1. During initial setup, configure the sever as Standalone server
2. boot and configure other services
3. verify that other network services are working
4. verify the domain name system, making sure that the DNS name is resolving to the servers address.
5. then, configure the Open Directory as a Master and use the hostname which you verified was working in step #4
6. then, add users to the server
WHY: the DNS name must be resolving correctly in order for Open Directory to work, and you should configure the Directory before adding Users or you will loose the account information and orphan your users data