Big changes coming to macOS Server

[Arthur]

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT208312

 

macOS Server is changing to focus more on management of computers, devices, and storage on your network. As a result, some changes are coming in how Server works. A number of services will be deprecated, and will be hidden on new installations of an update to macOS Server coming in spring 2018. If you've already configured one of these services, you'll still be able to use it in the spring 2018 macOS Server update.

 

These deprecated services will be removed in a future release of macOS Server, so those depending on them should consider alternatives, including hosted services. Deprecated services are listed below. Links to potential replacements are provided underneath each deprecated service.

 

• Calendar
  Calendar and Contacts Server
  DavMail
  Radicale
   
   
  
• Contacts
  Calendar and Contacts Server
  DavMail
  Citadel
   
   
  
• DHCP
  Kea
  Dnsmasq
  FreeRADIUS
   
   
  
• DNS
  BIND
  Unbound
  KnotDNS
   
   
  
• Mail
  KerioConnect
  dovecot/Postfix
  Courier
   
   
  
• Messages
  ejabberd
  Openfire
  Prosody
   
   
  
• NetInstall
  NetSUS
  BSDPy
   
   
  
• VPN
  OpenVPN
  SoftEther VPN
  Tcpcrypt
   
   
  
• Websites
  Apache HTTP Server
  Nginx
  Lighttpd
   
   
  
• Wiki
  MediaWiki
  PmWiki
  XWiki
  

[2ilent8cho]

The question is does this mean Profile Manager will become a usable product for large scale deployment if they are going to focus on device management? As Apple have said in the past its for testing, proof of concept or extremely small deployments only.

[synaesthesia]

Apple, do something positive for anything that is outside of a home?

Is that a flying pig?

[DJ-1701]

So... if they are removing all that functionality... will they be reducing that big old charge of £15 to upgrade to Server?

[2ilent8cho]

So... if they are removing all that functionality... will they be reducing that big old charge of £15 to upgrade to Server?

 

I do not think we will need to buy it in the future. Caching Server now comes built into MacOS instead of via the Server App , whats left i guess will follow.

[tg12]

The question is does this mean Profile Manager will become a usable product for large scale deployment if they are going to focus on device management? As Apple have said in the past its for testing, proof of concept or extremely small deployments only.

 

Oh please, please, please! Profile Manager has driven me insane for years.

[Brimstone]

Apple, do something positive for anything that is outside of a home?

Is that a flying pig?

 

When will people get this...?

 

Apple have done nothing really with PM for over 5 years, when they discontinued the Xserve most people got this message. As a consultant I stopped recommending this when this happened. These are successfully deploying hundreds of Macs into education, instead of clinging on with their fingers to Profile Manager trying to find workaround after workaround to fix problems with it.

 

There are hundreds of 3rd party managment and MDM solutions (think Jamf Pro, Moysle, Filewave etc) that do a much better job with a far less workload to IT people of managing Macs.

 

Time to wake up and smell the coffee I think

[AntonioRocco]

The writing has been on the wall since 2011 when Apple discontinued the XServe in January of that year. That's 7 years. Apple dropping the hardware meant they would be dropping the Server OS not too long afterwards. The last decent server version was 10.6. Since then it's been a painfully half-baked transition to what there is now.

 

I have to agree with Brimstone. There are and have been better management tools available for a long while now although it will be interesting to see what is new in the Server App's replacement.

 

Antonio Rocco (ACSA)

[synaesthesia]

The issue is, they rely too much on 3rd parties to do something they're perfectly capable of, but for reasons most likely involving money they haven't bothered. What happens if they manage to pee off those 3rd parties, where do they get left?

Certainly quite fond of Mosyle personally, if we get many more iPads in it's likely we'll go down that route.

[free780]

Pm can't seem to deal with large AD environments. I've had to go into the backend to remove printers before. It may be easier just to manage them via intune or similar.

[DalekSec]

I'm currently looking at ways to manage macs and ipads (we have over 100), what would you suggest is the best MDM?

 

Mosyle looks quite good, but so does JamF. I came across this article as well for integration with intune

[bossman]

I think its time for people to wake up and smell the coffee and look at alternatives to Apple products fullstop!

 

They always seem to be making changes without consultation or regard to the end user for whatever hardware and software they have developed (If they developed it and not a third party)

 

They rely totally on their fanbase for the main profit making products...never understood people and why they feel that to pay over the odds for equipment then it must be the best.....sorry folks but that's a little thin now.

 

So pleased we never went down that route of IPad mania as a school and so please we waited and took up with GSuite and Chromebooks....so much better and more cost effective....Bye Bye Apple we not want you!!

 

Just my opinion and just saying like! not wishing to offend any Apple users........Wake Up! its a brand new world out there!!!

[DalekSec]

I think its time for people to wake up and smell the coffee and look at alternatives to Apple products fullstop!

 

They always seem to be making changes without consultation or regard to the end user for whatever hardware and software they have developed (If they developed it and not a third party)

 

They rely totally on their fanbase for the main profit making products...never understood people and why they feel that to pay over the odds for equipment then it must be the best.....sorry folks but that's a little thin now.

 

So pleased we never went down that route of IPad mania as a school and so please we waited and took up with GSuite and Chromebooks....so much better and more cost effective....Bye Bye Apple we not want you!!

 

Just my opinion and just saying like! not wishing to offend any Apple users........Wake Up! its a brand new world out there!!!

 

I was like you once... then i brought a MacBook a few months back and i love it!

 

I already prefer it to Windows, it's just so much easier to use and sleeker.

 

Obviously being a huge Gamer i'll never replace my main PC (Gaming machine) but if i wasn't i would see myself buying an iMac over any Windows device.

[localzuk]

We use ZuluDesk @DalekSec. I like it!

[NB9457]

I was like you once... then i brought a MacBook a few months back and i love it!

 

I already prefer it to Windows, it's just so much easier to use and sleeker.

 

Obviously being a huge Gamer i'll never replace my main PC (Gaming machine) but if i wasn't i would see myself buying an iMac over any Windows device.

 

I liked my MacBook, great for home use, but when it comes to enterprise and networking, that's where they fall.

[bossman]

@DalekSec

 

Each to there own......We bought an IMac at quite a considerable cost to the school for a colleague who deemed it necessary to have the best so he told us...lovely shiny silver all in one unit......he left us after a year for another position....cut a long story short......he has been gone 4 years now and we still have the IMac in our office....never been used since the day he left....sorry but you will never convince me that Apple make a product which is both cost effective and can be used for something that any normal everyday PC can do just as well....

 

Ooh! just to add it used to overheat terribly such was the design.....one large vent across the back....absolute rubbish for the price....waste of money.

 

Not my decision to purchase....business manager.....it is a legacy which we look upon as its in our office and it reminds us on a daily basis......how not to waste good money especially taxpayers!

[Stevecee]

We use ZuluDesk @DalekSec. I like it!

 

+1 for Zuludesk - used to use Jamf but some issues with support and costs meant a change

 

Steve

[DalekSec]

@DalekSec

 

Each to there own......We bought an IMac at quite a considerable cost to the school for a colleague who deemed it necessary to have the best so he told us...lovely shiny silver all in one unit......he left us after a year for another position....cut a long story short......he has been gone 4 years now and we still have the IMac in our office....never been used since the day he left....sorry but you will never convince me that Apple make a product which is both cost effective and can be used for something that any normal everyday PC can do just as well....

 

Ooh! just to add it used to overheat terribly such was the design.....one large vent across the back....absolute rubbish for the price....waste of money.

 

Not my decision to purchase....business manager.....it is a legacy which we look upon as its in our office and it reminds us on a daily basis......how not to waste good money especially taxpayers!

 

I didn't once say it was cost effective! I just said i preferred them to Windows, which i still do. Just have to pay the Apple Tax to go with it. Which i'm personally happy to pay

[Stevecee]

@DalekSec

 

Each to there own......We bought an IMac at quite a considerable cost to the school for a colleague who deemed it necessary to have the best so he told us...lovely shiny silver all in one unit......he left us after a year for another position....cut a long story short......he has been gone 4 years now and we still have the IMac in our office....never been used since the day he left....sorry but you will never convince me that Apple make a product which is both cost effective and can be used for something that any normal everyday PC can do just as well....

 

Ooh! just to add it used to overheat terribly such was the design.....one large vent across the back....absolute rubbish for the price....waste of money.

 

Not my decision to purchase....business manager.....it is a legacy which we look upon as its in our office and it reminds us on a daily basis......how not to waste good money especially taxpayers!

 

Yes well I run a school network with 160+ Mac and 400+ipads have to say that I haven't seen any issues with build quality and overheating, also not sure that you are correct regarding costs, obviously the price you pay for a Mac is generally higher than a PC but people like IBM have just moved across to Mac citing the much lower total cost of ownership they estimate they are saving over $200-500 per machine!

 

here's a couple of articles:

 

TCO: New research finds Macs in the enterprise easier, cheaper to manage than Windows PCs | ZDNet

 

https://www.jamf.com/blog/total-cost-of-ownership-mac-versus-pc-in-the-enterprise/

 

I'm not anti PC, but do find it strange when I read something like this, we have all had a machine that doesn't seem to do what we wanted it to do, that someone else said we needed and it turned out we didn't, I just this thats to do with the circumstances daily not the badge on the box

 

just my twopenneth

 

Steve

[Stormborn15]

Yes well I run a school network with 160+ Mac and 400+ipads have to say that I haven't seen any issues with build quality and overheating, also not sure that you are correct regarding costs, obviously the price you pay for a Mac is generally higher than a PC but people like IBM have just moved across to Mac citing the much lower total cost of ownership they estimate they are saving over $200-500 per machine!

 

here's a couple of articles:

 

TCO: New research finds Macs in the enterprise easier, cheaper to manage than Windows PCs | ZDNet

 

https://www.jamf.com/blog/total-cost-of-ownership-mac-versus-pc-in-the-enterprise/

 

I'm not anti PC, but do find it strange when I read something like this, we have all had a machine that doesn't seem to do what we wanted it to do, that someone else said we needed and it turned out we didn't, I just this thats to do with the circumstances daily not the badge on the box

 

just my twopenneth

 

Steve

?

Hi @Stevecee , Can I ask how you manage the macs? Are they joined to AD? Do you use any 3rd party software for MDM or just profile manager?

[localzuk]

https://www.jamf.com/blog/total-cost-of-ownership-mac-versus-pc-in-the-enterprise/

Just to point out that this is a very flawed analysis.

 

1. Deployment on Windows is included free if you have a server (WDS)

2. The idea that the OS is included for free on Mac is a little bit nonsense - the cost is included in the price. Just like it is when buying a Windows laptop from Lenovo or HP.

3. They include pricing for both Intune and SCCM as managament, but also include AV as a cost - when SCEP is included with SCCM.

4. Somehow, they also say that support and helpdesk costs are lower with a mac, which is a little absurd, and is based on anecdote. I'm not sure IBM is particularly clear with their stats, considering how much restructuring they've been doing lately!

 

So, I would say, costs-wise, they are actually about the same.

[Stevecee]

?

Hi @Stevecee , Can I ask how you manage the macs? Are they joined to AD? Do you use any 3rd party software for MDM or just profile manager?

 

Hi

 

Yes they are bound to AD, we use Zuludesk as MDM

 

Steve

[mjk]

loads of those services are opensource anyway so presumably you'd just 'brew install nginx' etc.

[Arthur]

2. The idea that the OS is included for free on Mac is a little bit nonsense - the cost is included in the price. Just like it is when buying a Windows laptop from Lenovo or HP.

The Education and Enterprise editions of Windows 10 are an additional cost however.

[Stormborn15]

Hi

 

Yes they are bound to AD, we use Zuludesk as MDM

 

Steve

 

Thanks @Stevecee I've just signed up for the free version of Mosyle to see how that works... Have you then tried to sync the macs to Azure AD at all?.. we have a mix of windows, apple and Gsuite