Possible to upgrade from 10.6 client to server?

[OCDMacGeek]

I have 10.6 Snow Leopard on my Mac Pro. I want to upgrade (or at least migrate) to 10.6 Server. I called AppleCare and was told that I would have to do an "erase and install" but that I could then migrate my data to the new server installation.

I checked the upgrading and migrating manual for 10.6 server, and it says: "The promoting of a Mac OS X v10.6 client computer to a Mac OS X Server v10.6 is not supported."

Can anyone shed some light on whether I will be able to upgrade or at least migrate my data. This is essential -- I don't want to start from scratch with my machine.

Thanks.

 

[bartzilla]

I have 10.6 Snow Leopard on my Mac Pro. I want to upgrade (or at least migrate) to 10.6 Server. I called AppleCare and was told that I would have to do an "erase and install" but that I could then migrate my data to the new server installation.

I checked the upgrading and migrating manual for 10.6 server, and it says: "The promoting of a Mac OS X v10.6 client computer to a Mac OS X Server v10.6 is not supported."

Can anyone shed some light on whether I will be able to upgrade or at least migrate my data. This is essential -- I don't want to start from scratch with my machine.

Thanks.

It sounds like you're planning to use the server as your desktop as well.

In my experience this never makes people happy. Don't do it.

You can of course back up your data and restore it after the install. You should always do this anyway even in scenarios where an upgrade IS supported, let alone those where it isn't.

 

[belvdr]

I checked the upgrading and migrating manual for 10.6 server, and it says: "The promoting of a Mac OS X v10.6 client computer to a Mac OS X Server v10.6 is not supported."

Can anyone shed some light on whether I will be able to upgrade...

Re-read what you just wrote. If Apple says don't do it, I'd advise you to heed their advice.

or at least migrate my data. This is essential -- I don't want to start from scratch with my machine.

Thanks.

Copy it off and copy it back. If you're migrating your data, then you are starting from scratch in this case.

 

[yellow]

You cannot "Upgrade", it does require an erase and a reinstall. However, you can use the migration assistant to migrate your client data & apps over to the server. It won't be 100% (it never is), so you might have to reinstall a couple things, but overall, it works fine.

I write this on a Mac OS X Server that I use as my primary machine and migrated data from an old MDD that the server replaced.

 

[OCDMacGeek]

It sounds like you're planning to use the server as your desktop as well.

In my experience this never makes people happy. Don't do it.

Could you give me some more information about why this is a bad idea (or direct me to a resource explaining this)? If the problem is that the server uses a lot of system resources, I am using a Mac Pro 2.8 ghz 8-core machine, with 16 GB of RAM. It should hopefully be able to handle the load.

You cannot "Upgrade", it does require an erase and a reinstall. However, you can use the migration assistant to migrate your client data & apps over to the server. It won't be 100% (it never is), so you might have to reinstall a couple things, but overall, it works fine.

I write this on a Mac OS X Server that I use as my primary machine and migrated data from an old MDD that the server replaced.

Excellent. I had come under the impression from some ambiguous statements in the manual that 10.6 Server might not have the migration assistant. That is good to know.

It is also good to know that you are using the server as your primary desktop and aren't having problems. That is my plan as well.

 

[yellow]

Excellent. I had come under the impression from some ambiguous statements in the manual that 10.6 Server might not have the migration assistant. That is good to know.

It is also good to know that you are using the server as your primary desktop and aren't having problems. That is my plan as well.

Well, caveat.. I'm running Leopard Server, so it may not be in SL Server.

But, I have had absolutely no issues with using the Server as my primary machine in nearly a year of service.

 

[pdjudd]

Could you give me some more information about why this is a bad idea (or direct me to a resource explaining this)? If the problem is that the server uses a lot of system resources, I am using a Mac Pro 2.8 ghz 8-core machine, with 16 GB of RAM. It should hopefully be able to handle the load.

The reason that you shouldn't so it has nothing to do with its resource requirements. The reason is that servers are not meant to be used as clients. Their job is to allow services to run without interruptions as stable as possible. The only time you should be doing anything on them is to utilize one of their specific functions that cannot be accomplished on a client desktop. There is a reason that there is a division - both have different purposes that are not intended to cross over. Server Operating systems are intended to be their own system to complement client OS. Its not something that you upgrade or replace. A server OS is inteded to do a limited set of functions that require minimal human interactions.

Again, do not look at Snow Leopard Server as an "upgrade" like how you see Windows Home premium-> Ultimate. That's not how it works - they are different entities that have different purposes.

If you need a server solution, it should be its own system - not something that you work on general pupose.

It is also good to know that you are using the server as your primary desktop and aren't having problems. That is my plan as well.

I strongly recommend against it. If you have no need for any of the server tools, than you clearly do not need the server OS - it will be a waste. If you do need it, then I would highly recommend keeping it on a dedicated system - expecially if you want to ensure that your services remain up and running.

Apple discourages it for a reason - its not good practice from an administrative perspective and has the tendency to have problems down the line. My perspective always has been that servers are dedicated systems, not general purpose. If you are doing general purpose computing, a server OS is a waste and will only server to frustrate you more than it's worth.

Out of curiosity, what are your intentions for running a server OS?

 

[OCDMacGeek]

Out of curiosity, what are your intentions for running a server OS?

pdjudd: In a different thread I discuss why I am interested in 10.6 Server. Perhaps my current system works well enough, but if I ever expand to have more than just two users, server would probably work better than what I am doing now.

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/806102/

 

[yellow]

All that aside, if one does not have the resources to match the needs, it's a viable solution.

 

[pdjudd]

pdjudd: In a different thread I discuss why I am interested in 10.6 Server. Perhaps my current system works well enough, but if I ever expand to have more than just two users, server would probably work better than what I am doing now.

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/806102/

Sorry, I missed that thread. The way I see it, SL server might be too much for what your needs are. 2 person collaboration can easily be accomplished by the client OS. SL server is probably going to be overkill. The only wild card is the contacts and calendar portion. While SL server can handle that, I would probably look at having that hosted... The main problem is that law firms are going to have tougher requirements. I would definatly avid using Mobile Me though for legal liability purposes - Apple bills MM for personal usage, not business so much and defiantly not for what you are doing.

I never have done this myself, but you may want to look at running OSX server virtualized with something like Parallels so that you can maintain a hard division between the client and server - you aren't going to be doing much with the Server OS anyway but your computer is more than capable.

At this point, since you are talking about a law firm, you have to consider liability much more carefully. The good news is that if you need to Expand, the mac Mini server might meet your needs just fine and you should be able to migrate over.

ETA: The reason that I suggest a virtualized environment by the way is because as it has been pointed out, you cannot just "upgrade" but rather start from scratch however, with a virtual platform you don't have to loose what you got already.

 

[bartzilla]

Could you give me some more information about why this is a bad idea (or direct me to a resource explaining this)? If the problem is that the server uses a lot of system resources, I am using a Mac Pro 2.8 ghz 8-core machine, with 16 GB of RAM. It should hopefully be able to handle the load.

It certainly can handle the load. It's just that its rarely a good idea to mix the two modes of operation in my experience because issues in one area will affect the other.

For 2 people collaborating the issues will be minimised (which brings us back to osx server being overkill) but the workstation and server role really are best kept on separate machines. The virtualisation for the server role which has been suggested in another reply would be a good compromise for this actually...

 

[emailboy]

However, you can use the migration assistant to migrate your client data & apps over to the server. It won't be 100% (it never is), so you might have to reinstall a couple things, but overall, it works fine.

I write this on a Mac OS X Server that I use as my primary machine and migrated data from an old MDD that the server replaced.

I bought a Mac Mini Server with the intention to use it temporarily as a replacement for my old MDD which died, and later to buy an iMac and have the Mini replace a server.

However, the Snow Leopard Migration Assistant doesn't see the old MDD disk. It says it will migrate from a server, so I'm wondering if it won't migrate from a client, or if there is a different Migration Assistant.