Alternatives to Leopard Server

Given the number of glitches , bugs , Documentation fuzziness and a few more subjects we are considering dropping mac os X server has a production platform on newer systems and we are looking for Working stable alternatives to os X Server, i hope we can come back to os X server in the future but until then we will have to switch to something else.
Any suggestions will be more than welcome and studied in detail....
I am sorry if this sounds off topic in the Mac os X Server forums but since we are getting so little feedback about the many issues plaguing mac os X Server from Apple in Europe (yes even through support calls that keep mentionning "we have an update coming for the last 2 months) none of them as resolved the issues we are facing.
Thanking you for your time and attention and waiting to read from you soon ,
Best Regards,

Camelot wrote:
At the end of the day Mac OS X Server is not going to be the best tool for every job.
Server Admin does a reasonable job for common setups, but there are going to be a lot of people who step outside of the box that Server Admin lives in. I know I'm one of them. Whether that means you're no better off than you would be on another platform depends on what your priorities are. If a unified GUI is important to you and Server Admin isn't up to your needs then Mac OS X may not be the best option. If, on the other hand, you don't mind stepping away from Server Admin in the cases where you need more than it offers you still get the other benefits of OS X.
As we are in the 'web' portion of this forum, I'll only address my thoughts on the web tools. I agree with most all that Camelot and others have said. Particularly where one doesn't want to rely on one server for all services -- but even that is predicated on load over all else. Surely a 10 person company with one website, email and off-topic services such as file sharing in a mixed environment could be completely happy with a high-end mini or any Xserve for all services.
However, part of what Apple is selling is a web-capable server. At 10.5.2, OSXS is NOT a great GUI-managed tool for web services. Not only does it still have bugs with regard to Site management and choices the Server group made with configuring httpd (as well as an anemic php/mysql implementation), there are significant limits to using services such as ftp, mail, even listserves.
I remember thinking when they hired the likes of Eric Z from Starnine (as it was in the throws of building Webstar 4 and being sold to 4D) that maybe he would bring some fine ideas to the Server group. He wasn't technically proficient like real coders such as CJ, but he had some understanding of what Webstar had in terms of strengths. To date, I've not seen a lot of evidence that those strengths have made it to the OSXS product. They didn't in Tiger, they aren't there in Leopard 10.5.2 (yet).
Where is a simplified GUI admin for supporting multiple FTP accounts to the same home/site (or subpaths within a site)? Where is a decent GUI for admin of php4 settings, even something as simple as upping the .ini file size limits? Where is a decent GUI for supporting multiple domain names in the listserve product? Why does performance cache redirect to an alternate port when an iWeb user uploads oddly-crafted XML tags and the php interpreter parses the page incorrectly? Where is there user-assignable admin rights to email accounts for a specific domain so a sysadmin can delegate account management to a client?
The list goes on and on. I'm appreciative of what Apple has been able to do with much of the 'web' part of the GUI, but there are many, many features that can be GUI-ized (and should be) if Apple want to continue to push the paradigm that the machine should not get in the way of the user. I've a stack of 20+ year old Addison publications where Apple spent much money and time pushing the user experience concept. To have the unix folks push back and state that only CLI is the answer is -- NOT the answer. It is not how Apple should expect even sysadmins to need to go. And hey, I'm plenty comfortable myself using CLI. But my customers should not have to come to me with every small change for feature sets that can easily be added to the GUI, either under the SA, the WGM, or elsewhere in the GUI toolset.
OSXS is not really a mature Webhosting server. It is a server that takes the bare bones of Apache, of older PHP tools (why not offer updated modules or ancillary modules for PHP5?) and mySQL tools (same question). Their own scripts cannot properly or reliably migrate a 10.4 installation with Apache 1.3 to Apache 2.x in 10.5. Even the error logs are too obscure to offer much assistance tracking down the actual failures when they occur. Same has already been said of the DNS module.
I'm trying to stay in bounds here in my critique -- as an enterprise server, OSXS is coming along. It has a lot of maturation to undergo in the 'web' realm, as it does in collaborative sharing (iCal/contacts/etc.). Let's hope by continuing to purchase and deploy it, we can make enough of an impact that Apple grows the product accordingly and doesn't abandon it as they did the Xraid stagnation.

Similar Messages

Exchange alternative for Mac Snow Leopard Server

I was wondering what are some good alternatives to Microsoft's Exchange service for use in the new Snow Leopard Server that will be coming out. I am aware that Snow Leopard Server offers open source for mail server, but I would like to go with an actual GUI interface with a third party software. Any suggestions would be great!

You will not be able to do any extensive management of Active Directory from with Mac OS X natively,
and considering the technology, it's best managed using the native Microsoft tools & technologies anyway. There are products that offer options for Mac management from/via AD - beyond what Apple provides and/or is possible by extending your schema, but that's _another matter entirely_.
"Closest thing" is really for you to decide, you will need to investigate the products and if they will meet your needs.
As I have stated, what we know will be available in & via Snow Leopard is what Apple has made known on its own preview pages.
If you needed to seriously know more you would have invested in a ADC Developer account and extensive testing but with the understanding you would be dealing with pre-release technology.
Past that, the two products that offer the most in terms of feature-set(s) are as I already noted:
Kerio
and
Zimbra.
Best of luck !

Can you help me solve my Leopard Server VPN madness?

Hello all,
I've been having a devil of a time getting Leopard Server's VPN service to work "properly". None of this is mission critical, as it's simply on a home system I'm using as a nat/dns/dhcp/firewall/mail/web server for my Comcast line (with a static IP). But, it is frustrating, because I currently have a 10.4.11 Server fulfilling the same roll. So it seems like Leopard should be able to be made to work. I'm gonna go step by step here with my install process in the hopes that if I'm doing something wrong someone will be kind enough to catch it. Thanks for bearing with me.
I've installed Leopard Server 10.5 (Mirror door G4, FYI) with the built-in ethernet connected to my Comcast router (with a static external IP). Immediately after 10.5 installs I restart and update everything to 10.5.2, then I install a Sonnet Gigabit NIC, it's drivers, and assign it 192.168.3.1, where it will live as my internal router, server, etc. I turn on DNS and setup an internal ".lan" zone that resolves to 192.168.3.1. Pop into Terminal and confirm that rDNS is in fact working, it is. And check that "changeip -checkhostname" resolves itself correctly (to the external IP).
Next, turn on the NAT service and run the gateway setup assistant. After a reboot I quickly check that my internal clients with static IPs (192.168.3.10, .20, etc) are working and pulling DNS OK, they are. Jump into the Firewall, and for the moment just open it wide up by accepting all connections. At various times during testing I've configured the firewall to exactly match my 10.4 Server firewall, but for the time being I can just leave it open. I create a Firewall group to cover my 192.168.3.x internal network, and another to handle 192.168.3.60/29 to handle the VPN service I'll setup in a sec. Jump over to the DHCP service where by default gateway setup creates a 192.168.1.x DHCP zone. I delete that and create a new 192.168.3.x zone covering .50-.59. Turn DHCP on and confirm it's working, good, it is.
Now, here is where the VPN fun begins. The last service I turn on is the VPN service (I've alternatively tried letting Gateway Setup activate it, and just doing it myself, with this same result). I configure it to accept L2TP at 192.168.3.60 - .63. Like I said this is a home server, so I don't need a lot of VPN connections. Finally, when I test the VPN from a 10.5.2 Client (MacBook coming in off a neighbors open wireless network with a 10.0.0.x string) I am able to connect, and I can see/ping/mount/share screen on the server. I can also ping the attached VPN client at 192.168.3.60 from the server. However, I cannot ping or see (In ARD) any other machines on the internal network from the attached VPN client. Likewise from one of the internal systems, say my Mac mini at 192.168.3.10 I cannot ping the attached VPN client at 192.168.3.60. Out of curiosity I've tried doing a rDNS lookup while attached to the VPN and the client isn't able to resolve any of the internal DNS entries.
So, what gives? As I've mentioned I have exactly this same setup working just fine with Tiger Server. Same NAT, same Firewall, same DNS, and same L2TP VPN setup. For the life of me though, I cannot get attached VPN clients to see the internal network when I put Leopard Server in place. Clearly the internal DNS isn't working for attached VPN clients, although I'm not certain if that is a cause or a symptom. I've setup a network routing definition for the internal private network, which didn't help. I also tried setting up PPTP instead of L2TP, and had the same problem.
Is anyone having similar problems with Leopard Server's VPN service? If not, could someone hit me with the clue stick and set me right? As I said, in the grand scheme of things this isn't a big deal for me. But, it's just frustrating that I can get so close to updating my home server and just fall short.
Thanks!

Your post actually contains the Key to solve the problem and there is not really a big need for going all the way to use the Property List Editor to fork around /etc/ipfilter/ipaddressgroups.plist.
There has been much written on this problem but basically you see that most is trial and error and this does include myself and my findings in this post, too, but I think I can further narrow down on what CAUSES this problem and how to fix it.
First off, we are talking a combination of using NAT (Network Address Translation - bridging an Internet connection on an external network card over to an internal network card), Firewall (which is needed in OS X to be have NAT working because the Firewall "helps" NAT by doing its job, DHCP (for providing dynamic IP addresses to clients on the internal network, don't confuse, DHCP is not providing this service to the VPN clients, that is done by the VPN server), and - last but not least - VPN to provide access to not only to the server but to any machine on the internal network over the outside network card (aka, giving remote clients a chance to connect to the local network over the public Internet in a save and nice way).
OK. The short story: you can do it ALL in Mac OS X 10.5's Server Admin tool. If it fails it is nearly always the Firewall!
You can check if this is the case for your setup by temporarily opening the Firewall up to not block any traffic: in Server Admin, click on Firewall -> Settings -> Services -> Edit Service for: any and click "Allow all trafic from "any"", save it (and to be 100% sure, stop and restart the firewall. If your clients can NOW connect at least to the server, it was the firewall. Now don't forget to switch off allowing all traffic from any, or you will be left with an open doors server ready for anybody to explore
Now what goes wrong in the first place? It appears that the GSA (Gateway Setup Assistant) that is "hidden away" in the NAT settings does something awfully wrong. It will set up all the address groups in the firewall: the any group will remain as it is usually, another one defining the internal network, and a one called VPN-net for VPN.
What it DOES do wrong here (I am no firewall expert, this is purely trial and error, so please anybody do explain!) is to give the VPN-net exactly the same address range as the internal network. And here seems to be the overall problem.
When Twintails wrote to add 192.168.3.60/27 as address range for VPN, I realized what he/she did. Writing 192.168.3.60/27 effectively narrows down the address range starting at 192.168.3.33 up to 192.168.3.62. There are millions of subnetmask calculators out on the net, give it a try e.g. here: http://www.subnet-calculator.com/
So, I looked for what range of address will actually be given out by the VPN server to VPN clients upon connections. Of course you need to make sure that this address range is NOT given out by your DHCP server.
In my setup, the server is 192.168.1.1, the DHCP server provides addresses from 192.168.1.10 up to 192.168.1.127 (I start with 10 because I have some static addresses for special purposes from 192.168.1.2 to 192.168.1.9. So, this means, anything above 192.168.1.127 is potentially "free" for my VPN connections.
Next I used the subnetmask calculator to find a narrow address group that matched my purposes. I found 192.168.1.192/26 which effectively gives me a range from 192.168.1.192 to 192.168.1.255 (which is in fact more then I have clients connecting from externally!).
I went to the Server Admin Tool, and clicked Firewall -> Settings -> Address Group and edited the VPN-net one. First I deleted what was in "Addresses in group" and entered from scratch 192.168.1.192/26. Next - just to make certain because basically this is what Twintails had in his/her post by saying to add a name String with exactly the same information - I overwrote VPN-net by 192.168.1.192/26 and saved. (I THINK that this last step might not really be needed, but I haven't tried).
Next click Save (basically it should already work, but I always want to be extra sure, so I stoped and immediately thereafter started the firewall again to be 100% certain all new rules are now active.
And now: it works! Clients can access the server AND the entire local network from remote using VPN.
One last comment: I have the feeling that (although less safe and less advanced technologicall) PPTP works much better for us then L2TP. So I have switched off L2TP support altogether because it simply NEVER really worked. We are using Mac OS X 10.4 and 10.5 to connect to the 10.5 server using this setup.

How do I upgrade Snow Leopard Server to Mountain Lion (client)?

I have a Mac Mini Server edition (2010) with Snow Leopard Server (10.6.8) pre-installed. I don't like the interface of Server edition because 1) I don't need the server functions and 2) I prefer client OS's easier (less powerful I know) interface to do sharing, logging in, configuring.... etc.
(I know I should've bought the non-server version with a DVD drive but I can't take it back now.)
My question is, what's the easiest way of changing it to a 'client OS', preferably to the latest Mountain Lion? From forum posts it seems downgrading from 'server' to 'client' will definitely require a fresh install. That's fine. I can move all my personal files to the second HDD in the Mini and do a fresh install of OS on the first HDD.
I can see 'Mountain Lion' upgrade in the App Store, but it doesn't say if it's server or client. I am assuming it's a server upgrade?? What will happen if I purchase it for £13.99 in App Store? Or is there an alternative way?
I have a USB Apple optical drive. I have a USB thumbdrive too for storing the OS image if required. Thank you. Any tips will be appreciated.

Not_So wrote:
I went to the AppStore and as I was running Snow Leopard Server it prompted me to purchase Lion Server which I didn't want.
Luckily, I wasn't asked to purchase the 'Server' when I upgraded from SLS to Mountain Lion via the AppStore. I think your particular problem was mentioned in some other posts where the upgrade path to Lion became an infinite loop (hmmm... ). But that's all in the past now. Glad it all worked.

Help: Install Snow Leopard Server 10.6.0 on Mid-2010 Mac Mini, then update?

I just purchased a Mid-2010 Mac Mini with Snow Leopard Client 10.6.3 (the new ones just released) with the idea of installing my copy of Snow Leopard Client on it and using it as both a network server and media server.
I own Snow Leopard Server 10.6.0 (the initial DVD release) and was thinking I could do a fresh install and update to 10.6.4 on the Mini without problem, but that didn't work. I also tried doing a Target Disk Install to the Mini using my MacbookPro, but the installer choked at the Machine Checksum saying MBPs weren't supported to run the installer.
So, that blows both of my previously known installation options. I was wondering if anyone else with the new Mini and Snow Leopard Server had any suggestions on how to get my current version of Snow Leopard Server (10.6.0) installed on the Mini and then run system updates to get it to boot properly.
Thanks

Allan Eckert wrote:
Hi GrainFocuser;
Your copy of SL Server version is probably too old to install on the new Mac Mini. It probably doesn't have all of the correct drivers for the newer hardware.
You might have better success with your alternatives if you post over on the server forum instead of here.
Allan
Message was edited by: Allan Eckert
Allan, thanks.
It is pretty clear that my installation disk is too old, hence looking for options and suggestions.
In years past with previous versions of Server, there was a way to install an outdated install disk (a point release or 3 behind) and then run the necessary installation updates...either through target disk mode or on to a separate boot disc.
So, with my 10.6.0 Server Install disc, I am not able to do so in either scenario because a) My other admin machine is a MB Pro and the installer performs a hardware checksome preventing install...so no Target Disk Mode, and B) Install on other disc from mini, again Hardware checksome since hardware not recognized.
I am looking at options to enable an install with my disk short of having to physically walk into Apple (a huge trek) and get a new install disk or ask Apple Support to mail one.
So, again... Any options from OS X Server Admins out there?

Should I Install OS X Snow Leopard Server?

I recently received OS X Snow Leopard Server and I wasn't sure if I should install it. I currently run a 1 mac system, but am planning on expanding. Even with the multiple macs, I plan on using iLife and I have heard that Sever Edition does not allow this. Is this true? And if this is true, can I revert back to the regular version of snow leopard that I'm using now without of the whole archiving nonsense? All help is appreciated!

Load it. Have at. Set up a distributed network. Configure and run DNS server. Set up and run Open Directory. Netboot. Sharing storage. All the other pieces of Mac OS X Server, or of most any other server operating system. Then when you get around to adding another Mac, you're immediately ready to go.
Have a look at the Mac OS X Server manuals, if you're considering this Mac OS X Server path, too. As you get going with a server, you'll almost certainly be reading some or most of those.
If you're not planning for and not expecting the extra overhead of configuring and running a server, then don't load Mac OS X Server. For a handful of boxes, running a server is definitely more effort. When you get to some (unspecified) number of boxes in your configuration, then having a server is more economical and easier. (Where that transition might be can and does vary; it tends to be a local decision.)
And if you're looking for parts of what a server provides (such as shared storage) (without the costs and comparative complexity of running a full server), there can be alternatives. (For storage, such as a Network Attached Storage (NAS) box. And Mac OS X client can provide for up to 10 clients, too. )

Leopard server and windows users

We run a mac + pc environment with some users on macs, many on pcs, and our office server is a windows exchange for email etc. As a multi-location consulting firm, we need to set up a good collaboration system that is hosted internally (to preserve confidentiality) and allows us to create a web-based knowledge creation, sharing and collaboration environment. We have looked at some of the new web services offers, but all are hosted by the providers.
We are considering buying a mac leopard server and have the following questions:
1/ will windows users be able to use the wiki, chat, calendaring and podcast facilities from their laptops without any problems, and will they have the same easy user interface?
2/ does the wiki server enable group collaboration like:
2a/ sending out email notifications on new posts (without changing our exchange server)
2b/ allowing groups to create project and team specific areas
3/ The problem we face is one of adoption. If we can make this as easy as facebook, then lots of people will migrate within 48 hours. But is this possible with the leopard server?
4/ finally, we are based in Singapore and our offices are all in Asia? Do we need a lot of experienced Apple-savvy technical people to create any of these applications, or is leopard server as easy to use as a mac is for a home user?
Any thoughts or inputs would help. FYI, alternatives we are evaluating are jive software's clearspace or basecamp or zoho's web based suites.
thanks / Suresh
Message was edited by: suresh Venugopalan Shankar
Message was edited by: suresh Venugopalan Shankar

suresh Venugopalan Shankar wrote:
1/ will windows users be able to use the wiki, chat, calendaring and podcast facilities from their laptops without any problems, and will they have the same easy user interface?
Yes, the web based interfaces work just fine for both OS's, the chat server is using jabber (clients on about every OS) and the calendaring is using the standards based iCalendar format.
2/ does the wiki server enable group collaboration like:
2a/ sending out email notifications on new posts (without changing our exchange server)
2b/ allowing groups to create project and team specific areas
I don't know of functionality to send out e-mail notifications on new posts, but you can subscribe to RSS feeds of things posted in the blog section of the wiki server. I'd need a little bit more information to understand what you're looking for as far as creating project and team specific areas.
3/ The problem we face is one of adoption. If we can make this as easy as facebook, then lots of people will migrate within 48 hours. But is this possible with the leopard server?
On the front end most of this stuff is very easy to use, and is in my opinion even simpler than facebook and such.
4/ finally, we are based in Singapore and our offices are all in Asia? Do we need a lot of experienced Apple-savvy technical people to create any of these applications, or is leopard server as easy to use as a mac is for a home user?
It's pretty easy to set the server up as long as you read the documentation. There's also a lot of resources online if you have problems (like this forum). It would probably be helpful to have someone familiar with LDAP systems and at least some command line usage on the server, but like I said, the documentation is pretty good. You can go read it to get an idea at http://www.apple.com/server/macosx/resources/
Hope that helps out some.

Problem connecting with VPN after migrated to SNOW LEOPARD SERVER,

Hi,
I recently migrated to Snow Leopard server, I have a strange issue when connecting to the VPN Server.
Please find the below error.
Fri Jan 1 14:38:22 2010 : CHAP peer authentication succeeded for jasmine
Fri Jan 1 14:38:22 2010 : DSAccessControl plugin: User 'jasmine' authorized for access
Fri Jan 1 14:38:22 2010 : MPPE required, but keys are not available. Possible plugin problem?
Fri Jan 1 14:38:22 2010 : sent LCP TermReq id=0x2 \"MPPE required but not available\"
Fri Jan 1 14:38:22 2010 : Connection terminated.
Fri Jan 1 14:38:22 2010 : Connect time 0.0 minutes.
Fri Jan 1 14:38:22 2010 : Sent 0 bytes, received 0 bytes.
Fri Jan 1 14:38:22 2010 : PPTP disconnecting...
Fri Jan 1 14:38:22 2010 : PPTP disconnected
2010-01-01 14:38:22 IST --> Client with address = 192.168.1.76 has hungup
Please let me know what is the cause and how can i fix it.
Thanks,
Gulab Pasha

Did you turn on the Printer Sharing in the "Share" preferences panel?
And, for Windows computers to access your printer, they need to install "Bonjour for Windows", which is a part of the iTunes+Quicktime install package, I believe.
Alternatively, you can turn on SMB sharing on your Mac, which is also in the "Share" preferences panel. You first highlight and turn on "File Sharing", then there is an "Options..." button to the right, clicke it and check the checkbox of "Share files and folder via SMB (Windows)".

Snow Leopard Server VPN and other Servers

I am thinking of deploying Snow Leopard Server at work using the Mac MiniServer option. We have a few Macs that we would like to manage their settings with. We also have Active Directory. I plan to use Open Directory with the Mac then use kerbos for logins.
My question is if I use the Snow Leopard Server VPN with the Macs, will the users be able to access other resources on the LAN like Active Directory Shares, Exchange, and internal Intranets? Or only the Snow Leopard Server?
Thanks,
WillGonz

It sounds like you will have 2 different kerberos realms, one in OD and one in AD.
If you want them to use the same realm (the AD one) you need to look at a "golden triangle" setup.
If you want to authenticate the VPN connection using Kerberos I suspect you need to be able to reach the KDC server from Internet before the VPN is up. That would mean it needs to have a public IP and same name as on the LAN(?).
As an alternative a Radius connection for the VPN authentication from the Mac to an AD/Radius server might be possible.

Upgrade MySQL in Snow Leopard Server

Hi all. This is my first post.
I have a Mac Mini Server with Mac OS X Server 10.6.8 (aka. Snow Leopard Server)
wanted to update the native MySQL. I followed these instructions
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4006
Now I know that it is parallel installation of MySQL.
https://discussions.apple.com/message/15535136#15535136
Finally,I installed MySQL 5.5.15 from MySQL.com (x86 dmg file)
Now I have three MySQL servers in the system. Runs only the oldest (native 5.0.92)
I want to:
1) Remove unnecessary MySQL servers.
2) I would like to MySQL service could be run in the Server Admin.app. If this is not possible to run the “MySQL Preference Pane” in System Preferences.
If this is not possible then I would be able to run in "MySQL Preference Pane" in System Preferences.
Working with AS is probably possible.http://www.jamesbantz.com/2010/08/08/upgrading-mysql-on-mac-os-x-10-6-snow-leopa rd-server/#more-172 (See step 6)
Now I have a “little problem” with the distinction which files belong which MySQL.
Please help
Thanks

Welcome to the forums.
The cited Apple directions in HT4006 are for adding headers and client components for Mac OS X Server for MySQL, and not particularly for upgrading MySQL on Mac OS X Server. (That may well cause problems.)
How good are your pre-installation backups? I'd roll those in, and undo the HT4006 changes, and (if you're not going to scratch this whole upgrade) follow what Mr Bantz describes in his posting.
Irrespective of the particular path followed here, you do also still get to "own" all of these changes, including the on-going maintenance and upgrades, which means that you own any security problems, the inevitable software upgrades and updates, and whatever other fixes might be needed.
Alternatively, consider moving to Mac OS X Server Lion (10.7), as it does not contain MySQL, so you can load whatever MySQL you want and (so long as you keep it from getting tangled with PostgreSQL) you're good to go.
I would not generally expect to be able to use Server Admin or the other tools to use or manage your local MySQL. The Server Admin tools are not set up for these sorts of changes and have a history of getting tangled when the underlying servers are changed. If you do manage this goal and do have Server Admin working and whether following Mr Bantz's directions or via some other means, then your changes still might not survive any particular future Mac OS X Server upgrade, or Server Tools upgrade. (Which means you'll have to debug and rework the changes, or find somebody that has figured out what broken and follow those instructions.)
If you discover you have the need for these sorts of upgrades often, I'd suggest loading and using Linux or one of the BSDs. Installing newer versions of stuff means more work and sometimes far more work, and tends to un-do what Apple provides, and tends to cause problems like you've encountered here. In all seriousness, Linux or BSD is the platform you'll want, if you find yourself tweaking; they're set up for exactly this sort of tweaking. Mac OS X and Mac OS X Server aims at a different market.

Can't rename folders on Snow Leopard Server

I have 10.6.8 Snow Leopard Server running on a new Mac Mini server. Attached I have a Pegasus Raid storing all my files. I have a sharepoint set up for every project we work on but a couple act strangely. Users can create and delete folders but can not rename them once created. In order to rename they must drag the folder onto the desktop, rename and then replace the folder on the server. All permissions are set up identical to the other sharepoints which work fine. I have had a couple so-called "experts" look at the permissions in both the terminal and Server Admin. Everyone seems stumped. Any ideas?

Thanks for the input but I finally soved the problem. Here is what I found...
Although I had given users/group the ALLOW/FULL CONTROL premission with a sharepoint, I discovered that in Server Admin if you double-click on the User or Group name under the ACL permissions that a drop down box appears. This box allows you to fine tune the ACL but it appears that by default all of the boxes are not checked even though I granted the user Full Control. After checking all of the boxes I was able to create and rename folders in my share as expected.
This also had an similar effect if I denied Full Control. Some of the boxes remained unchecked and it left holes in my system where denied users could still access some files. Again by checking all boxes these holes were closed.
Does anyone know how to change the default so that all boxes are checked when assigning the Full Control permission?

I transferred files from a NAS server to the Mac Mini Snow Leopard Server and now some of the files have Custom Access and can't be opened by some users. How do I fix this?

We're setting up our Mac Mini Snow Leopard Server, and in the process transferred files that had been stored and accessed from our Blackarmor NAS server over to the Mac. These files were all created on PC's and are Office Excel files, WordPerfect files or PDF's. When you look at the files on the Mac from the Mac and bring up Get Info for the affected file, it says that the file has Custom Access. The files that work properly don't have that configuration. I can access and open the files on some computers, but some users can't open the files from their computer even though they can see it. We're all using PC's and they get the Error: Access Denied-Contact your administrator--or something similar. I've seen on the web similar issues and it may have something to do with ACL permissions. I don't know enough about Mac OS to understand this, but what is baffling is that they can be opened from some PC's but not others, and all of the Users have the same accessibility to the files. Thanks for a solution!!

Oh, on the losing Internet, try this...
Make a New Location, Using network locations in Mac OS X ...
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT2712
10.7 & 10.8…
System Preferences>Network, top of window>Locations>Edit Locations, little plus icon, give it a name.
10.5.x/10.6.x/10.7.x instructions...
System Preferences>Network, click on the little gear at the bottom next to the + & - icons, (unlock lock first if locked), choose Set Service Order.
The interface that connects to the Internet should be dragged to the top of the list.
Instead of joining your Network from the list, click the WiFi icon at the top, and click join other network. Fill in everything as needed.
For 10.5/10.6, System Preferences>Network, unlock the lock if need be, highlight the Interface you use to connect to Internet, click on the advanced button, click on the DNS tab, click on the little plus icon, then add these numbers...
208.67.222.222
208.67.220.220
Click OK.
PS. Your English is quite good & completely understandable.

Setting up Snow Leopard Server with Address Book, iCal for Small Business

Hello Folks,
I have a small business with 2-3 people and I want to setup Snow Leopard Server on a Mac Mini. I have everything in place, RAID, Backup drive etc.
What I need is a guide on how to setup the server correctly and how to setup Address Book Server, iCal Server, DNS, etc. I was in IT a long while back but have gone back to my creative roots and sworn off IT but I am in a situation where my IT guy's wife is pregnant so he is busy painting the baby's room, etc.
I was looking at Snow Leopard Server for Dummies and a few other books. Do you guys have any suggestions on resources for me to read or research that would give me very straightforward steps in getting this setup. I am at a point where I can re-install from scratch if needed.
For the ease of those that might respond let's assume I know my way around Mac and general networking as a whole.
Thanks in advance for any advice.
Cheers,
Jason

Hi Guys,
First of, I will give you a brief background on me regarding networking as a mac user since 1994. I can setup and network multiple macs without a server in our home and small office. Turning file, print and internet sharing with a regular Mac OS X client version at no problem at all. This would be my first time setting up a Mac OS X Snow Leopard Server.
I'm in the same boat as Jakekub but we do not have a static IP from our DSL provider. We just bought a Mac Mini Server for our small office with 3 iMacs and 1 MacBook. We will just use the server for internal usage and to centralized things out and use some of server's features like Address Book, Mail, iCal etc. I've search the forums and found Orhidy's post here:
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=2148553
I even followed the sample IP Address, Subnet Mask, Router, DNS Server and I think I had it correctly setup initially. And I think I got it all running on the basic setup base on his instructions. So I tried to test my DNS settings via Terminal > hostname then got answer as
servername.companyname.private
And double checking DNS again with a command: sudo changeip - checkhostname and was given an answer of:
Primary address = 192.168.1.192
Current Hostname = servername.companyname.private
DNS Hostname = servername.companyname.private
The names match. There is nothing to change
dirserv:success = "success"
But here's another one that bugs me. I tried to follow from "Mac OS X Snow Leopard for Dummies" the command line:
NSLOOKUP hostname
and got an answer of:
;; Got SERVFAIL reply from 192.168.1.192, trying next server
Server: 192.168.1.1
Address: 192.168.1.1#53
** server can't find hostname: NXDOMAIN
So does it mean that I still haven't configured my server properly?
Thank you all for the help in advance!
dive

Snow Leopard Server running extremely slow all of a sudden!!

Hi, I'm not a qualified server technician but am currently trying my best to run a server in a Secondary School! Please help, need to fix ASAP.
So basically we've got a Mac Pro running Snow Leopard server which has become incredibly slow in the past week. Nothing has changed in our department to trigger this. Here's everything I know so far...
- If I try to log on to the admin account when "Some Network Accounts Are Available", log on will take under a minute. If I try to log on to the admin account when the light goes green and "Network Accounts Are Available" log on will take forever and eventually just crash and which point I have to just force a shutdown and try again.
- When I can log on, some aspects of the computing seems fast and other aspects are really slow. For example, a few programs open as soon as I log on no problem, however a simple spotlight search or trying to open Sytem Preferences will crash the computer completely.
- Have tried booting in Safe Mode, and everything ran fast and how it's mean to but once restarting and booting normally the problems remained.
Sorry for the lack of knowledge!!
Thanks in advance.

Your comment indicates "crash the computer"? Do you mean that OS X Server itself fails, and you have to reboot? Or that the application crashes, and you have to restart it?
The following are some general approaches toward gathering some data:
Launch Console.app from Applications > Utilities and see if there are blocks of repeating errors.
Launch Terminal.app from Applications > Utilities and issue the following harmess, diagnostic command:
sudo changeip -checkhostname
After entering an administrative password and possibly seeing a one-time informational message about sudo, you should see some network configuration information and then an indication that no changes are required, or that there are DNS or network errors.
Boot from the Snow Leopard installation DVD and run a volume verification pass using Disk Utility, this from the Utilities menu of the installation disl.
FWIW...
If the applications or OS X Server are crashing, then you're generally heard toward either a reinstallation of the software, or a hardware repair, or quite possibly a combination of the two.
Forcing a hard shutdown can lead to corruptions, depending on exactly what's going on when the power drops out; that's probably best left as a last-resort approach and one best avoided.

Can I use Leopard Server for a few things without a static IP/DNS mapping?

Caveat: I'm pretty capable at setting up and running macs, but not a crack server admin or anything like that. I don't write code and my eyes start to glaze over when you start talking about Kerbos and the like...
Question: I'd like to use Leopard server for a few things on my local network - with some vpn access to the same services:
- iCal server (the most important feature) for 3 users
- File server services for Time Machine (yes, base Leopard can do this)
- vpn access into the iCal server for one user
Do I have to go through the headache of switching over from a dynamic IP to a static IP, setting up DNS mapping, etc? Or is there a simpler way?
Any help appreciated. Thanks

Caveat: I'm pretty capable at setting up and running macs, but not a crack server admin or anything like that. I don't write code and my eyes start to glaze over when you start talking about Kerbos and the like...
Question: I'd like to use Leopard server for a few things on my local network - with some vpn access to the same services:
- iCal server (the most important feature) for 3 users
- File server services for Time Machine (yes, base Leopard can do this)
- vpn access into the iCal server for one user
Do I have to go through the headache of switching over from a dynamic IP to a static IP, setting up DNS mapping, etc? Or is there a simpler way?
Any help appreciated. Thanks

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