Users, groups, and permissions (macOS)

This section describes what you must do only if you upload databases manually.

During installation, the fmserver user and the fmsadmin group are created. The fmsadmin group must have read and write access to the FileMaker Pro databases that FileMaker Server hosts. You need to change the group permission to allow members of the fmsadmin group to edit the databases.

By default, only the macOS user account that installed FileMaker Server can:

  • manually operate FileMaker Server from the command line

  • add files to or remove files from the FileMaker Server folder

  • access any of the FileMaker Pro databases stored within the FileMaker Server default database and backup folders

Note  Any user with the correct sign-in, however, can access the FileMaker Server Admin Console application.

To allow other user accounts to work with FileMaker Server and database files, you can add them to the fmsadmin group using the macOS Server Admin Tools. You must be logged in with administrative privileges. See the documentation included with the Server Admin Tools.

You can also refer to the following procedures to add users using the Terminal application.

Important  The following procedures are recommended only for advanced users who are familiar with the Terminal application. You must be logged in with administrative privileges.

To add a user to the fmsadmin group using the Terminal application:

  1. Start the Terminal application (/Applications/Utilities/Terminal/).

  2. Enter the following at the command line:

    sudo dseditgroup -o edit -a username -t user fmsadmin

    where username is the name of the existing user you wish to add to the fmsadmin group.

To change group permissions for database files hosted by FileMaker Server:

  1. Place database files in the folder /FileMaker Server/Data/Databases/ or the optional additional database folder.

  2. Start the Terminal application and use the cd command to set your path as needed.

  3. Enter the following at the command line:

    chmod g+rw <filename>.fmp12

    where filename is the name of the database.

To change the group of a file or folder to the fmsadmin group:

  1. Start the Terminal application and use the cd command to set your path as needed.

  2. Enter the following at the command line:

    chgrp fmsadmin <file-path>

    Example: chgrp fmsadmin dbfile.fmp12

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