OS X Server: Admin tools compatibility information
Learn about the compatible combinations of Server applications and system software for administering OS X Server from another OS X computer.
OS X Server (Yosemite)
To administer OS X Server on Yosemite, use Server app version 4 or later on OS X Yosemite. Server app is available from the Mac App Store.
To administer OS X Server on Yosemite from a client with a different version of OS X, connect to the server using Screen Sharing or Apple Remote Desktop.
Note: Workgroup Manager and previous versions of Server app are not compatible with Yosemite.
OS X Server (Mavericks)
To administer OS X Server on Mavericks, use Server app version 3 or later on OS X Mavericks. Server app is available from the Mac App Store. You can use Server app on OS X Mavericks to remotely administer servers running either OS X Server (Mavericks) or OS X Server (Mountain Lion).
To administer OS X Server from a client with a different version of OS X, connect to the server using Screen Sharing or Apple Remote Desktop. To manage legacy client preferences with OS X Server, use Workgroup Manager 10.9, available from Apple Support Downloads.
Note: Previous versions of Server app and Workgroup Manager are not compatible with Mavericks.
OS X Server (Mountain Lion)
To administer OS X Server on Mountain Lion, use Server app version 2 on OS X Mountain Lion or Server app version 3 on OS X Mavericks. Server app is available from the Mac App Store. To manage client preferences with OS X Server, use Workgroup Manager 10.8 on OS X Mountain Lion, available from Apple Support Downloads.
To administer OS X Server from a client with an earlier version of OS X, connect to the server using Screen Sharing or Apple Remote Desktop. To manage client preferences you can also use Workgroup Manager from the Server Admin Tools 10.7 on OS X Lion.
Note: Server app from OS X Lion and the Server Admin Tools 10.7 are not compatible with Mountain Lion.
Lion Server
To administer Lion Server, use Server app and the Server Admin Tools 10.7 on OS X Lion. The Server Admin Tools 10.7 are are available from Apple Support Downloads.
To administer Lion Server from a client with a different version of OS X, connect to the server using Screen Sharing or Apple Remote Desktop. You can also use Workgroup Manager 10.8 on Mountain Lion to connect to Lion Server.
Note: If you have the Server Admin Tools 10.6 installed on Mac OS X or Mac OS X Server v10.6 Snow Leopard, and upgrade or migrate to OS X Lion, the 10.6 Tools will be removed because they are not compatible with Lion.
Mac OS X Server v10.6
To administer Mac OS X Server v10.6, use the Server Admin Tools 10.6 on Mac OS X v10.6. You should match the version numbers of the server, tools, and admin workstation as closely as possible; for example, use Server Admin Tools version 10.6.8 on Mac OS X v10.6.8 to administer Mac OS X Server v10.6.8.
You may also use the Server Admin Tools 10.7 on OS X Lion to administer Mac OS X Server v10.6.
Note: If you have the Server Admin Tools 10.5 installed on Mac OS X v10.5 and upgrade or migrate to Mac OS X v10.6, the 10.5 Tools will be removed because they are not compatible with Mac OS X v10.6. You can download the Server Admin Tools 10.6 from Apple Support Downloads.
Mac OS X Server v10.5 and earlier information
Mac OS X Server v10.5
To administer Mac OS X Server v10.5, you need either the Server Admin Tools 10.5 on a Mac OS X v10.5 computer, or, with the limitations noted below, the Server Admin Tools 10.6 on a Mac OS X v10.6 computer. You should match the version numbers of the server, tools, and admin workstation as closely as possible, but note that the latest version of the Admin Tools for 10.5 Server is 10.5.7.
Note: The Mac OS X v10.6 Server Preferences application cannot be used to administer Mac OS X Server v10.5. The Mac OS X v10.6 Workgroup Manager and Server Admin applications can be used to administer Mac OS X Server v10.5, with the exception of managing certificates. To use Server Preferences, or to create and administer certificates on Mac OS X Server v10.5, you must use the use the admin tools installed on the server.
Mac OS X Server v10.4
To administer Mac OS X Server v10.4, you can use either the Mac OS X Server v10.4 admin tools on Mac OS X v10.4 or the Mac OS X Server v10.5 admin tools (except DNS) on Mac OS X v10.5.
Note: Mac OS X Server v10.5 admin tools only work with Mac OS X Server v10.4.11 or later. Mac OS X Server v10.4 DNS service is not compatible with the Mac OS X Server v10.5 admin tools; to administer the DNS service you need the Mac OS X Server v10.4 admin tools on Mac OS X v10.4. The Mac OS X Server v10.5 admin tools are limited to one share point for a given name when managing a Mac OS X Server v10.4. This limitation does not apply to Mac OS X Server v10.5.
Mac OS X Server v10.3
To administer a Mac OS X Server v10.3 server, you can use either Mac OS X Server v10.3 on Mac OS X v10.3 or the Mac OS X Server v10.4 admin tools on Mac OS X v10.4. If you manage users, groups, or computers with the Mac OS X v10.4 admin tools once, you must continue to use the 10.4 admin tools.
Note: Mac OS X v10.4 admin tools may show some features that are not present in or supported by a 10.3 server. Additionally, Mac OS X v10.4 admin tools save managed settings in a way that is not compatible with the 10.3 admin tools. This means that once you've used the Mac OS X v10.4 admin tools you must keep using them.
Mac OS X Server v10.2
To administer Mac OS X Server v10.2 server, you need to use the Mac OS X Server v10.2 admin tools on either Mac OS X v10.2 or v10.3.