Filemaker Server Compatibility

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Jaunita Rousu

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Aug 3, 2024, 4:05:14 PM8/3/24

to bouleterbi

I wanted to check in, as I'm quite done clicking the remind me later button on my mac to install my Catalina update, and wanted to check in and see if anyone has run into any issues with FM16 Pro Advanced and OS Catalina. I don't have a server, just using the database on my own computer, no plugins, etc. just a bare-bones license of FileMaker. Thanks!

I have just upgraded to Catalina and my install of FMP 16.0.6 has a 'banned' overlay on the dock and tells me that it needs to be updated and will not run on Catalina. One doc on filemaker.com KB says that "FileMaker Pro 15 or higher on OS X can be run only as a 64-bit application," so it would seem like it was already ready for Catalina, but no obvious updater. It is a 2019 update, so it is disappointing that it won't run or obvious fix. Maybe this has been lost in the transition to Claris and all support for

So don't expect to run 16 or 17 well. Catalina is a very different OS under-the-hood, totally unlike its predecessors so its a pretty big break with the past in many areas. Don't expect software companies to back-fix many of their old versions.

So, I decided to move the main servers to a new os and to a fms version that supports fm18 and fm19 - there is a time-gap for this right now... invoices are out, those servers are not on heavy load - and there are 2 long weekends ahead where customers wont work much

Therefore, I decided to 'go catalina' and to 'go fms19'. The release notes for 19 show some issues fixed - but apparently still existing on fms18, I could not find any warnings for fms19 (might be only a few people running fms19, might be that the 'official' forums are that unhandy so nobody will post..., whatever)

Installing/updating catalina is no longer that self-explaining, Apple has 'lost the usability'.
There is a progress-bar that does not really move, all of the sudden, the screen turns black (installation takes some time, I do not look all the time onto that machine...).
Then the system seems to be updated and ready to configure. Best is, that the option for storing some directories on iCloud is no longer 'on' by default - takes always some time to check that out.
Configuring iCloud is a mess, several pwd are asked without any fast message on the screen (You are typing in the iCloud pwd but the system already asks for the pwd of the machine), etc.
Many utilities (chronosync..) will not run without user-actions, etc.
The system is not as crispy as 10.12 on that Mini, but after a day, it's more or less ok.

Configuring fms takes more time.. there are some tasks one can only enable/disable via command line (we got some inventory lists without pwd...). Schedules as well are somewhat different to define compared to older versions of fms.
I did not import schedules, some of them were outdated, no longer used - so I decided to create that from scratch, using the previous folder hierarchy (created screenshots since the folders will not show...)
All schedules manually tested, working fine

I always run at least one FMS on ETS and host my testing files plus my suite of performance test files. 19 has been stable for me. We are not going to deploy them in production probably until late June, just to catch community feedback and do a final round of testing on the released product.

Unlike other releases though we will probably deploy this one without waiting for v2. There actually won't be a v2 in the classic sense. 2020.2 will bring new features and if they hold through to their schedule we can expect that one towards the end of the summer.

A fact that is often overlooked - and mainly because Apple doesn't want to emphasize it too much - is that Catalina is NOT just an upgrade in the OSX chain of OSes. It's a completely new animal under the hood with wide-ranging changes in how it handles all things security and app sandboxing.

It forces companies that make software and platforms to make big decisions: keeping backward compatibility is going to be expensive because much of the code base needs to be different. So most of them cut the tail and just won't offer much in backward compatibility especially not in this day and age of more frequent smaller releases. Unfortunate, but there it is.

There are only around 5 simultaneous users on this system, but all clients get used - Pro, Go and WebDirect, as well as Data API - mostly incoming data from webhooks, as well as some basic forms that 'external' users send in from web pages.

One of the main reasons is that we desperately wanted to get using Card Windows in WebDirect! Also keen to make use of the new Javascript powers - particularly useful in WebDirect which didn't work with using fmp:// URL scheme to trigger FM scripts previously...

We're likely to take the plunge and upgrade our busiest SBA server to v19 this coming month on a Windows Server 2019 vm. The server is nearly ready and we're working through upgrading the clients still below FMPA v18.

The current server is v16, which we've not been able to upgrade due to the amount of development work we had to carry out as a result of the MDI to SDI changes in Windows introduced with v16 (hence it has been a slow process to wean users off FMP 15). We are not fans of server 16, so can't wait to leave it behind.

here, most of the customer who can update, are on 18 or upgraded to 18. Main reason: The current system is no capable to run 19, followed by the announcement from claris that they will do quarterly updates - but did not ship one until now (and there were some issues with 19 - on our systems for example the slow response in go19 and some layering issues with 19 desktop that will not allow upgrades without manual corrections)

Things are moving forward here. About a month ago I installed FMS v19.1.2.234 on the dev server.
A week ago I moved a production server to v 19.1.2.234.
Last Friday I moved all clients that connect to this server to FMP v19.3.315.

1. Make sure that you're using the latest version of the FileMaker client and that it is compatible with the version of server you are trying to connect to. FileMaker client version 18 or 19 is preferred. You can download and install FileMaker Pro from the Self Service app (on CIS managed mac workstations), Software Center (on CIS managed PC workstations), or from our online software catalog here: -technology/software/catalog/filemaker-pro

If you are not able to upgrade your software due to OS compatibility reasons, please contact your IT support staff to discuss upgrade options. You will still be able to access databases using the RemoteApp version of the client software: -opening-databases-in-remoteapp

7. Try adding the server using its canonical name (contact us if you are not sure what its canonical name is). If it works, please report back to file...@brown.edu or assign a ticket to the FileMaker team in Deskpro if this is the case because it may be a certificate issue we need to follow up on!

I'm trying to update an outdated CakePHP website and add an SSL certificate. The website is integrated with an Apple FileMaker server. What steps should I follow to achieve this? Any specific considerations for the CakePHP and FileMaker integration?

Database Schema: Examine the database schema to document all tables, fields, and relationships.2. Update Code to the Latest PHP VersionCompatibility Check: Ensure the existing code is compatible with the latest PHP version.Refactor Code: Modify the code to address any deprecations or compatibility issues with the latest PHP version.

The website current PHP Compatibility: CakePHP 1.2.6 does not support PHP version 7.2 or later.Feasibility: Upgrading both PHP and CakePHP to their latest versions is not feasible without a complete rewrite of the website is what I think.

So my question is would it be technically not possible to update the current version to the latest PHP and CakePHP versions without rebuilding the website from scratch because we only want to add and SSL certificate and build with a long-term plan a new website.

We have checked the possibility for this, and we have found that your websites CakePHP version is 1.2.6 and latest CakePHP version is 3.7.=> We have also seen that there is a series of CakePHP versions like 1.1, 1.2, 1.3, 2.x, 3.x and latest version is 3.7, during this version updating there are many more updates and changes are added to the CakePHP framework like :

An SSL Certificate can be used independent to the underlying Web application as you can make the SSL connection terminate before it reaches the application. Then the traffic is still SSL until the endpoint and the application should work as-is.

After you've changed the network setup and added SSL, you can still continue to think about how to upgrade the application, but as you already noticed, it will like take more time (just to think about) then to just have SSL that is a solved problem and a commodity.

FileMaker databases with the .fmp12 file format, used by versions 12 and up, may be opened by FileMaker Pro 16 and hosted by FileMaker Server 16, with no file conversion necessary. However, there are some compatibility issues between v16 and v12-15 to keep in mind. See Upgrading from versions 12-15 below for more information.

Databases with the .fp7 file format or earlier, used by versions 11 and earlier, must be converted to the .fmp12 format in order to be opened by FileMaker 16. See below for more information on file conversion.

If you are thinking of upgrading to the latest version of FileMaker, now is also good opportunity to take inventory of all of your FileMaker files to determine if they are properly secured and to make sure that they are not being used to store PIRN data. Please review MIT's policies about storage of data on the Security Team's InfoProtect web pages. Inactive files required for archival purposes should be converted to the current version of FileMaker and backed up or archived, and earlier versions of those files sitting on your computer should be removed from your local machine.