The customer operated a FileMaker Server on a macOS-based server, which underwent scheduled restarts every Sunday for maintenance purposes. If the system restarted without first properly closing all FileMaker databases, it could result in data corruption. The customer therefore needed to automate a secure shutdown and startup process for the server and databases.
We developed a Python script to gracefully close all FileMaker databases and stop the FileMaker Server. This script was scheduled using the macOS system task scheduler, ensuring it runs automatically every Sunday before the system reboot. Once the server and databases shut down properly, the system performs a safe shutdown with no risk of corruption. The script also reports to monitoring systems, indicating that the outage is intentional and doesn't require an alert.
We also created a second Python script that runs automatically at system startup to verify that the previous shutdown was completed correctly. If everything is in order, the script starts the FileMaker Server and opens all databases automatically. If an issue is detected, the script sends an email alert and keeps the server safely offline so an administrator can manually resolve the situation. Automatic startup is intentionally disabled in this case, since improper shutdowns could cause latent database corruption, which may surface only later—making it critical to prevent such risks in advance.
For another customer in Africa, we also delivered a manual version of this system, where users manually trigger the script via a desktop shortcut before shutdown, due to frequent power outages in the region.
