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aServer - a Mac Server replacement
My home is a Mac shop, we have a mac server. However in the last few releases Mac Server software has been stripped of it's usefulness.
I am putting this out there to see how many would like to see "aServer" a replacement for the "Apple" brand of server.
I am thinking it would need to have at least to start
- Directory Server
- Email Server (SMTP/IMAP/POP3)
- AFP/SMB/WebDAV Shares
- Time Machine Target
- Contacts Server (CardDav)
- Calendar Server (CalDAV)
- Web Hosting / Wiki
I am just looking at a good combo of open source software that could replace my Apple Server that would be as easy to admin (Webmin)
So any takers? Post a reply with thoughts and support
Replies (5)
Sounds like a really cool project Ken
Reply 1Good idea
Reply 2I did browse the Apps today and there are already some good ones out there I could use as a base and "stack" the others on top. I think this project will take a back seat for now. Since this is really just for my own personal use it would be a "when I have time time" project. However the RT app that was posted here looks sweet and best of all we are looking at new issue tracker at work so I could make this a project for work and make time for it :-)
Yeah I think that's the way to go
Reply 3TKLDev is designed to use that sort of 'building block' approach - essentially to align with the DRY rule. E.g many appliances are built on LAMP, which in turn is built on Core (as are all appliances).
Although having said that I don't think that it would necessarily make sense to break it up too much. There is probably a logic in building say an email, calendar and contact server. (FWIW I just came across this link which may be useful re Cal server).
I'm not sure how easy it would be to combine existing appliances either. TKLDev nicely supports 'stacking' appliances on top of one another; but I've never tried to actually combine them. I'm sure it would be possible, but I'm not sure how clean it would be... Could be worth some testing?
I had thought about that,
Reply 4I had thought about that, might get more bang for your buck. Work on apps that would need to be part of the final app that don't exist yet, then bring them together. I know under the hood, Mac Server uses a lot of open source software but they tie it togther with a flashy control panel. OS X is just BSDish/Unixish.
Yes, this is needed!
Reply 5I too run a few "Apple Servers" and as I learn more Linux, and as Apple keeps removing things "aServer" would be an awesome jewel in the TKL library.
this whole year has been wiped out to my "real job" since we are doing a whole systems upgrade in 18 months, so I have had no real time to invest in this. I am in the midst of moving to Proxmox, and away from OS X + VMWare Fusion, a server like this that provided some of the function of Apple Server for the Macs would be nice.
Just for fun, what features (in the Server App) would you like to see in say a Beta?
I'm not a Mac person so I doubt I'd actually use it myself. But it sounds like a really cool project.
Just thinking aloud really, but if when you develope it you sort of kept the components somewhat separate (I don't know, separate conf.d scripts or even just separate git commits) perhaps some of the functionality would makes sense as standalone appliances...?!