Despite the fact that my issues concern X Server and that's not primarily what this site is about, I'm still hoping for the counsel of the wise (as opposed to any specific q or a).
I've a modest OSX server farm - four hosts, half on Snow Leopard and half (G5s) on Leopard.
I've come to loathe Cyrus with a passion I normally reserve for religion and politics, and glad Apple abandoned it, and would like to rebuild the 10.5.x Server systems to use Dovecot.
Beyond that, I'd like to rebuild the Leopard systems to be as close to identical to the SL systems as is feasible, but give my aforementioned hatred for Cyrus, mail services seem a good place to start.
My concerns are my merely moderate expertise, not breaking Server Admin, Workgroup Manager, or any of the other training wheels that my less savvy staff use, and ending up with something that's more uniform, more elegant, and more reliable than the not-too-bad mishmash I've currently got. Since X Server's mailserver has always been the sharpest rock in my boot, I figure I'll start there.
I understand our problem, one of the first things when starting this myself was to ditch Cyrus as it is one of the lesser ones. I first used Courier which was a lot easier setup. I wish I could help you but I'm not very knowledgeable on the server setup. Never really used it.
There are some caveats if you want to use the instructions here. OS X Server uses local user accounts, our setup uses virtual users that only exist in a database and are not able to login to OS X. Also the config therefore is different from OS X Server. The location of the mailboxes is also different. OS X Server stores everything in the users home directory and here we put everything in single place.
Another difference you should be aware of, I think, is that the server admin tools of both versions are not compatible as they are both targeted for different products: Cyrus vs Dovecot. I don't think you could use the admin tools for Snow Leopard on Leopard on a G5 models.
The easiest solution would be to upgrade to the intel platform, which could be expensive. Perhaps you could consider a Mac mini with OS X Server? They perform admirably and might even be a suitable replacement for a G5 server.
Another option would be to ditch the apple mailserver and switch over to our setup but that might be tricky and would require some time in testing and trying. I would be willing to assist in trying to get this working if you think you need any help.
rbryanh 28 Feb 2010
Richard,
I'm Bryan, actually, but who cares? Thanks very much for the intelligent, detailed information advice, and generous offer I've help.
Unfortunately for me, my time is currently cheaper than even modest hardware replacement. I'll do some head scratching, come up with a strategy, and presume upon your generosity as necessary.
26 Feb 2010
Despite the fact that my issues concern X Server and that's not primarily what this site is about, I'm still hoping for the counsel of the wise (as opposed to any specific q or a).
I've a modest OSX server farm - four hosts, half on Snow Leopard and half (G5s) on Leopard.
I've come to loathe Cyrus with a passion I normally reserve for religion and politics, and glad Apple abandoned it, and would like to rebuild the 10.5.x Server systems to use Dovecot.
Beyond that, I'd like to rebuild the Leopard systems to be as close to identical to the SL systems as is feasible, but give my aforementioned hatred for Cyrus, mail services seem a good place to start.
My concerns are my merely moderate expertise, not breaking Server Admin, Workgroup Manager, or any of the other training wheels that my less savvy staff use, and ending up with something that's more uniform, more elegant, and more reliable than the not-too-bad mishmash I've currently got. Since X Server's mailserver has always been the sharpest rock in my boot, I figure I'll start there.
Any advice?
-Bryan
27 Feb 2010
Hi Brian, welcome.
I understand our problem, one of the first things when starting this myself was to ditch Cyrus as it is one of the lesser ones. I first used Courier which was a lot easier setup. I wish I could help you but I'm not very knowledgeable on the server setup. Never really used it.
There are some caveats if you want to use the instructions here. OS X Server uses local user accounts, our setup uses virtual users that only exist in a database and are not able to login to OS X. Also the config therefore is different from OS X Server. The location of the mailboxes is also different. OS X Server stores everything in the users home directory and here we put everything in single place.
Another difference you should be aware of, I think, is that the server admin tools of both versions are not compatible as they are both targeted for different products: Cyrus vs Dovecot. I don't think you could use the admin tools for Snow Leopard on Leopard on a G5 models.
The easiest solution would be to upgrade to the intel platform, which could be expensive. Perhaps you could consider a Mac mini with OS X Server? They perform admirably and might even be a suitable replacement for a G5 server.
Another option would be to ditch the apple mailserver and switch over to our setup but that might be tricky and would require some time in testing and trying. I would be willing to assist in trying to get this working if you think you need any help.
28 Feb 2010
Richard,
I'm Bryan, actually, but who cares? Thanks very much for the intelligent, detailed information advice, and generous offer I've help.
Unfortunately for me, my time is currently cheaper than even modest hardware replacement. I'll do some head scratching, come up with a strategy, and presume upon your generosity as necessary.
Thanks again,
-B
28 Feb 2010
I'm sorry about mis spelling your name Bryan.
You are always welcome if you need some feedback on a strategy. If you want you can contact me at info at this domain.