This article has been archived and is no longer updated by Apple.

OS X Server: Upgrade and migration from Lion Server or Snow Leopard Server

Learn how to upgrade or migrate to OS X Server on Mavericks or Mountain Lion from Lion Server or Mac OS X Server v10.6.

You can upgrade to OS X Server on Mavericks or Mountain Lion from Lion Server or Mac OS X Server v10.6 by installing OS X first, then installing the OS X Server app.

You can migrate to OS X Server on Mavericks or Mountain Lion from Lion Server or Mac OS X Server v10.6 by using the OS X Setup Assistant or Migration Assistant application to migrate server data from one of the following sources:

  • a server connected in Target Disk Mode

  • a local hard drive or partition with Lion Server or Mac OS X Server v10.6 installed

  • a local Time Machine backup of Lion Server or Mac OS X Server v10.6

Important: Migrating via a network connection, either from an existing server or a Time Machine backup, will not work for OS X Server. To upgrade or migrate a remote server, you must be able to control the server using Screen Sharing or Apple Remote Desktop.

If you are upgrading from OS X Server (Mountain Lion) to OS X Server (Mavericks) see this article.

Service data

In most cases, your service data and settings are preserved when upgrading or migrating. See below for exceptions or special instructions before you upgrade or migrate your server.

Service data that is stored in the default location in Lion Server or Snow Leopard Server are moved to the new default service data location inside the /Library/Server/ directory. Service data stored in an alternate location remain in the alternate location.

Note: If you selected an alternate data storage location in Lion Server, only those services that used the alternate location in Lion use this location in Mountain Lion. Other services use the default location and you cannot relocate them to the alternate location.

Planning your upgrade or migration

Important: Before starting any upgrade or migration, make sure that you have a complete and tested backup or clone of your working server installation and data.

Make sure that your target server meets the system requirements for both OS X and OS X Server. Be sure to install the latest version of OS X Server on the destination server. The following instructions are up to date as of OS X Server v3 for Mavericks and OS X Server v2.2.2 for Mountain Lion. If the destination server is a new Mac mini or Mac Pro, you might need to use the Mac App Store to update your copy of OS X Server before migrating.

Use Software Update on your source server to update to the latest version of Lion Server or Mac OS X Server v10.6 Snow Leopard.

Read the section below which applies to your upgrade or migration path completely before starting the process. Export or make note of any settings which will not be upgraded or migrated.

Make sure that any DNS or DHCP servers your server depends on remain available during the upgrade or migration process.

If you have Open Directory replicas, upgrade or migrate your Open Directory master first. Make sure it is up and running before migrating replicas. While you’re upgrading your master, client computers can’t connect to it for Open Directory services. Clients may experience a delay finding an Open Directory replica server. You can avoid this delay by temporarily pointing clients to a replica.

Server app and the Server Admin Tools are removed when upgrading, since the Lion and Snow Leopard versions are not supported with Mountain Lion.

Upgrading from Lion Server or Mac OS X Server v10.6 Snow Leopard

To upgrade, first download and install Mountain Lion from the Mac App Store. Follow the instructions in the installer and in the Setup Assistant after installation. When Mountain Lion installation and setup is complete, download and install Server from the Mac App Store. Open the Server app and follow the onscreen instructions to complete the upgrade.

Calendar

The iCal service is now called the Calendar service.

Contacts

The Address Book service is now called the Contacts service.

DHCP

If you enabled DHCP (only) in Lion Server, or you enabled DHCP in Mac OS X Server v10.6, your configuration is preserved and remains active after you upgrade.

If you enabled both NAT and DHCP in Server Admin in Lion Server, your configuration is not preserved when you upgrade. For more information, see this article.

File Services

After upgrading, AFP clients may no longer be able to authenticate via Kerberos. The AFP service may be referencing the LKDC, as described in this article.

Firewall

The Firewall service is no longer managed by OS X Server. Existing Firewall rules remain active after upgrade, but any further firewall configuration must be performed from the command line. For more information, see this article.

FTP

FTP settings are not preserved when upgrading from Mac OS X Server v10.6 Snow Leopard (only) because later Server versions use different FTP software than Snow Leopard. You can configure FTP in the Server app in OS X Server.

Mail

Webmail is no longer a feature of the Mail service in OS X Server.

Server-side Mail rules cannot be enabled or disabled in Server app. Existing server-side rules will be preserved when upgrading.

After migrating you may need to re-enter your per-user mail storage quota.

Messages

The iChat service is now called the Messages service.

The “Enable server-to-server federation” and “Archive all messages” settings may be disabled after upgrading to OS X Server (Mavericks). Check these settings, and re-enable them if necessary.

NAT

The NAT service was provided by the natpmpd binary in Lion Server and the natd binary in Snow Leopard Server. In Mountain Lion and Mavericks, natd is deprecated and natpmpd is used by Internet Sharing in the Sharing pane of System Preferences.

If you enabled NAT in Server Admin in Lion Server, your configuration will not be preserved when you upgrade. You can restore the default NAT configuration by disabling, then enabling Internet Sharing in System Preferences. This provides NAT services using the default IP address range of 192.168.2.2 to 192.168.2.254. Important: you cannot use both Internet Sharing and the DHCP service in OS X Server. For more information, see this article.

If you created NAT rules with pfctl in Lion Server, they will be preserved and remain active when you upgrade.

If you enabled NAT in Snow Leopard Server, your natd configuration is deactivated after you upgrade. Your configuration files are preserved in /Library/Server/Migrated/private/etc/nat/.

NetInstall

The NetBoot service is now called the NetInstall service.

Open Directory

When upgrading an Open Directory master, follow the instructions in this article.

After upgrading to OS X Server (Mavericks) you may see the message, "existing connection is not authenticated: password change denied." See this article for more information.

Podcast

The Podcast service has been removed from OS X Server. Existing Podcast content is preserved during upgrade, as described in this article.

RADIUS

The RADIUS service is no longer managed as a separate service in Server app. Existing RADIUS configurations remain active after upgrading, although it may appear inactive in Server app until you Refresh the service (from the View menu). For more information, see this article.

Websites

The Web service is now called the Websites service. Different configuration options are available after you upgrade. For more information about how existing settings will be affected during upgrade, see this article.

Wiki

Mac OS X Server v10.6 Snow Leopard Wiki themes are not preserved during upgrade. You must select a new theme for each wiki after upgrading.

Other Mac OS X Server v10.6 Snow Leopard services

The following services in Snow Leopard Server were removed in Lion Server are no longer part of OS X Server: Mobile Access, MySQL, Print, Tomcat, Axis, QuickTime Streaming Server (QTSS) and Wiki-based mailing lists and archives.

Migrating from Lion Server or Mac OS X Server v10.6 Snow Leopard

To migrate, start by installing Mountain Lion on a new Mac or on a new volume on an existing server, or start with a new Mac preinstalled with Mountain Lion.

Use the Mountain Lion Setup Assistant or the Migration Assistant application to select the migration source:

  • a server connected in Target Disk Mode

  • a local hard drive or partition with Lion Server or Snow Leopard Server installed

  • a local Time Machine backup of Lion Server or Snow Leopard Server

When migration is complete, download and install Server from the Mac App Store (if it is not preinstalled). Open the Server app and follow the onscreen instructions to complete the server setup.

Note: If you open Server app before migrating server data, you will need to remove Server app before migrating and reinstall it afterward.

Alerts

After migrating from a Snow Leopard Server you must re-enter all email addresses to receive Alert notifications.

Calendar

The iCal service is now called the Calendar service.

Contacts

The Address Book service is now called the Contacts service.

DHCP

If you enabled DHCP (only) in Lion Server, or you enabled DHCP in Mac OS X Server v10.6, your configuration will be preserved and remain active when you migrate.

If you enabled both NAT and DHCP in Server Admin in Lion Server, your configuration will not be preserved when you migrate. For more information, see this article.

Directory Services

If you migrate from a Snow Leopard Server bound to Active Directory to OS X (Mavericks) you must run the following Terminal command before installing OS X Server:

sudo /System/Library/Frameworks/OpenDirectory.framework/odmigrationtool -source /path/to/source -target /

Where /path/to/source is replaced by the path to the volume you are migrating from.

File Services

Share points are not preserved when migrating to Mountain Lion (only). See this article for instructions about recording share point information before migrating.

Firewall

The Firewall service is no longer managed by OS X Server. Existing Firewall rules remain active after migration, but any further firewall configuration must be performed on the command line. For more information, see this article.

FTP

FTP settings are not preserved when migrating from Mac OS X Server v10.6 Snow Leopard (only) because later Server versions use different FTP software than Snow Leopard. You can configure FTP in the Server app in OS X Server.

Mail

Webmail is no longer a feature of the Mail service in OS X Server.

Server-side Mail rules cannot be enabled or disabled in Server app. Existing server-side rules will be preserved when migrating.

After migrating you may need to re-enter your per-user mail storage quota.

Messages

The iChat service is now called the Messages service.

The “Enable server-to-server federation” and “Archive all messages” settings may be disabled when you migrate to OS X Server (Mavericks). Check these settings and re-enable them if necessary.

NAT

The NAT service was provided by the natpmpd binary in Lion Server and the natd binary in Snow Leopard Server. In Mountain Lion, natd is deprecated and natpmpd is used by Internet Sharing in the Sharing pane of System Preferences.

If you enabled NAT in Server Admin in Lion Server, your configuration will not be preserved when you migrate. You can restore the default NAT configuration by disabling then enabling Internet Sharing in System Preferences. This will provide NAT services using the default IP address range of 192.168.2.2 to 192.168.2.254. Important: you cannot use both Internet Sharing and the DHCP service in OS X Server. For more information, see this article.

If you created NAT rules with pfctl in Lion Server, they are preserved and remain active when you migrate.

If you enabled NAT in Snow Leopard Server, your natd configuration will be deactivated when you migrate. Your configuration files will be preserved in /Library/Server/Migrated/private/etc/nat/.

NetInstall

The NetBoot service is now called the NetInstall service.

Open Directory

When upgrading an Open Directory master, follow the instructions in this article.

After upgrading to OS X Server (Mavericks) you may see the message, "existing connection is not authenticated: password change denied." See this article for more information.

Podcast

The Podcast service has been removed from OS X Server. Existing Podcast content will be preserved during migration, as described in this article.

RADIUS

The RADIUS service is no longer managed as a separate service in Server app. Existing RADIUS configurations will remain active after migration, although it may appear inactive in Server app until you Refresh the service (from the View menu.) For more information, see this article.

Websites

The Web service is now called the Websites service. Different configuration options are available after you migrate. For more information about how existing settings will be affected during migration, see this article.

Wiki

Mac OS X Server v10.6 Snow Leopard Wiki themes are not preserved during migration. You must select a new theme for each wiki after upgrading.

Other Snow Leopard Services

The following services in Snow Leopard Server were removed in Lion Server; they are no longer part of OS X Server: Mobile Access, MySQL, Print, Tomcat, Axis, QuickTime Streaming Server (QTSS) and Wiki-based mailing lists and archives.

Information about products not manufactured by Apple, or independent websites not controlled or tested by Apple, is provided without recommendation or endorsement. Apple assumes no responsibility with regard to the selection, performance, or use of third-party websites or products. Apple makes no representations regarding third-party website accuracy or reliability. Contact the vendor for additional information.

Published Date: