Mac Home Automation

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====Installation====
  * While it’s technically possible to run XTension in the background on your main mac, this is not a good idea generally. XTension should have it’s own dedicated server somewhere to run constantly no matter what you’re doing. This server can also provide Time Machine backup drives, share iTunes content to AppleTV’s provide other file sharing and all sorts of other services on your network so it need not be dedicated to just XTension. An older Mac Mini capable of running at least the minimum system requirements should be fine though of course faster and more memory is always better.
  * XTension requires OSX 10.10 or later though not all plugins will function prior to 10.15 (Catalina)
  * XTension should be run as a user that has admin privileges (“Allow user to administer this machine” checkbox in the user control panel)
  * XTension can live inside your Applications folder as most other apps do now, or it can live in a separate folder.
    * If you place XTension into the Applications folder your Database and other files will live inside a folder named “XTension Support” created in your Documents folder.
    * If you place XTension into it’s own folder elsewhere then your database and all support folders and files will be created inside that same folder with XTension.
  * Your Mac should have a Static IP address on your local network. This makes it easier for other devices to connect to your XTension install and makes it possible for you to pass a port through your router to XTension for Web Remote or other remote control settings.
  * [[:xtdb|XTdb]] is happy to live in the Applications folder. It will create it’s database in the “Application Support” folder.
  * The Mac server should be setup to never go to sleep, you need your automation to keep happening after you walk away. You can configure the screen to sleep and the screen saver to lock the machine.
  * XTension cannot run without a user logged in, set your XTension user to log in automatically and XTension and other necessary apps to start at login by control clicking them in the dock and selecting “open at login"
  * Don’t run a fancy graphic screensaver, there is no reason to waste the CPU and energy and heat generated by all that graphics processing. 
  * You may set the computer name screen saver to blank the screen and you may set it to lock so that a password is necessary to log in and make changes to the machine.
  * You should also setup the machine to share it’s screen and it’s disks so that you can access it remotely for continued XTension work and future updates and changes.
  * A UPS is not strictly necessary but is highly recommended.
    * DO set the “restart after power failure” option in the Energy Saver control panel.
    * DO NOT setup your energy control panel to shut down the machine properly when the UPS battery gets low. This seems like the right thing to do but if you do so then the “restart after power failure” setting will not restart the machine when the power is restored.