macOS Server makes it easy to configure and monitor Mac, iPhone, iPad, and Apple TV devices and network storage volumes. Install Software Updates on devices running iOS 12 and mac OS 10.14. Device Enrollment Program integration. VPN: Configure Provider Designated Requirement for Custom SSL connection type. Native Cisco VPN on Mac OS X. Confirmed working on OS X High Sierra. The proprietary CiscoVPN Mac client is somewhat buggy. It is possible to use the IPSec VPN software included with Mac OS X instead. This tutorial shows you how to migrate from CiscoVPN to the native OS X IPSec VPN by decrypting passwords saved in CiscoVPN PCF files. The application configures and makes active the native VPN Server Mac OS X. Enter the number of client computers, click the button 'AutoConfig' and you can connect to your Mac from anywhere!
Apple continues to develop and support macOS Server, which includes Open Directory, Profile Manager, and Xsan management. The most popular server features—Caching Server, File Sharing Server, and Time Machine Server are bundled with every installation of macOS High Sierra and later, so that even more customers have access to these essential services at no extra cost.
Starting with macOS Server 5.7.1, Apple no longer bundles open source services such as Calendar Server, Contacts Server, the Mail Server, DNS, DHCP, VPN Server, and Websites with macOS Server. Customers can get these same services directly from open-source providers. This way, macOS Server customers can install the most secure and up-to-date services as soon as they’re available.
Apple has published documentation to help with this transition.
The following services are included and fully supported in macOS Server 5.7.1 and later:
These services are now available in macOS High Sierra and later, and can be found in System Preferences > Sharing:
This table shows the status of each macOS Server service, and available alternatives.
Service | Status | Alternatives |
---|---|---|
FTP | Removed in Server 5.4 | SFTP/SSH |
Server Docs | Removed in Server 5.4 | iCloud Documents, Apache/WebDAV |
DHCP | UI tools removed in Server 5.7.1 | bootpd, built into macOS |
DNS | Removed in Server 5.7.1 | BIND, Unbound, KnotDNS |
VPN | Removed in Server 5.7.1 | OpenVPN, SoftEther VPN, WireGuard |
Firewall | UI tools removed in Server 5.7.1 | pf firewall (built into macOS) |
Mail Server | Removed in Server 5.7.1 | dovecot/Postfix Courier, KerioConnect |
Calendar | Removed in Server 5.7.1 | CalendarServer, DavMail, Radicale, Kerio Connect |
Wiki | Removed in Server 5.7.1 | MediaWiki, PmWiki, XWiki, Confluence, WordPress WMX files |
Websites | UI tools removed in Server 5.7.1 | Apache HTTP Server (built into macOS), Nginx, Lighttpd |
Contacts | Removed in Server 5.7.1 | CalendarServer, DavMail, Citadel, Kerio Connect |
NetBoot/NetInstall | UI tools removed in Server 5.7.1 | BOOTP, TFTP, HTTP, NFS (all built into macOS), NetSUS, BSDPy |
Messages | Removed in Server 5.7.1 | ejabberd, Openfire, Prosody |
Radius | Removed in Server 5.7.1 | FreeRadius |
AirPort Management | Removed in Server 5.7.1 | AirPort Utility |