Click on File Sharing in the Server window’s sidebar under “Services.”Ģ. We’ll make our server useful by setting up the File Sharing service.ġ. Services are all the things that your server is capable of doing, from sharing calendars and hosting email to backing up multiple Macs on a centralized Time Machine backup. The host name is a little more restrictive, so any spaces in your computer name will be converted to hyphens in your host name. Your host name, seen below the “Computer Name” box, will automatically change to match your new computer name. Personally, I like to use “w8r,” since it’s kind of a hax0r-restaurant-themed pun on “server.” I’m fun at parties.ħ. Note that you can only use the characters a-z, 0-9, the space, and the hyphen symbol (-) for your computer name. Click in the “Computer Name” text box and type in an excellent name.

At long last, we can give our server a better name. From the next popup, choose “Local Network” and click “Next.”Ħ. A host name is the name your computer will use on your local network, like its own username. The popup window will explain what a host name is. This will also prompt me to do a little first-run server setup.Ĥ. To apply a more unique moniker, I’ll click the “Edit Host Name…” button. The server’s default name is “Alexs-iMac.” This is a dumb name.

In the center of this window you’ll see some info about your server.ģ. Once Server has finished its first-time setup functionality, it will open to the main Server screen.Ģ. Server will run its setup scripts, which takes up to a minute.ġ. Enter your administrator password and click “Allow” to finalize the installation.Ħ. We can leave this checked, since it will make determining uptime easier in the future, if necessary.ĥ.

Note that “Use Apple services to determine this server’s Internet reachability” will be checked by default. This will toggle your server’s ability to ping Apple’s servers to check on it’s own service availability. Next, click “Agree” to accept Server’s licensing agreement. Open Server from the Applications folder.ģ. You’ll need to purchase the most recent version, which is version 5.2.Ģ. Versions are particular to each operating system, so if you have an earlier version of macOS Server, it won’t work with Sierra. Purchase the most recent version of macOS Server from the Mac App Store. But you can still share files and Time Machine backups using Apple’s macOS Server application. MacOS might not be known as an enterprise server platform.

Mac os server app