Before you begin
- These steps erase all data on both drives in your Mac mini. You can reinstall OS X Server after erasing your drives, but you should make sure that other data on these drives is backed up.
- You cannot create a recovery partition on a RAID volume. Because certain features of OS X are not supported without a recovery partition, you should consider using the Recovery Disk Assistant to create an external recovery disk before creating your RAID volume.
- You need a broadband Internet connection (Wi-Fi or Ethernet) to reinstall OS X. Your network connection must meet the requirements for Internet Recovery.
Adopt Server app
Important: Make sure that you associate the version of OS X Server included with your Mac mini with an Apple ID before you erase its drives. Use these steps to assign your copy of OS X Server to an Apple ID.
- Complete the OS X Setup Assistant.
- Open the Mac App Store.
- Click the Purchases tab.
- Click the Accept button.
- Enter your Apple ID and password.
Create a RAID volume
- Start your Mac mini while holding down Command+Option+R. This tells your Mac to start from Internet Recovery. This can take a few minutes. Release the keys when you see "Starting recovery process from network."
- Choose your preferred language.
- Choose Disk Utility in the OS X Utilities window, then click Continue.
- In Disk Utility, select one of your hard drives, then click the RAID tab.
- Enter a name for your RAID set, then choose the desired RAID type (Striped or Mirrored).
- Drag each of your two hard drive icons from the left side of the Disk Utility window into the list in the middle of the window.
Important: Drag the disk icons (which are indicated by a size like 1 TB) and not the partition icons (which are indicated by a name like Server HD). - Click Create.
- When your RAID set is shown as Online, quit Disk Utility.
Install OS X
- Choose Reinstall OS X in the OS X Utilities window and click Continue.
- Proceed through the installer and select your new RAID volume for installation. A message should appear that some features of OS X are not supported for this disk because a Recovery Partition cannot be created on a RAID volume. Click Continue.
- Allow the installation to complete. This may take some time, depending on your Internet connection.
- Complete the OS X Setup Assistant.
- Open the Mac App Store.
- Click the Purchases tab.
- Sign in.
Once you are signed into the Mac App Store, install any OS X Upgrades you have purchased. Restart the computer if needed. You can then install OS X Server.
Install OS X Server (Mountain Lion or later)
After the current version of OS X is installed, you can install OS X Server.
- Open the Mac App Store.
- Click the Purchases tab.
- Download OS X Server.
- When your download is complete, open Server app and complete your server setup.
After installing OS X and OS X Server, you should use Software Update to make sure all of your installed software is up to date.