MacMini as a Filemaker Server

Hi I want to use a Mac Min as a server for my Filemaker 13 Server.
Several questions if I may:
1. Will I be required to add a monitor or can I control the MacMini from my iMac.
2. Should I purchase the regular Mini or server version?
Thanks
Herbert

From my own experiences the server version should give you what you require paricularly with the i7 model. I suggest that a cheal LCD monitor would suffice, which will give you more independence once hooked up. I have two print production companies running i7s and they're trouble free, low consumption, and can be left on 24/7 - they also have inexpensice monitors installed that they can switch off and on when reqired.

Similar Messages

FileMaker Server problem on Mac Mini Server - Mac Mini won't boot

I just installed a brand new Mac Mini Server today, and also FileMaker Server 11. A first-timer for both Mac OS X Server and FileMaker Server, I made an error as explained below, and right now I don't know how to get back on track with the system. It won't boot.
So, how did this happen?
At first everything was proceeding according to plan. I configured the pre-installed Mac OS X Server on the Mac Mini with users, groups and services. This was tested from clients and this seemed to work just fine. Then I installed and configured FileMaker Server. This was also tested from a client, and the example database that came with FMS was served up just fine.
The problem arose when I tried to install my existing FileMaker databases. I simply checked to see where in the file system the example database was located, and then copied my old databases to that location (I think it was Library > FileMaker Server > Data > Databases or something close to it - can't check it now...). I had the FileMaker Server Admin Console running, and hit the Refresh button hoping that this would make FileMaker Server find the databases.
This was my first error. I should have read ahead in the instructions to see that one is supposed to use an Upload Database assistant instead...
What happened when I hit refresh was that the FileMaker Server Admin Console became completely unresponsive with a spinning ball as cursor. I left it for about an hour hoping it would terminate, but gave up and tried to shut it down. It wouldn't close, so I force quit it from the Finder. Then I tried to shut down FileMaker Server, but I needed to force quit this as well. After this I thought it would be best to reboot the Mac Mini, so I shut it down, but now it won't even boot, it just stays on the screen with the spinning wheel for ever!
I have tried all the keyboard options while booting, but nothing seems to help. In safe mode, the grey progress bar just grows to about one third, then disappears and leaves the eternally spinning wheel.
The server version of the Mac Mini doesn't have an optical drive, only two internal hard drives. I tried to reinstall from scratch using the optical drive on another Mac on the network. The startup disk appeared when I tried to boot the Mac Mini holding down the option key, and after about 20 minutes or so of the spinning wheel I could actually access the discs. I started by running Disk Utility to check disk permissions. There were a lot of repairs concerning permissions and groups, especially on "Library". It said "ACL differs on Library", I don't know what this is but this was repaired. I then ran Repair Disk. The volume appeared to be OK.
When I tried to reinstall Mac OS X Server however, this failed with the message
"You can't upgrade this version of Mac OS X because a newer version is installed. Mac OS X Server couldn't be installed on this disk." I don't know how this can be, but I may have run software update earlier today.
What should I try next? Should I erase the primary HD and try to install again? Or should I install the system software on the secondary HD? Or should I just try to reboot as is in the hope that the disk permission repairs did the trick...?
Any helpful pointers would be greatly appreciated!

Hello there, I came across your post when browsing the forum for passive advice. I am in the same boat as you and am a first timer for both of these tools. I work for a company who now needs to expand its network and database capabilities. I have been assigned this task and these are the tools i have opted for. I have not yet purchased them and i am pleased to find someone who has my desired setup. Could you please advise on the simplicity of the setup and whether an advanced knowledge is required.
I want to use it in a mixed operating system environment. Is this possible?
Regards
Matthew

Tomcat problem with FileMaker Server

I'm not sure if this is an OS X issue or a FileMaker issue, but I'm kind of lost so I hope someone here can help.
Something happened to the computer we're running FileMaker Server Advanced on and now I can't get the web part of it to work. I've tried uninstalling and re-installing the web publishing software, but I can't even get into the administration console at http://localhost/fmi/config - this produces an internal server error from Apache (error 500 - see for yourself at http://medlem.venstre.no ).
The FileMaker log says
[Wed Feb 21 18:06:33 2007] [jkajpcommon.c (1198)]: Error connecting to tomcat. Tomcat is probably not started or is listenning on the wrong port. Failed errno = 61
The Tomcat server.log says
2007-02-21 15:22:20,828 WARN [org.jboss.jmx.adaptor.snmp.agent.Heartbeat] Heartbeat disabled
and that's the only line in that log file.
I've tried googling but I haven't really managed to come up with anything helpful. Any tips from any of you? I'm not really that savvy with Apache and Unix things but with proper direction I think I can figure it out...
The FileMaker server and web additions software are both 8.0v4 on a single machine setup - Mac OS X Server 10.4.8.
Thomas
iMac G5 Mac OS X (10.4.8)

I am using Tomcat 5.0.27 and it is working perfectly. perhaps check the stdout.log to see what errors are thrown while starting the tomcat. Check the port also

Mac OS 10.6.7 Server, Safari Keeps Crashing (after failed FileMaker Server install)

Mac OS 10.6.7 Server
After several attempts of installing, uninstalling FileMaker Server 11.
(FileMaker Server 11 still will not launch, Admin Console)
Now totally un-installed
Safari constantly crashes a few minutes after launch.

I think it is due to the Java update that either comes with 10.6.7 or was released just before 10.6.7 so is probably included in the 10.6.7 update anyway
Try this
Open Java Preferences (use spotlight to find it)
Check what version of Java your computer is using for both the options it should be "Java SE 6 64bit" at the top of both lists click it and then click options and what is the version number 1.6.0_15, 64bit (this version works)
if you have version 1.6.0_24 i have found it wont work
I had this happen with 10.6.6 with the java update and ended up reinstalling the whole server as i thought it was something else causing the problem I have since not installed the java update from reading some info on the filemaker site and then still haven't installed 10.6.7 in case.
Not sure how you can backdate the java version perhaps check the sun website (or is it oracle now) to see if you can install an older version
Whatever version is at the top of the list will be used so if you can drag an older version to the top and then restart you should be fine.

Opening Ports for Filemaker Server Advanced 8.0 (Leopard Only)

Having trouble opening FileMaker Server Advanced on Leopard (works on Tiger). I've spent hours on the phone with FileMaker and Apple tech support. FileMaker tech support has indiated that I need to allow FileMaker to see ports 5003 to 5006, and 50003 to 50006. To do this I will need to interact with Terminal. I find this very odd and would like to know if anyone else can verify the need to do this, or a better solution. Shouldn't Server just work like it always has? I don't buy this none-supported business when I spent as much as I did on this product 2 months before version 9 came out. Okay..sorry I'm just venting.

Your ACL is wrong. With version 8.2x you have to use the translated IP in the ACL. With only one IP you can also use the keyword "interface":
access-list outside_access_in extended permit tcp any interface eq 5001
no access-list outside_access_in extended permit tcp any host MiniSrvr object-group DM_INLINE_TCP_1
static (inside,outside) tcp interface 5001 MiniSrvr 5001 netmask 255.255.255.255
That will forward tcp/5001 arriving on the external interface to your MiniSrvr on Port tcp/5001
BTW: You should move this question to Security->Firewalling.
Sent from Cisco Technical Support iPad App

My mini (late 2012) 2.3 GHz i7 with 16 GB, not loading images after installing Java that I need to run FileMaker Server 12.

I'm running yosemite on a mini (late 2012) 2.3 GHz i7 with 16 GB, my problem is that after installing Java that I need in order to run FileMaker Server 12, apps like Safari, Mail or even App Store, stop working properly, the mayor problem is that NO images load and Safari start saying that the pages are not loading because the connection with the server stop working. The only way to fix it is to re-start the computer.
Any idea to resolve the problem.

I'm running yosemite on a mini (late 2012) 2.3 GHz i7 with 16 GB, my problem is that after installing Java that I need in order to run FileMaker Server 12, apps like Safari, Mail or even App Store, stop working properly, the mayor problem is that NO images load and Safari start saying that the pages are not loading because the connection with the server stop working. The only way to fix it is to re-start the computer.
Any idea to resolve the problem.

HP Media Server or MacMini for home media server

I am torn between the new HP media server with Windows Home server or a MacMini for my home server.
Can anyone provide insight on which would be better?
I am looking to store all my media, data on either one. I.E. Pictures, Music/Video - to stream to AppleTV etc.
Thanks in advance.

Hi,
I know you have already marked the question as solved, but if you are still torn between the HP or Mac Mini here is what I did.
Although the HP has more storage space, I went for the Mac Mini option because; the foot print is smaller if you want to put under a TV, it uses less electricity and I felt Mac OSX was a more stable platform to work with.
The Mac Mini use a 2.5" Sata drive, so you are limited in upgrading past 320GB. There is a 2.5" 500GB drive out however I don't know if it will fit as when I read about it six months ago the article said it is slightly thicker, but I could be wrong.
To get around the problem of storage space, I attached a 1TB SATA hard drive via Firewire, which cost about £120. Although there are cheaper 1TB hard drives around, I went for one with an Oxford Chipset as it is always going to be on and I didn't want it to fry out.
I connect to the Mac Mini remotely to manage it. It's dead easy to set up file sharing, and I ended up giving my brother and dad there own storage space that they can log into with a username and password. One uses XP and the other uses Leopard.
The other great thing is you can configure iTunes and system preferences to automatically rip a CD or DVD and add it to the library then eject automatically when it is done. This may be obvious but it is incredibly useful feature, as it saves having to rip it on your personal computer then transferring the files.
The streaming capability of the Intel Core Duo is really good, so far we have been able to get it to stream to the AppleTV, 2 MacBooks and 1 Sony Vaio, while converting an avi movie to MP4 through Visual Hub, it might be able to handle more iTunes streaming we just ran out of computers to test it with.
Hope this helps in any decision making.

Filemaker Server, OS X Server, and Yosemite permissions

We've been running OS X Server on Mavericks, and on that a Filemaker Server database using FMS 11. Many of the databases show images by storing a URL to an image file on the web server, e.g. ip#/Images/File.jpg, and displaying that URL in a Web Viewer. Filemaker uses OSX Server to authenticate users; users also belong to a group (called webgroup) which has permission on the server to access the images on the web server (they are the only group with permission to access the server). This works fine for all OS's and all versions of Filemaker (up to 11!) until Yosemite (various OS X and Windows users); users have to log in twice, once to get into Filemaker and then Filemaker prompts you to submit the user name and password to see an image. Once this is done once, though, it sticks and you don't have to authenticate again in the session.
When I and other users updated to Yosemite, however, this system stopped working: the web viewer refuses to load the images. Web viewers work otherwise, and if we open the OS X Server web site to all users, Filemaker can access it too. So it seems to be an incompatibility about how Yosemite handles Filemaker's requests for authentication. I'm obviously no whiz at this. Has anyone got an idea of what is wrong and how it might be fixed?
Thanks!

Launch the Console application in any of the following ways:
☞ Enter the first few letters of its name into a Spotlight search. Select it in the results (it should be at the top.)
☞ In the Finder, select Go ▹ Utilities from the menu bar, or press the key combination shift-command-U. The application is in the folder that opens.
☞ Open LaunchPad. Click Utilities, then Console in the icon grid.
Make sure the title of the Console window is All Messages. If it isn't, select All Messages from the SYSTEM LOG QUERIES menu on the left. If you don't see that menu, select
View ▹ Show Log List
from the menu bar.
Click the Clear Display icon in the toolbar. Then try the action that you're having trouble with again. Select any messages that appear in the Console window. Copy them to the Clipboard by pressing the key combination command-C. Paste into a reply to this message by pressing command-V.
When posting a log extract, be selective. In most cases, a few dozen lines are more than enough.
Please do not indiscriminately dump thousands of lines from the log into this discussion.
Important: Some private information, such as your name, may appear in the log. Anonymize before posting.

Can OS X Server 10.6 reverse proxy be setup to route port traffic 5003 (FileMaker Server) to 2 seperate servers (FM 11 and FM 12)?

Can OS X Server 10.6 reverse proxy be setup to route port traffic 5003 (FileMaker Server) to 2 seperate servers (FM 11 and FM 12)?

In your scenario, how is the 'OS X 10.6 Server' supposed to identify which FM machine to proxy the connection to?
The FM client uses a proprietary protocol, so it's not something simple like HTTP. Off hand I don't know of any way the server can accept arbitrary connections on port 5003 and know which FM server to relay it to.
Two options come to mind. One is to nix the OS 10.6 Server altogether - I don't understand this machine's purpose in your network - the second is to setup different ports on the OS X 10.6 Server machine and map each port to a different FM server, e.g. 5003 -> FM11, 5004 -> FM12, then you configure the remote client to connect to a different port number based on the server they want to connect to. I haven't used FM client in a long time to know if this is supported on the client side, but I'm guessing it is.
Either way, using a proprietary protocol, there's no way for the proxy machine to be able to filter the traffic on any given ports.

Personal Web Sharing and Filemaker Server Advanced

After migrating from FileMaker Server-7 Advanced and installing version-8 Advanced web components (w/Easy Install) and restarting the Mac, Personal Web Sharing refuses to activate. I also cannot access the Filemaker Admin Console to create the FMSA account to register it with the database server.
OSX Console log listed this error below when trying to start Apace with Personal Web Sharing:
Syntax error on line 1 of /Library/FileMaker Server/Web Publishing/web-configuration/WEB-INF/conf/mod_jk.conf:
Cannot load /usr/libexec/httpd/modjkfm.so into server: (reason unknown)
/usr/sbin/apachectl start: httpd could not be started
Line 1 of the mod_jk.file reads:
LoadModule jkfmmodule libexec/httpd/modjkfm.so
What needs to be corrected so I can start web sharing and access the FileMaker Web Publishing Engine in the browser?
Using Mac OSX 10.4.6 on Mac Mini w/Intel dual core

Apache is trying to load modjkfm.so which should be stored in /usr/libexec/httpd, but it isn't.
This file should be installed by the Filemaker Server installer. If it wasn't installed by the Easy Install option, check the other install options to see if it's there.

Filemaker Server 5.5 Concern

Hi there, we currently use Filemaker Server 5.5 to host a POS system for our retail store. We recently upgraded the dedicated server computer from an old eMac that ran the server on OS 9.2. The new server computer is a iMac 2.1 Ghz G5 with 1Gig Ram running Tiger. We now run the OSX version of the server program.
The new server is much faster in many aspects especially loading and saving of larger files and records.
However, it has only been up a few days and the server has already crashed (it did so sometime in the middle of the night I believe and it did not perform the scheduled backup). While I was installing and testing the server during the transfer I'd also catch it stalling at seemingly random times as well. On the older machine, the server would crash, but that I believe was mainly caused from hardware limitations due to heavy traffic.
The iMac is refurbished with a few months of Applecare left on it (you can't seem to find them new anymore). I've adjusted the computer settings to increase server performance (disable spotlight, widgets, system and hard disk sleep, etc.) I was thinking of doing a reinstall of the OS in a day or two to see how that works.
I am wondering if anyone else has had similar problems with Filemaker Server 5.5 hanging up. I'm fairly concerned because in a few days I will be attending a trade show in NY for a little over a week and I'm pretty much the only person who knows what's going on with the computers here. I've even considered running the OS 9 version through classic as it seems more stable and the OSX version gives virtually no indication on status or usage (improperly closed files, etc.).
Any thoughts, suggestions or ideas are greatly appreciated.
Thanks

some people suggested these - haven't tried them yet... if you beat me to it - let me know.....
1
If all fails, you can use a third party software:
http://www.sdesoftware.com/downloads/files/priv2.0.0.dmg.bin
2
Or Batchmod:
http://www.macchampion.com/arbysoft/Welcome.html
this one can also remove ACL entries.
3
I haven't tried it on 10.5, but ChOP is a great tool to install on FMS
machines where you may have to or want to frequently ensure that permissions
are set up how FMS likes them.
Once you have it's prefs configured for the FMS file settings, you can just
drag any file or folder onto ChOP's dock icon to change the permissions.
There are other tools like this too, but I like the battle axe icon
http://www.zenonez.com/chop/

PROBLEM: Filemaker Server is ROOT and ROOT can't see mounted shares

We have Filemaker server 8 running on our machine and have found a silly problem. Filemaker has a built in tool to backup databases. Databases can be backed path can be over the network by typing:
filemac:/[volume]/[path]
Unfortunately, the process "Filemaker" is owned by ROOT, while the server (another OSX server) is owned by the user "filemaker". In theory ROOT is god, and can do anything, but for some reason ROOT doesn't appear to be able to get to shares owned by a user on the machine. Can anyone help me with any of the following potential sollutions?
1) Mount a share on startup as ROOT
2) Allow ROOT read/write to shares that other users have mounted
3) Change "ownership" of the "Filemaker" proccess to be a user (instead of ROOT)
Worse case I could back up the files locally, and then create an applescript to PUSH the files where they're supposed to live, but that feels like one more thing that could go wrong to me, and I like to have as few moving parts as possible.
Thanks in advance

This is incorrect, Filmaker Server is not "ROOT" and you probably won't have much satisfaction pursuing your line of thinking.
ps -aux | grep -i filemaker
fmserver 457 3.0 -2.5 186340 53236 ?? Ss 19Mar06 316:56.83 /Library/FileMaker Server/Tools/fmserverd
fmserver 431 1.1 -0.4 93736 8576 ?? Ss 19Mar06 179:51.17 /Library/FileMaker Server/Tools/fmserver_helperd
I think you may be confusing the parent process with posix user/group permissions. Yes, the parent process of many running processes will show as "root", because the initial process that launches others runs as/belongs to root.
the "root" user in *nix has full permissions and can see mounted shares. You may have some other issues due to misconfiguration, sorry.
Just in case you are doing so, no matter what anyone tells you anywhere, it is not a good idea to log in as "root" via the GUI (when the server finishes booting and asks for a username and password).
One should not do this for a number of reasons.
As for your FM Server problem, I've done two migrations/updates to FM 8 server & client quite recently.
The installation creates a new system user and group, which you will not see without selecting the "show system users" in Workgroup Manager.
The user (ie: owner) is (shortname) fmserver , and the group is fmsadmin
FM Server stores the working databases in /Library/FileMaker Server
and that "FileMaker Server" directory is owned by fmserver:fmsadmin
You should not change that or FM won't run properly, if at all.
You can point to whatever directory you wish, using FM Server's built-in backup automation.
What is probably throwing you off, is that, unless you put a trailing slash at the end of the path you enter (in the dialog for the FM Server built-in backup routine), it will tell you:
"invalid path"

Install on MacMini (config'ed for server)

Greetings,
I am looking for a way out of the MacMini with SL Server that I bought 6 months ago and has been nothing but a drain of my time and still doesn't work.
Someone has suggested just installing Snow Leopard on the machine. Will that work?
SOme other points: I've also heard there is a way to install SL while connected to my old Powerbook in order to suck the entire old drive onto the new machine in an operable manner. Is this accurate, and can this be done if my old machine is the Powerbook on the old apple chip when the new machine is intel based?
Additionally, what are the differences between the single pack and the family pack?
Thanks,

Someone has suggested just installing Snow Leopard on the machine. Will that work?
If you can find a copy of the workstation version of Snow Leopard shipped with the same model of Mac mini, yes. Apple has not, to my knowledge, shipped a retail version of Snow Leopard new enough to boot your mini.
I've also heard there is a way to install SL while connected to my old Powerbook in order to suck the entire old drive onto the new machine in an operable manner. Is this accurate, and can this be done if my old machine is the Powerbook on the old apple chip when the new machine is intel based
No, it's not accurate. The OS on your PowerBook will not boot your mini.
what are the differences between the single pack and the family pack?
If you mean single and family pack of Mac OS X, the single pack is licensed for installation on one computer only, while the family pack is licensed for installation on up to five Macs.
Regards.
Message was edited by: Dave Sawyer

MacMini as a Media Server

Ok, this'll be a long one, grab a coffee & start reading!
Around nine months ago I was impressed by how easily a collegue set up a home media network, streaming audio/video around his house. This led me to buying my first Apple computer since my Apple-II EuroPlus many years ago...
I started out with a 2.5GHz mid-2011 MacMini, got annoyed about not having a screen etc, went to a 21.5" iMac and just recently switched to a 27" iMac (I had screen envy...).
As I only use the iMac for iTunes, audio/video, AirPlay (yep, I also got an iPad, Apple TV and an iPhone!), I find I've got this huge 27" iMac sitting beside me on the coffee table and it's really out of place.
So.
Now that I've converted all my CDs & DVDs to an iTunes-friendly format I'm looking at going back to a MacMini, with my LaCie Little Big Disk holding my iTunes data, that way it can sit tucked away with the rest of my AV gear.
Two questions:
MacMini Specs - the 'guy in the Apple Store' reckons the basic 2.3GHz Mini will be enought to do the job quite happily, with no real need to spend the extra to get the dedicated graphics processor (I've got 8GB RAM I can put into the Mini already).
I'm tending to think that an i7 quad-core will be a more capable beast, but is far, far more expensive, so if I don't need to go there I can save the $$$ - so any experienced Mini owners please let me know what you think (& why).
Secondly, I'm mainly going to be using the Mini to watch movies on the TV and play music on the HiFi; should I just use iTune as-is or should I use a Media Centre App?
I did look at XBMC but found it too difficult to implement - Plex just 'loads & goes'. I've used Plex on my old gen 2 AppleTV and found it to be flaky (I've now got a gen 3 ATV) and found Plex on the iMac plain difficult to use without a remote, so I'm wondering if I should just use iTunes...
If anyone with expeirence on how to best use/configure the Mini as a dedicated Media Server (I now have a MacBook Air for the rest), please let me know!
Cheers!

If anyone would like to know how to fix this, I discovered the answer.
I have no idea what IPv6 is and I care not, but apparently now, all of a sudden, Apple makes iTunes talk to Airport Express units using IPv6. However, it didnt bother to make the Airport Express units expect this first, so iTunes can see the Airport Express, but it cant talk to it.
Anyway, I found that you have to manually go into your Mac settings (scary stuff if you are a non technical person like me) and turn off IPv6.
To do this, go to "Finder > Go > Utilities > Terminal"
type
networksetup -setv6off Wi-Fi (hit enter)
Then type
networksetup -setv6off Ethernet (hit enter)
and magically your iTunes will talk to your Airport Express units again.
I presume at some point we will have to undo this as technology moves on and everything uses IPv6, so when that happens go into Terminal again and type
networksetup -setv6automatic Wi-Fi (hit enter)
Then type
networksetup -setv6automatic (hit enter)
Thanks Apple for that.

File sharing on a MacMini with Snow Leopard Server slower than on a G4

We've decided to replace our old file server, a G4 2x450 (running Mac OS 10.4.11 (client!) with 640 MB of RAM) by a MacMini Server, running Mac OS X Server 10.6.2.
The Mini runs the OS out of the box (I re-installed it to avoid mis-configurations). What's frustrating is that the Mini is slower than the G4.
Attached to the Mini is a RAID 0 MacPower Taurus with 2x1,5 TB SATA drives. The G4 is sharing a 650 GB P-ATA RAiD 1 internally attached via a 64bit ACARD.
While the G4 receives about 32-35 MB/s over the network (using a 5GB file for the test), the MiniServer doesn't exceed 25 MB/s.
A local copy of the same file isn't much faster on the G4, but on the Mini the copying speed is more than 70 MB/s. So. on the Mini copies over the network are only little more than 1/3 of the local copy speed!
So the problem is not the speed of the drives, the speed of the network - it's the data transfer from the network interface of the Mini to the FireWire interface.
The network is well configured, using a HP ProCurve 1810 managed gigabit switch. Both servers were tested under same conditions in the same network.
I would appreciate any help or idea?

I have the same experience.
But did you try to write to the local MacMini drive or to the Fire attached Raid?
I found, that my internal MacMini drives are fast over the network, but as soon as it comes to Firewire drives on the MacMini over the network, it's only half speed.
JO

MacMini as a Filemaker Server

Similar Messages

Maybe you are looking for