Apple Dismantles macOS Server

Apple will remove a large number of services from the installation of macOS Server in the spring and will also remove them from existing installations at a later time, the company has announced. Apple is removing Calendar, DHCP and VPN, among others.

The spring update will ensure that the functionality is no longer visible on new installations, but existing users can still use the functions. Apple reports that the deprecated services will be removed in a future release of macOS Server and recommends that users move to alternatives.

It concerns the services Calendar, Contacts, DHCP, DNS, Mail, Messages, NetInstall, VPN, Websites and Wiki. Apple lists alternatives for this in the notification for phasing out macOS Server. According to the company, macOS Server is becoming more focused on managing computers, devices and storage on a network, but The Register finds that it removes the features that distinguish the software from a desktop OS, and that seems to mark the end of the software. be with the changes.

Apple has had server aspirations in the past and even introduced server hardware in the form of the Xserve line in 2002. The company discontinued that line in 2010. A year later, with the introduction of OS X 10.7 Lion, Apple also discontinued a separate release of Mac OS X Server. Since then, the server software has been part of the regular macOS versions, with server-specific functionality available to purchase as an additional package through the Mac App Store.