Setting up and configuring the operating system (macOS)

Recommendation	Do this
Avoid services that may impact the live, hosted database	Any service or application that allows the live, hosted databases to be copied or accessed may cause database corruption. Sometimes files accessed directly while FileMaker Server is under load become corrupted. To prevent corruption, remove processes, services, or applications that attempt to access the hosted files.
Don't use file sharing	The Database Server component of FileMaker Server accesses the FileMaker databases directly and manages the network access by FileMaker clients. File sharing is not needed.
Turn off Spotlight	Spotlight indexing can impact FileMaker Server's performance. The Spotlight service automatically watches when information is written to the hard drive and indexes the data to allow faster searches for files.
Don't use Time Machine	Time Machine is an application that automatically backs up files, but doesn't back up any files that are in use, such as the live FileMaker databases. If you use Time Machine, it doesn't corrupt the databases if it was configured to back up those files, but can be very CPU intensive. To avoid problems, add the locations where the databases are stored to the "Do not back up" section of the Time Machine Preferences.
Make sure the Dashboard application is not running	The Dashboard application allows special apps called widgets to run. Log out, or quit the Dashboard application. (The Dashboard application does quit when the user logs out.) By not running the Dashboard application, server resources are not consumed with running widgets.
Configure the firewall	The macOS firewall is disabled by default. You can enable the firewall by opening System Preferences. Configure the firewall to allow incoming connections to FileMaker Server. When FileMaker Server is initially deployed, macOS does ask whether the FileMaker Server component is allowed to accept incoming connections.
Disk Permissions and S.M.A.R.T. Status	Because macOS is built on UNIX, the underlying permissions for hosted databases are sometimes set incorrectly. Although the databases are placed in the right location, they can be inaccessible because FileMaker Server can't modify the permissions. Use FileMaker Pro to upload the database and to properly set the file permissions. See FileMaker Server Help.
Security	By default when a computer running macOS starts, it immediately opens to the desktop. FileMaker Server doesn't require anyone to be logged in for it to run.
Configure virus scanning	Do not allow antivirus software to scan the folders that contain hosted databases or the folders that contain files for container fields that store data externally. Antivirus software may cause file corruption if you allow real-time or on-access virus scanning while files are being hosted to users. With real-time scanning, the virus scanner takes a long time scanning the databases, which places a heavy load on the server's disk, memory, and processor.

Avoid services that may impact the live, hosted database

Any service or application that allows the live, hosted databases to be copied or accessed may cause database corruption. Sometimes files accessed directly while FileMaker Server is under load become corrupted. To prevent corruption, remove processes, services, or applications that attempt to access the hosted files.

Don't use file sharing

The Database Server component of FileMaker Server accesses the FileMaker databases directly and manages the network access by FileMaker clients. File sharing is not needed.

Turn off Spotlight

Spotlight indexing can impact FileMaker Server's performance. The Spotlight service automatically watches when information is written to the hard drive and indexes the data to allow faster searches for files.

Don't use Time Machine

Time Machine is an application that automatically backs up files, but doesn't back up any files that are in use, such as the live FileMaker databases. If you use Time Machine, it doesn't corrupt the databases if it was configured to back up those files, but can be very CPU intensive. To avoid problems, add the locations where the databases are stored to the "Do not back up" section of the Time Machine Preferences.

Make sure the Dashboard application is not running

The Dashboard application allows special apps called widgets to run. Log out, or quit the Dashboard application. (The Dashboard application does quit when the user logs out.) By not running the Dashboard application, server resources are not consumed with running widgets.

Configure the firewall

The macOS firewall is disabled by default. You can enable the firewall by opening System Preferences. Configure the firewall to allow incoming connections to FileMaker Server. When FileMaker Server is initially deployed, macOS does ask whether the FileMaker Server component is allowed to accept incoming connections.

Disk Permissions and S.M.A.R.T. Status

Because macOS is built on UNIX, the underlying permissions for hosted databases are sometimes set incorrectly. Although the databases are placed in the right location, they can be inaccessible because FileMaker Server can't modify the permissions. Use FileMaker Pro to upload the database and to properly set the file permissions. See FileMaker Server Help.

Security

By default when a computer running macOS starts, it immediately opens to the desktop. FileMaker Server doesn't require anyone to be logged in for it to run.

Configure virus scanning

Do not allow antivirus software to scan the folders that contain hosted databases or the folders that contain files for container fields that store data externally. Antivirus software may cause file corruption if you allow real-time or on-access virus scanning while files are being hosted to users. With real-time scanning, the virus scanner takes a long time scanning the databases, which places a heavy load on the server's disk, memory, and processor.