MacOS Server

Mac OS X Server is the server edition of the Mac OS. It is based on the BSD-Unix-based operating system Apple Inc. acquired from NeXT Computer that formed the basis for Mac OS X.

Prior to Mac OS X, Apple's AppleShare services provided server applications such as file and printer sharing and user management.

The first version of Mac OS X Server, released on March 16, 1999 and dubbed "1.0" was a hybrid of OPENSTEP from NeXT Computer and Mac OS 8.6. The GUI looked more like OPENSTEP did, with an emulation layer for running legacy Mac OS 8.6 based applications. WebObjects was included with the server package.

Beginning with version 10.0 of Mac OS X Server released May 21, 2001, the server version and the standard version are nearly identical. Mac OS X Server mainly adds server management software&mdash;web, mail, and user services. Most of OS X Server's services are based on standard BSD tools, e.g., the Apache web server; Mac OS X Server adds a GUI interface to these services. An exception, however, are User services, which are based on (NeXT's) NetInfo.

At version 10.3 (released August 2003), OS X Server presented a mature, fully featured server environment. User and file management were provided via Open Directory, an LDAP compatible server architecture. The new Workgroup Manager interface improved configuration significantly. Many common network services were provided such as NTP, SNMP, Web Server, Mail Server, LDAP, AppleTalk, Print Server. The inclusion of SAMBA version 3 allowed tight integration with Windows clients and servers. MySQL v4.0.16 and PHP v4.3.7 were also included.

Starting with version 10.7, OS X Server became available as a downloadable update to Mac OS X, adding the extra features lacking in the Client version of the OS. This is mostly the configuration interface, as the back-end services are for the most part included in OS X proper.

It is important to note is that each point release of Server is its own product; unlike with the client OS, a network needed to standardize on a single 1.x/10.x version of Server, as the different versions were not completely interoperable via the networked management interface. This was especially the case after 10.7, where the computer required the appropriate base 10.x installation before the Server package could be purchased and added to it.

OS X Server 1 (Rhapsody)

 * OS X Server 1.0 (March 16, 1999)
 * OS X Server 1.0-1 (April 15, 1999)
 * OS X Server 1.0-2 (July 29, 1999)
 * OS X Server 1.1 - 1.1 is a mis-labelling but contains the same content as 1.0-2.  The next release was cranked to 1.2 to avoid confusion
 * OS X Server 1.2 (January 14, 2000)
 * OS X Server 1.2v3 (October 27, 2000) - Same as 1.2, but adds support for both the Gigabit Ethernet edition of the G4 and the first eMacs.

OS X Server 10.0 (Puma)

 * OS X Server 10.0.0 (May 21, 2001)
 * OS X Server 10.0.1
 * OS X Server 10.0.2
 * OS X Server 10.0.3
 * OS X Server 10.0.4 (July 3, 2001)

OS X Server 10.1 (Cheetah)

 * OS X Server 10.1.0 (September 25, 2001)
 * OS X Server 10.1.1 (November 20, 2001)
 * OS X Server 10.1.2 (January 17, 2002)
 * OS X Server 10.1.3 (February 19, 2002)
 * OS X Server 10.1.4 (April 17, 2002)
 * OS X Server 10.1.5 (July 15, 2002)

OS X Server 10.2 (Jaguar)

 * OS X Server 10.2.0 (August 23, 2002)
 * OS X Server 10.2.1 (September 18, 2002)
 * OS X Server 10.2.2 (November 11, 2002)
 * OS X Server 10.2.3 (December 19, 2002)
 * OS X Server 10.2.4 (February 24, 2003)
 * OS X Server 10.2.5
 * OS X Server 10.2.6 (May 8, 2003)
 * OS X Server 10.2.8 (October 10, 2003)

OS X Server 10.3 (Panther)

 * OS X Server 10.3.0 (October 24, 2003)
 * OS X Server 10.3.1 (November 10, 2003)
 * OS X Server 10.3.2 (December 19, 2003)
 * OS X Server 10.3.3 (March 15, 2004)
 * OS X Server 10.3.4 (May 26, 2004)
 * OS X Server 10.3.5 (August 9, 2004)
 * OS X Server 10.3.6 (November 5, 2004)
 * OS X Server 10.3.7 (December 15, 2004)
 * OS X Server 10.3.8 (January 7, 2005)
 * OS X Server 10.3.9 (April 15, 2005)

OS X Server 10.4 (Tiger)

 * OS X Server 10.4.0 PPC (April 29, 2005)
 * OS X Server 10.4.1 PPC (May 19, 2005)
 * OS X Server 10.4.2 PPC (July 12, 2005)
 * OS X Server 10.4.3 PPC (October 31, 2005)
 * OS X Server 10.4.4 PPC (January 10, 2006)
 * OS X Server 10.4.5 PPC / Intel (February 14, 2006)
 * OS X Server 10.4.6 PPC / Intel (April 3, 2006)
 * OS X Server 10.4.7 PPC / Intel (June 27, 2006)
 * OS X Server 10.4.8 PPC / Intel (September 29, 2006)
 * OS X Server 10.4.9 PPC / Intel (March 13, 2007)
 * OS X Server 10.4.10 PPC / Intel (June 20, 2007)
 * OS X Server 10.4.11 PPC / Intel (November 14, 2007)

OS X Server 10.5 (Leopard)

 * OS X Server 10.5.0 PPC G4+ / Intel (October 26, 2007)
 * OS X Server 10.5.1 PPC G4+ / Intel (November 15, 2007)
 * OS X Server 10.5.2 PPC G4+ / Intel (February 11, 2008)
 * OS X Server 10.5.3 PPC G4+ / Intel (May 28, 2008)
 * OS X Server 10.5.4 PPC G4+ / Intel (June 30, 2008)
 * OS X Server 10.5.5 PPC G4+ / Intel (September 15, 2008)
 * OS X Server 10.5.6 PPC G4+ / Intel (December 15, 2008)
 * OS X Server 10.5.7 PPC G4+ / Intel (May 12, 2009)
 * OS X Server 10.5.8 PPC G4+ / Intel (August 31, 2009)
 * OS X Server 10.5.8 2010-007 Intel (July 2010)

OS X Server 10.6 (Snow Leopard)

 * OS X Server 10.6.0 Intel with Rosetta (August 28, 2009)
 * OS X Server 10.6.1 Intel with Rosetta (September 10, 2009)
 * OS X Server 10.6.2 Intel with Rosetta (November 9, 2009)
 * OS X Server 10.6.3 Intel with Rosetta (March 29, 2010)
 * OS X Server 10.6.4 Intel with Rosetta (August 16, 2010)
 * OS X Server 10.6.5 Intel with Rosetta (November 15, 2010)
 * OS X Server 10.6.6 Intel with Rosetta (January 6, 2011)
 * OS X Server 10.6.7 Intel with Rosetta (March 21, 2011)
 * OS X Server 10.6.8 Intel with Rosetta (July 25, 2011)

From 10.7 onward, Server updates are part of the Client update cycle.

Mac OS X Server 1.X

 * About Mac OS X Server 1.x
 * Mac OS X Server 1.x: Release Notes
 * July 21, 1999: About Mac OS X Server 1.0-2 Update
 * Mac OS X Server: About Release 1.2

Mac OS X Server 10.0

 * May 21, 2001: Mac OS X Server 10.0 (archive.org)
 * July 03, 2001: Mac OS X Server Update 10.0.4

Mac OS X Server 10.1

 * February 19, 2002: Mac OS X Server Update 10.1.3
 * April 17, 2002: Mac OS X Server Update 10.1.4 (archive.org)
 * July 15, 2002: Mac OS X Server Update 10.1.5

Mac OS X Server 10.2

 * September 18, 2002: Mac OS X Server Update 10.2.1
 * November 11, 2002: About Mac OS X Server Update 10.2.2
 * December 19, 2002: Mac OS X Server Update 10.2.3
 * February 24, 2003: About Mac OS X Server Update 10.2.4
 * About Mac OS X Server Update 10.2.5
 * May 8, 2003: Mac OS X Server Update 10.2.6
 * October 3, 2003: Mac OS X Server Update 10.2.8 (Combo)

Mac OS X Server 10.3

 * November 10, 2003: About Mac OS X Server Update 10.3.1
 * December 19, 2003: About Mac OS X Server Update 10.3.2
 * March 16, 2004 Mac OS X Server Update 10.3.3 (Combo)
 * May 26, 2004: Mac OS X Combined Server (10.3.4) Update 10.3.4
 * August 9, 2004: About Mac OS X Server Update 10.3.5
 * November 5, 2004: About Mac OS X Server Update 10.3.6
 * November 15, 2004: Mac OS X Server Combined Update 10.3.7
 * January 7, 2005: Mac OS X Server Update 10.3.8 (Combo)
 * April 15, 2005: Mac OS X Server Update 10.3.9 (Combo)

Mac OS X Server 10.4

 * May 19, 2005: Mac OS X Server 10.4.1
 * July 12, 2005: Mac OS X Server 10.4.2 Combo
 * October 31, 2005: Mac OS X Server 10.4.3 (Combo)
 * January 10, 2006: Mac OS X Update 10.4.4 (Combo)
 * February 14, 2006: Mac OS X Server 10.4.5
 * April 3, 2006: Mac OS X Server 10.4.6 Combo
 * June 27, 2006: Mac OS X Server Update 10.4.7 (Combo)
 * September 29, 2006: Mac OS X Server 10.4.8 Update (Universal)
 * March 13, 2007: Mac OS X Server 10.4.9 Update (Combo) (Universal)
 * June 20, 2007: Mac OS X Server 10.4.10 Update (Combo) (Universal)
 * November 14, 2007: Mac OS X Server 10.4.11 Combo Update (Universal)

Mac OS X Server 10.5

 * November 15, 2007: Mac OS X Server 10.5.1 Update
 * February 11, 2008: Mac OS X Server 10.5.2 Update (Combo)
 * May 28, 2008: Mac OS X Server 10.5.3 Combo Update
 * June 30, 2008: Mac OS X Server Combo 10.5.4
 * September 15, 2008: Mac OS X Server Combo 10.5.5
 * December 15, 2008: Mac OS X Server Combo 10.5.6
 * May 12, 2009: Mac OS X Server Combo 10.5.7
 * August 31, 2009: Mac OS X Server 10.5.8 Combo Update v.1.1

Mac OS X Server 10.6

 * September 10, 2009: Mac OS X Server v10.6.1 Update
 * November 9, 2009: Mac OS X Server v10.6.2 Update (Combo)
 * April 12, 2010: Mac OS X Server 10.6.3 v1.1 Update (Combo)
 * June 15, 2010: Mac OS X Server v10.6.4 Update (Mac Mini)
 * July 22, 2010: Mac OS X Server v10.6.4 Update (v.1.1)
 * August 16, 2010: Mac OS X Server v10.6.4 Update (Mac Pro)
 * November 15, 2010: Mac OS X Server v10.6.5 Update (Combo)
 * January 6, 2011: Mac OS X Server v10.6.6 Update (Combo)
 * March 21, 2011: Mac OS X Server v10.6.7 Update (Combo)
 * Jul 25, 2011: Mac OS X Server v10.6.8 Update (Combo) (v1.1)

Sources and References

 * Mac OS X Server wiki FAQ