Lion Server Finally Getting There

By Richard Mallion
Looks like Lion server is following the standard pattern of Apple software releases lately. A new version is released with missing or reduced functionality and slowly these missing features are brought back with a series of updates. Lion Server follows in that vain with the 10.7.3 update.
This update adds missing functionality as well as including a whole host of bug fixes.
Here is a list of all the goodness:
File Sharing pane in the Server application

  • display number of connected users
  • list connected users
  • disconnect specific AFP users with a message
  • send a message to specific AFP users
  • set a login greeting message for AFP users
  • access to advanced ACL controls

VPN pane in the Server application

  • choice of enabling L2TP or L2TP and PPTP protocols
  • sharing of address ranges between L2TP and PPTP (if PPTP is enabled)
  • configure DNS name server addresses and domain names provided to VPN clients
  • option to save L2TP or PPTP settings as a configuration profile

Web pane in the Server application

  • enable .htaccess overrides
  • edit web sites’ domain names
  • map multiple domains into a single web site
  • configure redirects and aliases
  • specify custom index files
  • choose SSL certificates for individual websites

Wiki Server

  • support for editing Wiki pages from an iPad running iOS 5 or later
  • support for Active Directory groups
  • improved reliability for certain timezones
  • improved support for an administrator-specified custom tag, protocol and inline style whitelist

Profile Manager

  • updated Exchange, Mail and Restrictions payloads for iOS clients
  • updated Dock payloads for OS X clients
  • performance improvements
  • allow VPN payloads to be used by both iOS and OS X clients
  • support for External Account home folder locations
  • improved support for managing enterprise applications

The update also includes specific fixes for:

  • iCal Server auto-acceptance of meetings during free times
  • authenticated directory binding to Open Directory servers with Directory Utility
  • improved reliability of setting up Open Directory replicas
  • correctly create podcasts when bound to an Active Directory server using Podcast Publisher
  • improved support for different certificates used for IMAP/POP and SMTP in the Server application
  • improved searching of logs in the Server application
  • web password reset support when using the Internet Explorer 9 browser