FMS - upgrade OS Question; Leopard and FMS9

[Tony O]

Here's the deal - I've finally bitten the bullet and ordered the FM 9 upgrade, server, client and advanced. The server machine is running FMS 8 and OS X Server 10.3.9. - dual G5 Xserve, 2 gigs ram, a reliable and almost foolproof setup.

FM specs say that I need Server 10.4.9 to run FMS. I'd like to skip straight to Leopard with this upgrade, but I see no mention of FMS 9 compatibility with leopard anywhere on their site. So... is the spec a a minimal requirement, meaning it will run on 10.4.9 - 10.5.1 Server, or is it 10.4.9 specifically with Leopard compatibility on the way later?

As I see it I have these choices -

• Upgrade all clients to 9, upgrade server to 10.4.9 and FMS 9, paying $499 now for Tiger and $499 later for Leopard.

• Upgrade all clients to 9, continue serving on current platform (10.3.9 and FMS 8) until FMS 9 is Leopard compatible.

• Upgrade all clients to 9, upgrade server to 10.5.1 and FMS 9 (if compatibility permits), and avoid paying the upgrade tax for 10.4.9 by skipping it completely.

Because I am basically a worry wart (and cheap), I will go with option 2 right away. But eventually I will be upgrading this server to Leopard and/or FMS 9 to take advantage of the new feature sets.

So - my questions:

• What are others doing for this migration?

• Does FMS 9 run on leopard? If so, caveats?

TIA -

Edited January 29, 2008 by Guest

[Steven H. Blackwell]

The server machine is running FMS 8 and OS X Server 10.3.9. - dual G5 Xserve, 2 gigs ram, a reliable and almost foolproof setup.

You may discover otherwise, inasmuch as there are a number of reports of problems with dual processor G-5's. Also, what type drives are in this machine? Depending on what you intend to do with your system, you may have much better performance with 4 GB RAM, rather that with 2 GB.

On the Leopard comaptibility issue, [color:red]basically no version of Server runs correctly on Leopard. FMI has said it it intends to issue a Leopard compatible version. See that information here.

Steven

[Tony O]

You may discover otherwise, inasmuch as there are a number of reports of problems with dual processor G-5's. Also, what type drives are in this machine?

I have had no problems with this setup, and it's been on the rack for 2 1/2 years with NO downtime except for maintenance upgrades . No crashes, no hiccups. Nuthin, zip, nada, zero. Solid as any machine I've used in 10+ years of FM server experience.

All three drive bays are populated, it boots from a primary drive and the fm volumes are striped. Backs up nightly and at noon to a companion Xserve and to the primary drive.

I [color:brown]am ordering the ram upgrade, though. 4 gigs should be plenty. There is only one service running on the machine.

On the Leopard comaptibility issue, [color:red]basically no version of Server runs correctly on Leopard. FMI has said it it intends to issue a Leopard compatible version.

That's what I needed to know. FWIW I will stick with 10.3.9 and FMS 8 until FMS 9 is Leopard cpmpatible.

Thanks Steven -

[Vaughan]

"FWIW I will stick with 10.3.9 and FMS 8 until FMS 9 is Leopard cpmpatible."

No, you'll have to install 10.4.9 or later to run FMS 9.0.

If FMS runs sweet under 10.4 why bother to upgrade to Lepoard?

[Steven H. Blackwell]

Vaughan is correct regarding the OS, and he makes an additional good point as well. If you can run under 10.4.9, I would do so. I suspect we are not through sorting out the Leopard stuff yet.

Steven

[Tony O]

"FWIW I will stick with 10.3.9 and FMS 8 until FMS 9 is Leopard cpmpatible."

No, you'll have to install 10.4.9 or later to run FMS 9.0.

If FMS runs sweet under 10.4 why bother to upgrade to Lepoard?

[color:purple]

No Vaughn - I said I would stick with [color:red]10.3.9 and FMS 8. I have no intention of installing 10.4.9 to run FMS 9. After I watch thse forums for a while, and figure out what the problems are going to be, iI'll upgrade the server to 10.5.x and FM to FMS9, skipping 10.4 altogether.

That may be a few(or many) months down the road, but it's worth the $499 tax I'd have to pay for a copy of 10.4. Server, and the current setup is solid whilst I gather info.

Edited February 5, 2008 by Guest

[Steven H. Blackwell]

The Leopard compatible FileMaker Server 9.0v3 has now been released.

Steven

[enzobro]

My question is:

With FMS9 now Leopard compatible, what is the proper way to move from FMS9.0v2 running on Tiger to FMS9.0v3 running on Leopard?

check me on this, but from their website i imagine it is something like this..

backup databases

stop server

unregister FMS9 (on tiger)

wipe drive

install leopard

install FMS9.0v3 using yesterdays update .dmg

enter your license

upload your databases

What am I missing?

[John May - Point In Space]

Yeap, that's the deal. AFAIK, you shouldn't need to "unregister" FMS9, as only FileMaker Pro and Advanced use the activation process.

- John

[enzobro]

i think you are right. I read the "unlicense" stuff in this kb article:

http://filemaker.custhelp.com/cgi-bin/filemaker.cfg/php/enduser/std_adp.php?p_faqid=6713

but it only refers to pro and advanced, NOT server