Crash course in setting up Athenaeum Pro on OS X FileMaker Server

We were recently asked for some quick advice on setting up Athenaeum Pro on FileMaker Server for OS X.

It is relatively simple, but there are some tiny gotchas that can catch you out.

Copy the files to the correct location

FileMaker Server expects data in particular locations. The default location is the easiest:

Set Permissions

Because FileMaker Server runs as a "daemon" on OS X, it has special permissions. You must set the permissions for the Athenaeum folder and the Athenaeum files so that FileMaker server has permission to open them:

You need administrator access to set permissions.

Batchmod is a free utility that can make this task very easy.

Instruct FileMaker Server to see .FMS files

FileMaker Server, by default, only opens .fp7 files, so you can either change the file extensions on Athenaeum Pro or Light 7 (this is not safe to do on earlier versions) or simply tell FileMaker Server to look for .FMS (a much better solution).

Open FileMaker Server admin and register .FMS files:

create your back up routines

FileMaker Server will back up your files properly (just copying the main files is a very bad thing to do).

Use the scheduler to create regular back ups, preferably to both the local backups folder and to a remote location. You can trigger operating system scripts to assist you here.

Open the files and test your backups

Seriously - test the back ups and open the back ups on a separate computer to see if you have backed up what you think you have! We spoke to about a dozen clients last year whose back up strategy did not work and had not tested it.