macOS Server App Reviews

Let’s be honest, Server app allows you to do an awful lot and makes the server management issues very, very easy compared to a headless linux system. I enjoy having my mac mini server out there handling my email and being generally a very stable happy web server as well. Apart from some strange issues caused by the OS versions (like python in yosemite or the crappy secure transport issue), server istself is well done and handy. I think it is naive of people to think they will never need to use SSH and commandline work. Just look at the server app documentaiton online and realize that you are going to need to understand some of that and use it. So I think the reviews that complain about the GUI not working are just misguided reviews - you need to see what happened, and sometimes that requires commands given in terminal or over SSH. On the other hand, I really wish that the Server app GUI had more complete “advanced” panels that permitted more work from the GUI. For instance, why do I have to hack postfix to get a catchall user for an email domain? I should be able to specify that on the domain panel for the email service. For some reason, it’s not there, and it makes for a little bit of a circus getting it reconfigured after each upgrade. Things like that really should be in the GUI somewhere. If I had a criticism, it would be that the webapp isn’t better documented. I have been playing with it and I’m slowly getting a better grasp on wha tthe vision for this feature is… I think. Load up homebrew, load alternate handlers, and use apache to pass. The new architecture of the apache proxy layer and the apache app layer makes this make even more sense. I get the concept, but I really wish there was some better examples and documentation on this feature — I’ve already been able to hack my way through the conf files to load php7 and do some other tweaks to get really high performance wordpress. I have the feeling that I’m supposed to be able to do this with a webapp and push a button on the GUI. I want that. Overall, I give Server app a 5, though. It’s much easier to administer than a linux VPS. I enjoy it so much more, and it has apple-ready features already built in. BRAVO! Just the time saved administering email service alone makes the $20 the best spent money in the app store right there. But, a little more polish on the web service… I see where that thin apache proxy layer is going — pure awesome sauce in the mix — help us users make that real by documenting the webapp architecture better! Heck, I can see how the door is open to have the apache proxy handle transactions and there be an apache event MPM behind that serving up a site. If I could figure out how to make a webapp correcctly, I could do that right now. I can see, kind of, how the webapp could be used to load nginx+spdy to temporarily take care of port 443 http/2 and fix the securetransport disaster by using openssl (which I’m doing already, but through conf hacks at the moment). The pieces are all there, help us figure out how to use them better! (and give an admin panel for catchall domain users, too, please)

Really, it is an amazing application, but I cant afford to use TLS 1.0. PLEASE APPLE, ADD TLS 1.2 SUPPORT! PLEASE! Otherwise, its a really good app.

Under OS X El Capitan, installing OS X Server breaks the ability of my intended server platform to connect to the internet. I have even reattempted after performing a Clean Install of OS X using Migration Assistant to move my critical data and applications from the previous system image - no success. In those conditions, this software is unusable for me - and I have removed it.

I was really concerned about all the negative reviews Server is getting here, but after purchasing it over a year ago I could not be happier. We have a small office of 8 Macs and 1 PC all accessing company files I have sitting on a mac mini in the closet. We have never had a problem with accessing the files, or any of the glitches some other reviews mention. From what I have gleaned, it seems that Server does a really good job at the simple stuff (file sharing, caching updates) we use it for. However there seems to be some debate about the more complex features. But just because we don’t use some of those features doesn’t mean they can continue not being repaired. For this reason, I’m rating Server 4 stars. If all the bugs are ironed out, I would change my rating to 5 stars.

Installed OS X Server and had it up and running in no time on my iMac. Works perfect and is very easy to use. I use it mainly as a server for my various OS X devices for Time Machine backup to a localized drive…..very slick and flawless. No idea whats up with the other poor review about eating space on the boot drive……I have several services enabled and see none of these issues at all. Something else to blame there, not this application. Well done…...Highly recommended!

I have used this to run my own server for my company and also my day job as an IT administrator. I really like the caching deature for the campus because of all the iOS devices it really reducing the downloads with apps, updates and iCloud data. The core of our network is active directory but I personally love it for my company of about 12 people it really saves on costs.

This is great for a small workgroup, it’s very simple and easy to setup. I attached Thunderbolt RAIDs and it sure is fast.