Administering FileMaker Server from the Command Line

In addition to administering FileMaker Server using the graphical Server Administration Tool (SAT), its also possible to administer the server using a command-line tool called fmsadmin. The fmsadmin tool is installed along with FileMaker Server itself, and can be used to administer instances of FileMaker Server running on the same machine, or on a remote machine with remote administration enabledmuch as the SAT can be used.

The fmsadmin tool behaves like any other command-line utility or tool in the Mac OS X or Windows operating systems. It can be invoked directly from the command line (Mac OS X Terminal, Windows Command Prompt). It can also be invoked from within any command-line script, and as such can form part of a variety of automated administrative processes.

In order to invoke fmsadmin from the command line, youll need to know where the tool is located. If the install location is in your system path, simply issuing the command fmsadmin (plus necessary options) is sufficient. By default, though, the tool is installed outside the regular system paths. To address this problem, either add the tools install location to the system path, or create a shortcut or symbolic link to the tool from one of the system path directories (/usr/bin on Mac OS X or C:WINDOWS on Windows, for example). Alternatively, you can invoke the tool by referring to it by its full installed path.

The installed path can vary, but these are the default locations:

Mac OS X:

/Library/FileMaker Server 8/Tools/fmsadmin

Windows:

C:Program FilesFileMaker Server 8fmsadmin