Server Setup
Server Setup checks, without asking for a password, everything an always-on server needs. Tick what’s missing and click Set Up: Terminal opens and runs one script on the server, asking for its password once. Each step reports whether it worked, and the checklist refreshes when you come back.
Find it in Settings → (your server) → Server Setup, or in Settings → This Mac on the server itself.
What it checks
Section titled “What it checks”| Step | Why |
|---|---|
| MiniControl | Every server runs it: it reports status to your panel and runs the server’s jobs. |
| Command Line Tools and Homebrew | Git, compilers, and what the catalog installs with. |
| Never sleeps | A sleeping Mac stops serving and can’t be reached. |
| Turns on after a power cut | It comes back by itself, and wakes for network access. |
| Tailscale | Reach it from anywhere without opening ports. It runs from startup, before anyone logs in. |
| SSH with keys only | Password logins are refused, so guessing passwords gets nowhere. |
| Screen Sharing and File Sharing | The panel’s launchers work from day one. |
| Short computer name | mac-mini instead of “Anna’s Mac mini”: it’s what Tailscale and your network show. |
| Restart without a password | Lets the panel’s Restart… work. |
Two steps are off by default because they cost something:
- Firewall: unsigned apps stop getting connections until you allow them.
- Log in automatically after a restart: this turns off FileVault so the Mac can log in by itself. Anyone with physical access can then read its disk.
Free up memory
Section titled “Free up memory”The last group on Server Setup turns off what an idle server doesn’t need. Each has an Undo.
| Setting | Frees about |
|---|---|
| Still lock screen (no Aerial) | 800 MB |
| No screen saver | 1 GB while one runs |
| Hide desktop widgets (off by default) | 50 MB |
| Spotlight indexing off (off by default: Finder search stops finding files) | 200 MB |
Only Spotlight needs a password.
Scheduled jobs
Section titled “Scheduled jobs”Server Setup can also add two jobs that the server runs itself:
- Back up every night at 4:00: each catalog app’s settings and library to iCloud Drive, keeping 14 days.
- Update apps every week on Sunday at 5:00: Homebrew, then each catalog app that’s switched on and out of date, then a health check.
Each shows up as an action in your panel, with its last run, and notifies you when it fails.