Apple pulls the plug on macOS Server

AppleInsider

Apple is officially discontinuing its $20 macOS Server app starting on Thursday, years after beginning to phase out the service.

macOS Server app

In a recent support document, Apple announced that it officially pulled the plug on the service as of April 21, 2022. The last version of the app will be macOS Server 5.12.2.

The company added that existing customers can continue to download and use the app on macOS Monterey. However, it also noted that many of the core features of the macOS Server platform are already included in more recent versions of the Mac operating system.

"The most popular server features-- Caching Server, File Sharing Server, and Time Machine Server are bundled with every installation of macOS High Sierra and later, so that even more customers have access to these essential services at no extra cost," Apple says.

Apple has also provided additional resources and support documents for users wanting to migrate from Profile Manager to other mobile device management (MDM) solutions.

The macOS Server app first debuted in 1999 and provided a variety of server and system administration tools and capabilities to macOS users. Apple has phased out some many aspects of the service over the years, incorporating functionality into other apps.

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rob53

The nice thing about OSX Server was all configurations were handled in one place. Now you have to go find all the features. 

As for MDM, Apple’s MDM products are more expensive than the $20.

sevenfeet

One of the nicer features of OS X Server back in the day was the UI for management of DNS. It wasn't for extremely complex situations but it was very handy for small to medium sized networks and it was a lot easier than hand editing text files.

mcdave

Has all the functionality been transitioned to other services for customers outside the US?

jintech

I remember back in the early days of Mac OS X (client) you use to be able to enable Web Sharing where essentially you could turn your Mac into a web hosting server. Any idea how to re-enable this option or is it gone for good?

davidesrati

I guess there is no "Server" for the rest of us.

When they stripped out features- my small business which depended on it's features was thrown into a mess of problems-

much like when our last Airport Extreme bit the dust.

Gone was our easy internal messenger-

gone was our internal wiki and dns setups.
Our file sharing permissions started going wonky.
Our centralized Time machine died-

and - all of a sudden first we have to try the VPP system of software licenses- then the even more complicated Apple business manager- which wasn't set up for business at all- but for schools.
The whole concept of Apple ID- for a shop with multiple computers- owned by a company- and assigned to employees- got super complicated-
and it was super frustrating.
Now- we have a raspberry pi running our DNS and our Wiki
we're constantly having our apple messages go to personal phones instead of computers-

time machine- may or may not work with the remote drives- and stops frequently.
File sharing permissions get garbled more and more-
And in a day when collaboration is all the rage-
we're using fontbase to manage fonts-
and a bunch of other programs that are halfassed collaboration tools- that should be where Apple is scoring big time.

I wonder if anyone at Apple remembers when Apple was a small business?
Because they sure don't act like they care about mine.
Bring back Apple server. Please. Please. With all of it's ease of use capabilities.

loopless

DavidEsrati said:

I guess there is no "Server" for the rest of us.

...

Just buy a Synology NAS. Does everything you want with an easy to use interface somewhat like the old Mac OS X server.

sedicivalvole

Good. Glad they’ve finally killed it. 

It’s been a sad disgrace since 10.7

bobolicious

DavidEsrati said:

I guess there is no "Server" for the rest of us.

When they stripped out features- my small business which depended on it's features was thrown into a mess of problems-

much like when our last Airport Extreme bit the dust.

Gone was our easy internal messenger-

gone was our internal wiki and dns setups.
Our file sharing permissions started going wonky.
Our centralized Time machine died-

and - all of a sudden first we have to try the VPP system of software licenses- then the even more complicated Apple business manager- which wasn't set up for business at all- but for schools.
The whole concept of Apple ID- for a shop with multiple computers- owned by a company- and assigned to employees- got super complicated-
and it was super frustrating.
Now- we have a raspberry pi running our DNS and our Wiki
we're constantly having our apple messages go to personal phones instead of computers-

time machine- may or may not work with the remote drives- and stops frequently.
File sharing permissions get garbled more and more-
And in a day when collaboration is all the rage-
we're using fontbase to manage fonts-
and a bunch of other programs that are halfassed collaboration tools- that should be where Apple is scoring big time.

I wonder if anyone at Apple remembers when Apple was a small business?
Because they sure don't act like they care about mine.
Bring back Apple server. Please. Please. With all of it's ease of use capabilities.

I feel your pain... Does a lack of roadmap or official support policy call into question what is worth investing in any software promoted by Apple as the next great thing...?
Have shareholders increasingly benefited at the expense of long invested customers ? Is it time for a change of management that more transparently and predictably supports remaining mac business customers ?

edited April 2022

netrox

JinTech said:

I remember back in the early days of Mac OS X (client) you use to be able to enable Web Sharing where essentially you could turn your Mac into a web hosting server. Any idea how to re-enable this option or is it gone for good?

Gone.

You can turn MacOS into a web server with any MAMP software. one of the popular  MAMPS: https://www.mamp.info/en/mamp/mac/
 

humbug1873

I started my career after university doing Enterprise support for WebObjects and Mac OS X  Server now both of them are dead products and I can actually retire from the AAPL gains from my company stock savings plan of the early (pre-iPhone) 00s. How fitting.

humbug1873

DavidEsrati said:

I guess there is no "Server" for the rest of us.

When they stripped out features- my small business which depended on it's features was thrown into a mess of problems-

much like when our last Airport Extreme bit the dust.

Gone was our easy internal messenger-

gone was our internal wiki and dns setups.
Our file sharing permissions started going wonky.
Our centralized Time machine died-

and - all of a sudden first we have to try the VPP system of software licenses- then the even more complicated Apple business manager- which wasn't set up for business at all- but for schools.
The whole concept of Apple ID- for a shop with multiple computers- owned by a company- and assigned to employees- got super complicated-
and it was super frustrating.
Now- we have a raspberry pi running our DNS and our Wiki
we're constantly having our apple messages go to personal phones instead of computers-

time machine- may or may not work with the remote drives- and stops frequently.
File sharing permissions get garbled more and more-
And in a day when collaboration is all the rage-
we're using fontbase to manage fonts-
and a bunch of other programs that are halfassed collaboration tools- that should be where Apple is scoring big time.

I wonder if anyone at Apple remembers when Apple was a small business?
Because they sure don't act like they care about mine.
Bring back Apple server. Please. Please. With all of it's ease of use capabilities.

Let's face it. Apple is the iPhone company nowadays. The Mac is just a small sidebusiness. No matter where you look the focus is not on the Mac. It's more of an afterthought that gets the droppings from the i-Devices (CPU, UI paradigma etc). And once leading SW like FinalCut, Safari etc. is just not pushed forward.

jintech

netrox said:

JinTech said:

I remember back in the early days of Mac OS X (client) you use to be able to enable Web Sharing where essentially you could turn your Mac into a web hosting server. Any idea how to re-enable this option or is it gone for good?

Gone.

You can turn MacOS into a web server with any MAMP software. one of the popular  MAMPS: https://www.mamp.info/en/mamp/mac/
 

Excellent. Thank you so much.

tzmmtz

Still using multiple Mac Mini 10.12.6 servers as AFP, CalDAV, Web (http links for clients), Open Directory and VPN services for our company. Works great. Especially for remote clients who can't log in by using SMB has multiple ISP's block that port.

darkvader

tzmmtz said:

Still using multiple Mac Mini 10.12.6 servers as AFP, CalDAV, Web (http links for clients), Open Directory and VPN services for our company. Works great. Especially for remote clients who can't log in by using SMB has multiple ISP's block that port.

That's getting more and more dangerous, unfortunately.  We have no idea how many remote exploits exist, but it's not zero.

I'm still doing it, but I'd recommend transitioning your VPN and web to something else and putting those old Mac servers behind a firewall for internal users.

There's no substitute for CalDAV that works as well.  I wish I had one.

macxpress

I don't really see any practical reason to have this anymore anyways. With the way Macs can be managed on a network, there's really no reason to use it nowadays. 

octomonkey

We all just need to remember... Tim Cook is a GREAT CEO! Bah! Bad taste in my mouth even when I type it!

docno42

DavidEsrati said:

I guess there is no "Server" for the rest of us.

[…]

Bring back Apple server. Please. Please. With all of it's ease of use capabilities.

Yup.  It was very disappointing when it became obvious Apple was abandoning it - like so many other internal Apple applications.  There is a real void that has NOT been filled (Synology?  seriously?  Don’t make me laugh).