Some people do not realize that even the standard version of OSX that comes bundled with any Apple computer is quite a powerful operating system. OSX Server adds some functionality, but many of the differences have to do with putting some nice GUI tools to ease the configuration of certain services.
If you are coming from the UNIX/LINUX world this will look quite trivial so I would advise you to stop reading and save your time as you will learn nothing new here.
My first example will be the set up of an FTP server using OSX tiger (it would be very similar if using Leopard I think). Later I will look at different ways of providing remote access to files in different ways.
In fact I did not use the standard FTP service that comes bundled with OSX, I read quite a number of bad things about it and besides I do not like the fact that I need to create OSX users to give them access. Did I mention that I do nto like anonymous logins?
So I decided to replace it with PureFTPd and to make my life easier I downloaded an application called PureFTPd Manager. I had read many great things about it and decided to give it a try. So far I am really happy about it. I especially like the ability to run virtual servers, that is to provide two different named servers fromthe same IP address. On the downside I really do not like the fact that when using PureFTPd Manager you can not listen to Port 22, that is, no SFTP for you. So if this is important for you, you should take a look at CrushFTP or run PureFTPd without the GUI.
The instructions can be found in the same site and are embarrassingly simple. The only problem I had was forgetting to redirect the ports used for passive FTP in my airport express.
In less than a couple of hours from beginning to end you can have a nice FTP server and stop sending huge attachments by email to your colleagues. The only thing that gave me serious problems were the file and directory permissions. The files I offer are on a external hard disk and the permissions are ignored by OSX (and yes, I checked the the Ignore ownership box). It is not a big deal as I offer access only to a mirror of my real unit but I find it quite annoying.
In my todo list I have integrating it with my LDAP server and creating named servers instead of using a numeric IP address. And of course running AFP over SSH for my colleagues lucky (or smart) enough to use a Mac, setting WebDAC, and even running Alfresco.
I am really curious about how things will evolve.
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