Internet Sharing won't show under Share settings on OS X Server 10.6.8

Question

I need to use the Mac Mini Server running 10.6.8 as an access point for my team at the office.

When I go under System Preferences>Sharing there's no Internet Sharing Option.

What to do?

Answer 1

had the same problem after some Apple update...

My solution:

1. download pref pane on the following website:

http://clickontyler.com/blog/2012/02/web-sharing-mountain-lion/

(the pref pane also works for Snow Leopard). This pref pane will allow you to quickly see in System Preferences if Apache and PHP are on and if not, you can switch it easily on again.

1. you might notice that in /etc/apache2/ you have a httpd.conf and a httpd.default.conf file present. First step: Copy httpd.conf to the desktop, second step: delete the httpd.conf file in /etc/apache2/ and, third step: rename httpd.default.conf to httpd.conf.

2. depending in your set-up you will have to take the '#' out on the LoadModule php5_module {and so on...} to re-enable php.

3. restart the web server.

Hope this helps.

Nick

Answer 2

The server OS doesn't offer the one-click Internet Sharing. It can be done, although the server OS wants to be much more involved than the client OS.

• Go to your Server Admin.
• Select your server and click NAT (if you don't see it, click your server name, then click the Services tab at the right, then put a check-mark at NAT. Now, back at the left hand panel, click the NAT service you just enabled.
• On the Settings tab, make sure IP Forwarding and Network Address Translation (NAT) is selected, and choose the proper External network interface.
• On the Overview tab, click the Gateway Setup Assistant... button.

At this point, unfortunately, I can't provide the details. My 10.6.8 mini server is a DHCP client, so I can't continue with the assistant without altering my setup :(

Do reply though with the results of the Gateway Setup Assistant...

Answer 3

Classic Internet Sharing like known from "consumer" MacOS X is not available in OS X Server. However, I found interesting hints in Apple’s Advanced Server Administration for 10.6 Snow Leopard and Apple’s support pages.

I think you want to configure Internet Sharing with Server Admin, which you should find in /Applications/Server/. I do not have a installation of OS X Server at hand, but there you should find Service Configuration Assistants. Apple description:

Server Admin has configuration assistants to guide you through setting up services that require more setup than a single configuration pane. The assistants present you with all configuration panes necessary to fully enable a service.

You want Gateway Setup in Server Admin:

The NAT Gateway Setup Assistant helps you quickly and easily set up Mac OS X Server […] to share your connection to the Internet with your local network.

(taken from Mac OS X 10.6 Server Admin: Understanding the NAT Gateway Setup Assistant)

This assistant helps you set up your server as a network gateway. Launch the assistant using a button in the lower right side of NAT service’s Overview page.

Configuration might be a bit more complex than with Internet Sharing, but I guess it should be manageable! Hope this helps.