Mac OS X Lion Server For Dummies®

The Server App versus Workgroup Manager

Lion Server has two types of functions to manage: services and accounts. The Server app tool can handle both. You can use the Server app to manage user services such as file sharing, web services, and e-mail, as well as for managing accounts. It provides a simple, well-designed interface that hides details that you may not need to bother with, but also has some hidden management features that some people may need. For more advanced management of the same database of accounts, you can use Workgroup Manager.

Apple hasn't upgraded Workgroup Manager for several releases of Mac OS X Server, and the user interface reflects this. It doesn't use standard Apple interface elements such as the gear-icon pop-up menus, making it difficult to browse around and figure things out. For managing accounts, I recommend using the Server app when possible, as it requires fewer actions to accomplish some of the same tasks.

Still, Workgroup Manager provides access to settings that aren't available in the Server app. It allows for editing the raw data in the Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP) database (see Chapter 5). In addition to managing user and group accounts, Workgroup Manager manages computer accounts and computer lists.

While both utilities also let you configure clients from the server, they use two completely different methods. You can use both methods to manage your clients. The Server app uses the Profile Manager to push settings to Mac, iPhone, ...