macOS Server is changing to focus more on management of computers, devices, and storage on your network. As a result, some changes are coming in how Server works. A number of services will be deprecated, and will be hidden on new installations of an update to macOS Server coming in spring 2018. If you’ve already configured one of these services, you’ll still be able to use it in the spring 2018 macOS Server update.
These deprecated services will be removed in a future release of macOS Server, so those depending on them should consider alternatives, including hosted services.
Here are the services that are going to be deprecated:
- Calendar and Contacts Sharing
- DHCP and DNS Services
- Mail Hosting
- Messages Server
- NetInstall
- VPN
- Website Hosting
- Wiki Hosting
By my count, Profile Manager, Open Directory and File Sharing will survive this change.
The writing has been on the wall for macOS Server for a long time. Apple killed off its server hardware business years ago, and the Server app hasn’t received meaningful updates for a long time. Many of its features have found their way into the client version of macOS, including content caching.
I can’t imagine the user base for macOS Server being all that large, but those who are depending on it at work or at home need to start looking into alternatives.