Running FileMaker Server 5.5 at System Startup
Updated 7 August 2002
As anyone who has installed FileMaker Server 5.5 on Mac OS X knows, the ability to have the server startup automatically on login or boot is missing. The documentation states that an alias of the FileMaker Server Config application placed in a user’s StartupItems folder will launch the server. Not true. The Config application will launch but someone must be present to click the “Start Server” button. Tedious and unnecessary. Fortunately, if you’ve installed FileMaker Server for Red Hat Linux, you know that it is indeed possible. Following is the procedure for Mac OS X.
Programs Used:
BatChmod by Arbysoft
BBEdit Lite by Bare Bones Software
FileMaker Server 5.5 by FileMaker, Inc
1. Login as root
2. First, modify the hostconfig file to let the startup procedure know we want to get the FileMaker Server up and running.
Open “hostconfig” at “/etc/hostconfig” using BBEdit Lite. Somewhere near the bottom add this line:
FMPSERVER=-YES-
Below is an example of my “hostconfig” file.
## # /etc/hostconfig ## # This file is maintained by the system control panels ## # Network configuration HOSTNAME=webmail ROUTER=-AUTOMATIC- # Services IPALIASES=-YES- AFPSERVER=-NO- APPLETALK=en0 AUTHSERVER=-NO- AUTOMOUNT=-YES- CONFIGSERVER=-NO- IPFORWARDING=-NO- MAILSERVER=-NO- MANAGEMENTSERVER=-NO- NETINFOSERVER=-AUTOMATIC- RPCSERVER=-AUTOMATIC- NETBOOTSERVER=-NO- NISDOMAIN=-NO- TIMESYNC=-NO- QTSSERVER=-YES- SSHSERVER=-YES- WATCHDOGTIMER=-YES- APPLETALK_HOSTNAME=webmail FMPSERVER=-YES-
3. Download this Disk Image and mount it using Disk Copy.
4. From the mounted Disk Image copy the “FMPServer” folder into “/System/Library/StartupItems/". Within that folder, there are two files to facilitate launching the server. The first file is named “FMPServer” and contains the following lines below. You’ll have to uncomment the path of the FileMaker Server Config.app in order for it to work.
#!/bin/sh
# AFP548.com
# http://www.afp548.com
# “Changing the World One Server at a Time"
. /etc/rc.common
if [ "${FMPSERVER:=-NO-}" = "-YES-" ]; then
ConsoleMessage "Starting FileMaker Pro Server"
# Note that the path has quotes around it because the
# path contains spaces between some of the words.
# The following path reflects a path for FileMaker Server that was installed
# at root level. This is the default location for the install.
# Uncomment the below line if this is where FileMaker Server is installed
# cd “/FileMaker Server 5.5/FileMaker Server Config.app/Contents/Resources"
# The following path reflects a path for FileMaker Server that was installed
# in the Applications folder.
# Uncomment the below line if this is where FileMaker Server is installed
# cd “/Applications/FileMaker Server 5.5/FileMaker Server Config.app/Contents/Resources"
./fmserverd start -c fmserver.conf
fi
5. The second file is called “StartupParameters.plist” with the following lines. You do not have to make any changes to this file. Below is what it contains:
{
Description = “FileMaker Pro Server";
Provides = ("FMPServer");
Requires = ("Resolver");
OrderPreference = “None";
Messages = {
start = “Starting FileMaker Pro Server";
stop = “Stopping FileMaker Pro Server";
};
}
6. Now we have to set the correct permissions. Open BatChmod. Drag the folder FMPServer on to BatChmod and set the following permissions.
7. Drag the file FMPServer on to BatChmod and set the following permissions.
8. Drag StartupParameters.plist on to BatChmod and set the following permissions.
9. Logout and restart your Server.
10. Log In and open the FileMaker Server Config application. It should say FileMaker Server is running without you having to click the Start Server button.
If it is like this - Congratulations you did it!
11. If the button says “Start Server” something is wrong. Try booting up in Verbose mode. You can do this by holding Command-V down while the computer is booting up. Look for the FileMaker Pro Server lines. If it says directory or service not found the path of the FileMaker Server Config.app is probably wrong.
If you’ve had the server forget your configuration settings, you may want to modify those directly in the “fmserver.conf” file. It’s a hit-or-miss thing, however. To date, FileMaker Server has not lost the settings I modified directly in the “fmserver.conf” file; only the ones I selected in the Config application (This does not apply to the backup schedule. Although one can make that happen with a cron script by starting and stopping the server, I am working on other possibilities.). The path to the “fmserver.conf” file is:
"/FileMaker Server 5.5/FileMaker Server Config.app/Contents/Resources/FEDfmserver.conf"
NOTE: “FileMaker Server Config.app” (above) contains spaces that may not appear properly in your browser.