Snow Leopard Server to Lion Non-Server?

I have Snow Leopard Server on a MacMini. I cannot install the non-server version of Lion and must pay extra for Lion-Server upgrade. Is there a way to install Lion on my MacMini that has Snow Leopard Server installed?

Hi
You can't install Lion Server (which is simply the Server App) without installing Lion anyway. What this means is you can install 'ordinary' Lion on your existing Snow Leopard Server and provided you don't download and launch the Server App your Snow Leopard Server won't really be a Server anymore. Leastways not with any usuable 10.6 Server Administration applications (Server Admin, WorkGroup Manager etc) that you can use as these are all deleted/removed when Lion is installed.
HTH?
Tony

Similar Messages

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.

Complications migrating from Snow Leopard Server to Mountain Lion Server.

I'm migrating from Snow Leopard Server to Mountain Lion Server. The article "OS X Server: Upgrade and migration" (http://support.apple.com/kb/HT5381) says
"Make sure that any DNS or DHCP servers on which your server depends remain running during the upgrade"
This advice is reinforced by the details of the article "OS X Server: Steps to take before upgrading or migrating the Open Directory database" (http://support.apple.com/kb/HT5300).
As the server I'm migrating from provides these services it will need to be running during the migration process. This would seem to limit my options to doing the migration from a Time Machine backup (or, making a seperate clone of the server's drive and connecting it externally to the new box)
My main concern is the seemingly inevitable clash that is going to occur on the network as the new server takes on the roles of the old one - while it is still running.
What are my options here ?
This is my second attempt as on my first try I did the migration from the TM backup with the network down - and none of my local network users or their home directories were migrated, although the settings for the mount points were, but there were no actual directories where they pointed to!
Clear directions on how to procede would be VERY MUCH appreciated
Thank you.

Moving from Snow Leopard to Mountain Lion means first installing the client (non-Server) version of Mountain Lion and then install Server.app this means that for at least part of the process you will not be running DNS, DHCP or Open Directory.
If you are going to end up using the same DNS name and IP address after the change then an approach you could follow would be as follows.
Destroy any Open Directory replicas
Archive your Open Directory Master (to make a backup)
Note down your DNS records in case they get messed up
Export via Workgroup Manager your users, and groups (you might not need this but better safe than sorry), make sure you do not include the diradmin account
Keep a full back of the server (you should always have backups)
Note down your DHCP server settings in case they get messed up
Note down any other service settings
Install Mountain Lion
Install Server.app
Install Workgroup Manager (extra free download)
Run Server.app
Make sure settings for services are as much as possible the same as before
If your lucky that may be all you need to do, otherwise...
Restore Open Directory archive, if your lucky that will be all you need to do, otherwise...
Make new Open Directory Master
Run Workgroup Manager
Import users and groups you previously exported
You will then have to set passwords for each user as these are not preserved via Workgroup Manager export
When I did this, I was also being forced to change all my IP addresses so I had no choice but to use Workgroup Manager to export and import accounts.

Snow Leopard server, Lion clients

Good day I am running a 10.6.8 server (Mac Pro 2010) with 300 user account on it. At this time because out client computers needing compatibility with multiple applications upgrades we need to upgrade all out clients to 10.7.3. The decision has been made and I need to go with it. The server only runs user accounts, shared folders, Wiki and DNS. I am hesitant to upgrade the server to 10.7. I have attempted some quick searches for any issue with running 10.6.8 Server and 10.7 clients but it has not resulted in much.
What is the biggest issue I am going to be running into?
Will AFP still work with 10.7 clients?
Should I upgrade the server to 10.7 also?
What will I loose at this point upgrading everything?
Looking forward to what I can learn.

What is the biggest issue I am going to be running into?
What issues will you run into if you upgrade your clients to Lion, but leave your server on Snow Leopard? none. That's entirely valid.
Will AFP still work with 10.7 clients?
Yes
Should I upgrade the server to 10.7 also?
Not unless you specifically need some of the features in Mac OS X Lion Server, and absolutely not if you only have one server.
What will I loose at this point upgrading everything?
Probably several nights' sleep. Upgrading a server, and maintaining all the services without any downtime is a significant process. Snow Leopard Server doesn't stop running just because Lion is available, and it won't stop when Mountain Lion comes along, either.
If your mandate is to upgrade the clients, then do that, and take your time planning your server upgrade/migration.

Installing Lion on Snow Leopard Server

I have mac mini server running snow leopard server. I want to install Mac OS X Lion on it.
I have purchased Lion through App Store, but while installing on mac server it asks for Lion Server.
I am not using any server features as of now, Can I downgrade snow leopard server to client and instal Lion on it?
or is there any better way of installing Lion on Snow Leopard Server...
Thanks,
K

No easy way unfortunately.
OS X Server gets its fingers into all parts of your computer. You'd have to go in an manually remove hundreds of files, and replace them with their counterparts from the non-server version.
It would be MUCH easier to back up your home folder and any additional files you need, then nuke and pave with Lion non-server. Restore your info, and you'll be back up and running.
HTH
-Graham

Migrating from Snow Leopard to Mountain Lion Server

Hi all. I kinda drop in and out of this forum, mostly when I've got a puzzler that I can't figure out. My journey from Snow Leopard to Mountain Lion was a little slow. I tried to make the transition from Snow Leopard to Lion and failed, but this time I made it and I thought I'd share a little scratchpad post I wrote to document what I did. Mostly this is about adding back a few things that I really need. Here's the list of stuff that I added back:
Firewall management (IceFloor)
MySQL
Webmail, email filtering rules and email aliases (RoundCube)
"Group" emails (short, multi-recipient email exploders)
Mailing lists (Mailman)
I also dramatically improved reliability by adding a lot of memory, and doing nightly-restarts of the machine.
Here's a link to the post
http://www.haven2.com/index.php/archives/migrating-from-snow-leopard-server-to-o sx-server-mountain-lion
I'm happy to report that the new server has been running for a month or so and all seems fine. Whew. A long journey. Thanks to all of you who posted things that helped me along the way. Hopefully this will return the favor.

Moving from Snow Leopard to Mountain Lion means first installing the client (non-Server) version of Mountain Lion and then install Server.app this means that for at least part of the process you will not be running DNS, DHCP or Open Directory.
If you are going to end up using the same DNS name and IP address after the change then an approach you could follow would be as follows.
Destroy any Open Directory replicas
Archive your Open Directory Master (to make a backup)
Note down your DNS records in case they get messed up
Export via Workgroup Manager your users, and groups (you might not need this but better safe than sorry), make sure you do not include the diradmin account
Keep a full back of the server (you should always have backups)
Note down your DHCP server settings in case they get messed up
Note down any other service settings
Install Mountain Lion
Install Server.app
Install Workgroup Manager (extra free download)
Run Server.app
Make sure settings for services are as much as possible the same as before
If your lucky that may be all you need to do, otherwise...
Restore Open Directory archive, if your lucky that will be all you need to do, otherwise...
Make new Open Directory Master
Run Workgroup Manager
Import users and groups you previously exported
You will then have to set passwords for each user as these are not preserved via Workgroup Manager export
When I did this, I was also being forced to change all my IP addresses so I had no choice but to use Workgroup Manager to export and import accounts.

Upgrade from Snow Leopard Server to Lion Server hangs at configuring services...

I am running the Mac mini with snow leopard server 2.53 ghz 2GB of ram, 2x500GB hard drives, and have followed through the process to install Lion Server. The installation appears to be hung at the Configuring Services section of the setup process. I have left it for a couple of hours and nothing has progressed.
Should I leave it longer, hoping that it will work through the process (if in fact it is working through something)?
How long should this normally take?
As this is my work server, hosting mail, web, FTP, and file sharing, it is rather important to get it up and running as quickly as possible.
Any thoughts on how I can get it moving?
Hard power off of the Mac Mini reboots the machine, then proceeds back to the setup page, and then hangs on the same Configuring Services.
Any assistance would be much appreciated.
Thanks.

Lion Server Upgraders,
beware and proceed with caution.
Apple web site is naively optimistic on the upgrade process:
"To upgrade your Mac to OS X Lion, you don’t need to drive to a store, bring home a box, and install a bunch of discs. All you do is click the Mac App Store icon, buy Lion for $29.99, and your Mac does the rest. Just make sure you have what you need to download Lion to your Mac."
And then has a 3 step process...
This is completely miss leading.
Read this document first: http://manuals.info.apple.com/en_US/lion_server_upgrading_migrating.pdf
It will make it readily apparent that moving from Snow Leopard Server to Lion is not going to be simple.
Having done this twice now.. I have found that:
1. Open Directory migration is a weak point. Lion & Snow Leopard Open Directory are not compatible, so if you have masters & replica then expect trouble. I have an unresolved issue trying to get a simple Lion Server to Lion Server Open Directory replica up and running. This compatibility seems to also cause migration to fail, as I found that all my local User/Groups transferred ok but non of the /127.0.0.1/LDAPv3 (Open Directory) ones did. This is a very important item, as all the mail accounts in dovecot use LDAP generated UID, so you have to be careful that you do not loose mail accounts.
2. Mail - your mail aliases will not transferred, so you will need to reapply the aliases.
3. Web Server Setup - This broke, under migration as I gather the entire Web serving tree has changed. In particular I had "Snow Leopard" Web Mail (which is based on Squirel) on my "Snow Leopard" Server and this is now dead...
4. Digital Certificates - I found that the valid (ie signed by trusted CA's) did not get migrated, so I had to re-imported my Digital Certificates. If you have paid for third party CA certificates then make sure you have got these copied somewhere, as if you loose them then you will likely need to go to your provider and get a certificate revocation and new certificate, which will cost you money!
Cheers,
Zebity.

Snow Leopard Server to Lion

I am curious. I recently purchased a Mac Mini that came with 10.6 server. It wasn't what I wanted (it was the only mini the non-Apple Store apple retailer had -- I'm in Korea). I will be upgrading to 10.7 when it is released. Will I be able to go to the regular version (non-server) or will I have to buy the server edition.
If I can get the regular version, will it install properly over my server version? Or will it offer me an option to completely format the Mini and start over?
This is my first Mac (since the Apple IIc as a kid) so I'm pretty clueless.
Thanks,
Kathryn (from S. Korea)

I tried a few ways to install Lion (Standard) onto my Mac Mini Server (Core 2 Duo with dual 500Gb drives) that was running Snow Leopard Server.
We all have our reasons why to buy the Server edition of the Mac Mini over the regular but best not to get into that!
Lion (std) as an App Store download does not install in place of OS X Server, it just hangs saying 'installing'. Then I thought I why try and downgrade to standard by installing my MacBook Pro OS X Snow Leopard disc over the top of server. This also came up with an error message stating that you can not intall Snow Leopard over the top of Snow Leopard server. I also struggled to get my Mac Mini Server to boot off Snow Leopard via drive sharing from my MacBook Pro.
Im no Mac expert but what did work for me was going out and buying a MacBook Air Super Drive and booting from the Mac OS X Snow Leopard disc from my MacBook Pro.
Prior to installing Lion back up your data to either an external disc or 'HD2' on your Mac Mini.
Step by step:
1. Plug in Super Drive to Mac Mini.
2. Restart while holding 'alt' key.
3. Select CD Rom. (You will have other options including HD and Airport)
Your Mac Mini will now boot from the CD Rom.
4. Select your language.
5. Select 'Disc Utilities' at top.
6. Erase all data off HD1.
7. You also have the options to use raid to mirror/stripe your discs while in utlilities (if you dont know what this means leave it alone.
8. Follow on screen instructions to install Snow Leopard.
9. Software update Snow Leopard to latest version.
10. Install Lion upgrade from App Store as normal.
Everything now works nearly just the way I want it. The only thing I wish I could do now is keep my 500Gb Macbook Pro HD and the Mac Mini HD1 perfectly in sync all of the time!

Error configuring services from Snow Leopard Server to Mountain Lion Server

I am trying to upgrade a Snow Leopard Server Mac Mini to Mountain Lion Server.
We have two Mac Mini servers at our office (production and backup) so I migrated the everything from our production server to the backup using the migration assistant when setting up the backup computer.
I now have the backup at home trying to upgrade it to Mountain Lion Server. I have downloaded and installed Mountain Lion as well as the Server App version 2.2. I basically followed the simple directions found in the Apple documentation.
I started the server app and it got to the part where it said "Upgrading services". After running for a few minutes, I get a window that states "An error occurred while configuring your server." It also sayd "The following actions failed or were not attempted:" with a red dot next to "Upgrading services". The other three items: "Authenticating to local directory", "Reading directory configuration" and "Authenticating to local directory services" have gray dots so I'm sure they were not even attempted.
Our Snow Leopard server is setup for SMB file sharing, LDAP services, FTP, Web, DNS, DHCP.
Can someone point me to where I can figure out what exactly is failing? Are there specific log files I need to look into?
Thanks

Have EXACTLY the same issue - also tried reinstalling mountain lion server fresh and still had the same problem...

Lion server or Snow Leopard Server?

From a quick check of postings here, my question of whether to use Lion Server or Snow Leopard server on a Mac Mini for a small office, looks to be "stay away from Lion server" Snow Leopard server just works and is easier to support.
Most of these posts are from 2011, has anything changed where someone can say Lion is now a much better server choice now than considering Snow Leopard Server?
It seems that most posters feel Lion server is a real step backwards, is this the case?
Thanks in advance - Lewis

Which services have been removed or depreicated?
You have to bear in mind that 'removed' or 'deprecated' only really means 'no longer bundled and supported by Apple'. Just because Mac OS X Lion Server doesn't ship with a foobar server that doesn't mean you can't download and install your own foobar server. It just won't be integrated into the Server Admin apps.
For example, Lion Server no longer ships MySQL Server. So download and install your own copy. It's not like the GUI apps gave you any control over the MySQL anyway, other than starting it up and controlling the network ports.
Likewise for print server. Some of the advanced print features such as quotas have been removed from the GUI, but you can implement them yourself.
Likewise with QuickTime Streaming Server, where the functionality is little more than a web service.
What features that have been enhanced?
Lion Server has simplified the setup of a server for small workgroups with simple requirements. If that's you then the whole experience may be enhanced since you're not swamped with a slew of options that you don't understand, or need.
I think a lot of people were also stymied by Snow Leopard Server because they expected the GUI apps to cover all the options, which was never the case.
So my original point stands. There is pretty much nothing you cannot do in Lion Server than you could do in Snow Leopard Server, it's just that it might not be supported by the GUI. Most serious server admins eschew Server Admin.app anyway since even Snow Leopard Server's admin app doesn't cover all the capabilities of some of the services, so you end up driving it via the command line anyway.

How do I remotely access my Snow Leopard server from my Mountain Lion MacBook Air

Does anyone know of an idiot's guide to setting up a VPN to access my server? I'm running Snow Leopard server in the office and I'd like to be able to access the server, probably just from one computer (MacBook Air runnung Mountain Lion) from home.
I'm not sure if it complicates things or not, but the office is in an area with poor broadband and so the internet connection is via satellite broadband. The set up is a satellite modem into a Gigabit router and the server is connected to the router via an unmanaged switch.
As an aside, I'm considering changing this set up so that the modem plugs into a Time Capsule and the server will connect directly into the TC. The desktops will then run into the server via the unmanaged switch or wirelessly via TC - any thoughts on the best set up here? Are cables into a switch better/worse than using TC's wireless facility.
Is this something that I, as a reasonably competent computer operator but definitely not an IT expert, could do, or should I get someone in to set it up for me?
Thanks in advance
Jim

VPNs aren't particularly special or weird or secret or such. They're "just" a network connection. A sometimes very fussy network connection, but a network connection.
My preference is to use a firewall that includes an embedded VPN server. This for several reasons, as it avoids trying to forward the VPN through a device that's using NAT [1], and it means you can connect to multiple devices on the target LAN, and you can connect even if the OS X Server box is down.
Other folks will forward the VPN through NAT, and use the VPN server that's available in various versions of OS X Server.
Forwarding a VPN through NAT does work, but can also sometimes not work. NAT can cause some types of VPNs to get tossed off when (for instance) there's a second VPN connection arriving.
In various cases everything connects and works the first time, and in other cases it's trial-and-error.
With a VPN-capable firewall (which is a step above your average residential firewall), usually configuring the firewall as a L2TP server or the Cisco protocol, if you want to use the standard OS X or iOS clients. Or PPTP — which is easier to get working — but less secure. Once the firewall and the VPN server is set up — and that's where most of the "fun" is — then the set-up in Network Preferences is (usually) pretty simple.
There are thousands of OS X VPN set-up articles around, but the details all hinge on the particular VPN server, and whether you're going to try to push the VPN through (for instance) that Tome Capsule and its NAT. Until you sort out your VPN target and/or VPN client, and what sort of attacks you're securing against...
As for this case, satellite latency is large. The latency involved is the time it takes to the command or the text from your local Mac to the satellite ~35,786 kilometers up and then ~35,786 kilometers back down, and then the response back again. That's about a quarter second, each way, at the speed of light. Transferring big files is fine (once the connection is open and the transfer gets rolling), but anything interactive — such as a typical use of a VPN — is going to have a noticable lag.
Yes, it'll be easiest to get somebody to work through your requirements and expectations, and initially set this up for you. Or you can use this as an opportunity to read about and learn more about IP routing and networking and VPNs, too.
[1] VPNs seek to ensure that the network connection is secure, and from a known client IP source address to the IP address of the target VPN server. NAT explicitly obscures the network connections, and often has multiple client hosts located behind one IP address. Put another way, the VPN and NAT software implementations are working at cross-purposes.

Lion Clients 10.7.4 show network accounts are unavailable and server is not responding when binding to Snow Leopard server 10.6.8

Hello,
I am running Snow Leopard Server 10.6.8 and my clients are Lion 10.7.4. While testing I had no issues binding 10.7.4 to our 10.6.8 server's OD. I created a 10.7.4 image to push to all of our machines and in the beginning of last week I was able to push the image and get the machines to bind with OD and apply preferences on these machines through workgroup manager. Towards the end of the week though this stopped working. Now any time I bind a 10.7.4 client to OD it allows me to perform an authenticated bind and the machine shows up in workgroup manager but immediatley after binding the client the status jelly next to the OD server in the directory list is red and says "This server is not responding". If I reboot the client I get a notification that "Network accounts are unavailable" at the login screen. My preferences from workgroup manager are also not applying, which is my main concern because without workgroup manager my mac server is somewhat pointless as we use it for very little else.
I've since tried to bind a snow leopard machine (10.6.8) and this still is working with a green status jelly. I've also built a lion machine from scratch, updated to the 10.7.4 combined update and am still getting the same issue where it shows the server is not responding when binding to OD. I then applied the subsiquent OS update after the 10.7.4 combined update but the problem still persists.
Is anyone else having this issue? Any help would help me keep my sanity.
Thanks,
Dane

Have you had any luck finding a solution to this? The only thing I have found was to unbind and then bind without authentication. Any help with progress on your end would be appreciated!
Nick.

Is it possible to install Lion on the second hard disk on my Mini (2010) Snow Leopard Server, and switch between Lion and Snow Leopard? I like those voices Lion has in speech.

Is it possible to install Lion on the second hard disk on my Mini (2010) Snow Leopard Server, and switch between Lion and Snow Leopard? I like those voices Lion has in speech.

When baltwosaid NO emphatically, that was described as CORRECT ANSWER. Ditto in the caeses of the radically different answers from Camelotand Matt Clifton
Could it be that CORRECT ANSWER needs better defining by Apple?
That apart, yes, switching might involve rebooting. About the voices, well, I was the other day adding voice to a commentary in a video I was working on. There's only American English accent in SL — Lion I believe has British ones as well.
Why not, I wondered, try to install Lion purely for academic interest, maybe with an SD card (Sandisk Ultra II, 16GB) as Tom Nelson says is possible at http://macs.about.com/od/macoperatingsystems/ss/Perform-A-Clean-Install-Of-Os-X- Lion-On-Your-Mac.htm

Install Snow Leopard Server Software on non server version mac mini (2009)

Recently purchased Snow Leopard Server software to install on a early 2009 mac mini (non server version) running Mac OS X Snow Leopard. My goal is to set up and manage a server for a small group and leverage some of services from snow leopard server.
First of all, can server software be installed on a early 2009 mac min configured with Mac OS X Snow Leopard? This 2GHz Intel Core Duo mac mini has 2GB Ram and 120GB HD. Will the server software install remove the current snow leopard software or is there any special steps I need to take to get the server version software loaded on this mac mini. Any suggestions or advise is greatly appreciated.
Thanks.

Yes you can install it on your mini And Yes it will wipe the mini clean with a fresh install of the server software.
Suggestions ... Learn DNS there are many links on this forum to MrHoffmans very useful notes as well as many discussions about this topic , there is a steep learning curve ahead if its a first time for you !

Lion clients with Snow leopard Server

Are there known issues with a Snow Leopard Server Mananging Lion Clients. I currently manage 40 IMacs in two labs
all running Snow Leopard, the only services I use on the Mac Server are Open Directiory, Print Services, AFP, and FireWall services
the Server is a Mac PRo with 2x3.2 Ghx quad-Core Intel Xeon Processor and 32. GB RAM

Snow Leopard can't serve AFP devices to Lion clients out of the box. There seems to be a workaround, but I haven't gotten it working myself yet.

Snow Leopard Server to Lion Non-Server?

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