companies in enterprise computing do. $20 gets you everything you need to get OS X Server off the ground. Compare that with the costs of server racks and blade systems and specialized server software used in other venues. It's a remarkable difference.

Are you in IT? Do you depend on OS X Server either as a user or an administrator? Or is this all rubbish that you don't care about? Talk to me in the comments, please, I'd love to hear from you. And please follow these links to find out more about OS X Mavericks or to have a conversation with other users about what features you're looking forward to most.

• OS X Mavericks: Everything you need to know
• OS X Mavericks: Discussion forum

Apple's lone outstretched hand to the social web, the MobileMe News "blog" is back with another helpful hint for users, this time about using iPhone 3.0 to search older email on the server:

I've used this to find old order info, network machine names, and scads of other stuff buried in server-side email. Since it doesn't (yet?) search the body of the email, it's not as useful as Gmail's WebApp, for example, but it's lightyears ahead of where it was under 2.2.1.

Another countdown to Macworld, another rumor! This one says that Apple is developing a turbo-boosted version of Time Capsule that would offer HP Media Smart Server-like capabilities. Some of the more nifty, iPhone related features, according to 9to5Mac, could include:

Hey, if multiple drives and RAID-5 (RAID-6!) are in the cards, it might even be a viable Drobo alternative -- something that's already the darling of the Apple community...