Help! My Server Is Offline

Your server is not responding. Here is how to troubleshoot before contacting us, and when to skip straight to opening a support case.

First: check our status page

Before you start troubleshooting, check status.greenmini.host. If there is a known network or power issue, or planned maintenance affecting our data center, we post updates there. If you see an active incident that matches your problem, we are already working on it!

Step 1: Check if it is really down

Before assuming the worst, rule out a few common causes.

Ping the server. Open Terminal and run:

ping your_server_ip

If you get a response, the Mac is up and on the network. The service you are trying to reach (VNC, a web app, etc.) may have crashed, but the server itself is running. Try connecting via SSH:

ssh your_username@your_server_ip

If you can get in over SSH, you can investigate and restart whatever stopped working. To restart the entire server: sudo shutdown -r now

You can also check whether VNC is listening by testing the port directly:

telnet your_server_ip 5900

If the port is open, you will see a response starting with RFB. That means Screen Sharing is running and the issue is likely with your VNC client or connection. If the connection is refused or times out, the service is down or the port is blocked.

If you get no response to ping either, move on to the next step. (If you have blocked ICMP in your firewall, ping will never respond regardless.)

Check from another network. Try reaching your server from a different internet connection, or from your phone on mobile data. If it works from there, the problem could be on your side or with your ISP, not the server.

Step 2: Did you recently run an update?

macOS updates can take a long time, especially major version upgrades. From a remote connection, you see nothing happening and it can feel like the server is dead. Allow at least 45-60 minutes for an update to complete. Some updates take longer.

Do not force a reboot during an update. Interrupting an update in progress can corrupt the system and turn a temporary outage into a serious problem.

If you did not start an update, or if it has been well over an hour, move on.

Step 3: Remote reboot

If your server is genuinely unresponsive and there is no update in progress, you can force a reboot from our customer portal.

Log in to the portal. From there you can trigger a restart for your Mac. This is the equivalent of pulling the power cable and plugging it back in.

Use this as a last resort. A hard reboot can cause filesystem corruption, especially if applications were writing to disk. But if the server is completely unresponsive and you need it back, this is the fastest option available to you without our help.

After triggering the reboot, give it a few minutes to come back up. If you have FileVault enabled, remember that the Mac will sit at the unlock screen until you enter your password. See Encrypting Data on Your Hosted Mac for details on FileVault and remote unlock.

Step 4: Contact us

If a remote reboot does not bring the server back, something needs hands-on attention. It could be as simple as pressing the power button, or it could be a hardware issue.

Open a ticket or email support@greenmini.nl with the following details:

  • Your server's IP address or hostname

  • What you were doing when it went offline (update, normal operation, etc.)

  • What you have already tried (ping, SSH, remote reboot)

  • Whether you have FileVault enabled

  • Any error messages you saw before losing access

The more detail you give us upfront, the faster we can diagnose and fix it.