As noted before, this is the link between the domain name you’ve leased and the static IP address of your server. It’s now time to set up DNS and reverse-DNS resolution. Whatever domain registrar you select, make sure that you familiarize yourself with their DNS tools as at one point you’ll need to let them know the static IP at which your server resides. The annual cost of your domain name will depend a lot on the top-level domain used. Some domain registrars you may want to consider are and. It’s drop-dead easy to register a domain name so the process won’t be covered here. info, etc… DNS is used to translate a written address - into a numeric address (your static IP address) when someone tries to access your server.ĭomain names aren’t purchased you’re actually leasing them from a domain registry for a period of time. Make sure you’re happy with the host name, as it can be difficult to change later on.ĭomain names are the “written addresses” where a server resides (uniquename.tld, where tld is a “top-level domain” such as. The host name is required even if you aren’t accessing the server over the internet in order for the server to be uniquely identified on your local network. When your server is accessed over the internet, it will need to have a fully-qualified domain name that includes the host name (say “server”) and the complete domain name ( in this example). For security reasons, I’ve blanked out part of the IP address for my server in the image below: (The “home screen” of macOS Server showing internet reachability)Ī host name is the name that your server has on the local network. It will show that your server is available at a specific IP address.
If you do have a static IP address but don’t know what it is, you can visit or look at the home screen for macOS Server and look at “Internet”.
There are also free dynamic DNS services like that are perfect for just one host name, but they require verification once a month via email or have other quirks. Their least expensive dynamic DNS service runs $40 per year, but that cost allows you to run up to 30 hosts - a bit of overkill if you’re setting up one host name. One of the most well-known providers of dynamic DNS service is Dyn.com.
Since the address can change each time the cable or DSL modem is rebooted, the IP address is not static.Ī dynamic DNS service watches the IP address that is assigned to a home internet service and if it changes, it reroutes requests to the new IP address automatically. Home internet services use DHCP (Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol) to assign an IP address from a group owned by the ISP to your cable or DSL modem.
Note that for home internet service users, many ISPs do not allow static IP addresses you may need to switch to a business account or use a dynamic DNS (Domain Name System) service. First, and probably the easiest, is to work with your internet service provider (ISP) to have a static IP address assigned to you. There are two ways to get an unchanging IP address that’s associated with your location. The tutorial points out the things that we must do to set up our identity:
The first step in making our server available to customers and employees is to set up an identity that will be accessible from anywhere on the Internet.
In the next few episodes, I’ll be following the lessons outlined under “Set up for small business” in the tutorials. ( Related: Get the best performance from your Mac mini server with .) This gives employees the ability to work securely with the network through a virtual private network (VPN) and send/receive email, lets customers visit a website hosted on the server, and more.Īs mentioned in Part 1 of this series, Apple provides an excellent set of built-in tutorials for macOS Server that are accessible from the Help menu of the server app. Most companies want their servers to be accessible from outside of the confines of an office. This week, we’re going to set up our server for a small business called “Astounding Photos”.
In Part 1 of this series, we discussed what macOS Server is, how a Mac mini makes a very workable “ headless server”, and how to purchase and install macOS Server. macOS Server is an app that runs on macOS Sierra, providing services such as mail, web hosting, calendar hosting, and more to users in a workgroup.
This is the second in a series of Rocket Yard articles in which we take you through the setup of macOS Server. Find the entire macOS Server series here!