MP 1,1-5,1 Mac Pro 5,1 Server MacOS Upgrade

[Vowles]

Hi there,
I have just purchased a mid 2010 Mac Pro Server. It comes running on OSX Lion and I would like to upgrade it to High Sierra so that I can install some more recent software versions that I use. I just wanted to ask how to do this as when I click "software update" it is the most up to date piece of software.

I have seen that you have to delete the server app as well as server volumes, upgrade the mac os and then purchase the "Mac Server" app from the app store. What I wanted to ask is whether this is the way I should go and whether the new version of server still has all the same functionality, if not more, of the Lion version of the software? Also, is there a free way of getting this download given that I have a server version of the mac pro or is it a given to have to purchase that software irrespective of the mac that you have?

I would like to maintain the server aspect of the computer so any help would be greatly appreciated!
Thank you very much,
Yours
Henry

 

[haralds]

You should be able to look for specific macOS versions through Mojave. If it was running Lion, it will upgrade the firmware. For my server, I settled on Sierra, since it is the last fully supported server with web and iMap
I would recommend adding a partition and installing Mojave into that to get the firmware updated.
Then boot back into Lion and erase that partition to install whatever version you want.
The key question is what services are you trying to provide?

 

[Soba]

Hi there,
I have just purchased a mid 2010 Mac Pro Server. It comes running on OSX Lion and I would like to upgrade it to High Sierra so that I can install some more recent software versions that I use. I just wanted to ask how to do this as when I click "software update" it is the most up to date piece of software.

I have seen that you have to delete the server app as well as server volumes, upgrade the mac os and then purchase the "Mac Server" app from the app store. What I wanted to ask is whether this is the way I should go and whether the new version of server still has all the same functionality, if not more, of the Lion version of the software? Also, is there a free way of getting this download given that I have a server version of the mac pro or is it a given to have to purchase that software irrespective of the mac that you have?

I would like to maintain the server aspect of the computer so any help would be greatly appreciated!
Thank you very much,
Yours
Henry

Henry,

I can’t answer the Server-related question, but I will point out that even in the worst case scenario where you need to purchase a new version of the High Sierra Server app, it is only $20 from the App Store. If you happen to be a member of the Apple iOS or Mac developer program, you can download Server for free through the developer portal.

High Sierra should run great on your system, but you cannot update directly from Lion to High Sierra because the version gap is too great.

As a first step, I recommend backing up your system with Time Machine.

Then, update from Lion to Sierra. After Sierra is installed, update to High Sierra.

Follow the instructions on this page to obtain old versions of macOS:

How to download and install macOS - Apple Support

Download and install current or previous versions of the Mac operating system on compatible Mac computers.

support.apple.com

I’ll also note that your system supports Mojave, but that is the end of the line; it cannot run Catalina or Big Sur without some hacking. In order to install Mojave, you must have a Metal-capable graphics card.

if you’re interested in moving to Mojave, you must first install High Sierra anyway to obtain the appropriate BootROM/firmware updates, then upgrade to Mojave from there. There is a detailed sticky post at the top of this forum if you’re interested in installing Mojave and obtaining the latest BootROM with some very desirable features such as performance improvements for PCIe cards and the ability to boot from NVMe devices. Again, you must have a Metal-capable graphics card to do this.

You can find that post here:

MP5,1: What you have to do to upgrade to Mojave (BootROM upgrade instructions thread)

Please fully read this first post, you will probably find that you have one or more problems described into the various notes below. Mojave will only install if you have upgraded your BootROM to the current release and your Mac Pro have a Metal capable GPU*. If you are trying to install Mojave...

forums.macrumors.com

Good luck and let us know how it goes.

 

[Vowles]

Hi Soba,
Thank you so much for your detailed response! I have backed the machine up on time machine. If do update the computer to high sierra, which is currently as far as I can take the machine, can I then reinstall the OSX lion operating system given that it has been upgraded to a higher OS?

If I do downgrade, do you know whether it will be exactly as I left off with the Lion Server OSX rather than the normal Lion OSX? I have no files on the system as it is a new mac to me but I just want to make sure that I can get back to the OSX Server on Lion as needed as like "haralds" mentioned, there has been a gradual removal of features from the server app from Lion to the current.

Thank you for your help
Yours
Henry

 

[Soba]

Hi Soba,
Thank you so much for your detailed response! I have backed the machine up on time machine. If do update the computer to high sierra, which is currently as far as I can take the machine, can I then reinstall the OSX lion operating system given that it has been upgraded to a higher OS?

If I do downgrade, do you know whether it will be exactly as I left off with the Lion Server OSX rather than the normal Lion OSX? I have no files on the system as it is a new mac to me but I just want to make sure that I can get back to the OSX Server on Lion as needed as like "haralds" mentioned, there has been a gradual removal of features from the server app from Lion to the current.

Thank you for your help
Yours
Henry

Henry,

There will be no problem downgrading the machine back to Lion Server even if you update the Mac’s BootROM. You can do this a couple of ways:

1) Restore from your Time Machine backup. The Time Machine backup drive is bootable in most cases from 10.7.3 onwards by holding the Option key when the Mac sounds its startup chime, which allows you to access the Startup Manager / Boot Picker. Then you just erase the system drive and restore.

2) Use Superduper! Or Carbon Copy Cloner to make a complete duplicate image of the Lion Server drive and then restore from that at any later time.

Either of these methods should get your system back precisely as it was before you upgraded.

Also, instead of upgrading Lion, you have the option of cleanly installing High Sierra onto a blank second drive in the system and switching back and forth as needed between that and Lion Server by using the Startup Disk preference pane in System Preferences.

Good luck with it! Let us know how it goes.

 

[Vowles]

You should be able to look for specific macOS versions through Mojave. If it was running Lion, it will upgrade the firmware. For my server, I settled on Sierra, since it is the last fully supported server with web and iMap
I would recommend adding a partition and installing Mojave into that to get the firmware updated.
Then boot back into Lion and erase that partition to install whatever version you want.
The key question is what services are you trying to provide?

Hi Haralds,
I have been trying to upgrade to sierra from my lion server and struggling to get it installed. Would you be able to run me through how to do this? I am not seemingly able to create a partition on my RAID 1, so do you have any suggestions?

I did try to install sierra directly and it said that the version of Server OS was not compatible.

Just a tad confused.
Cheers
Henry