Documenting my development server (FileMaker Server, 2023)
A note to self about setting up my repurposed M1 Mac mini to run my development instance of FileMaker Server.
My development server doesn’t get updated too often. Sometimes several years can pass before I make any sort of change. This post is just a note to Future Joe so he knows what I did on early 2023 to get this development server working.
Router LAN Configuration
- Reserved a few local IP addresses for static use:
*.*.*.2through*.*.*.10 - Assigned a local IP to the Mac mini:
*.*.*.2 - Added port forward records for ports 80, 443, 5003
Domain Setup with No-IP
My server is in my home office and unfortunately my internet provider doesn’t offer static IP addresses to residential customers. I could upgrade to a business plan, but it would cost around twice as much as I pay for my residential plan. To work around the static IP issue, I use No-IP.
No-IP gives me a domain name (a subdomain on one of their domains actually) and an applet that runs on the Mac. Anytime my public facing IP number changes, this applet will update the DNS record and No-IP.
Installing the SSL Certificate
No-IP offers low-cost SSL certificates. Mine was around $20 in 2023.
- Purchase the certificate from no-ip
- Generate a CSR from FileMaker Server Admin Console
- Upload the CSR in the no-ip SSL settings page
- Wait. It took about 6 hours before I got the notification that the certificate was ready. I guess this is one of the downsides of not getting a “real” certificate.
- Upload the certificate and intermediary certificate to FileMaker Server.
- Upload the intermediary certificate to my web server. The curl library on my web server needs the intermediary certificate to be able to properly communicate with the FileMaker Server.
Wrapping up
After completing the items above and test the connection using FileMaker, the Data API, and any other clients that I’m supporting.
Future Joe: Did something about this process change? Consider updating this article or posting a new version.