NFS: Qnap server / macOS client

Questions about using NAS on Mac OS.
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AnnoMeNuehm
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NFS: Qnap server / macOS client

Post by AnnoMeNuehm »

Hi,

On my LAN there are various NAS devices acting as file servers, as well as multiple macOS clients, facilitating these file servers.

There is no directory (ldap et al) or common authentication service (kerberos et al) in place.

The available user & group ids are specific to each of those devices, and they are not synchronised across all of them, resulting in eg.user #1 has got a different id on a NAS and a Mac.

I am not about migrating the current file share setup from AFP to NFS, and I am wondering how best to go about this task, without having to introduce ldap or kerberos to my environment, without having to synchronise the user & group id across all devices.

I have done some research and stumbled across user & group id mapping, and nfs v4, but I have to admit I have got no clue as where to tweak, what to configure, in order to successfully set this up.

My starting point would be a Qnap TS251b sporting QTS 4.5.2 and a Mac mini M1 running macOS 11 Big Sur.

Any help, any hint would be more than appreciated.

-- Anno
Qnap TS251b4g
QTS 4.5.2
AnnoMeNuehm
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Re: NFS: Qnap server / macOS client

Post by AnnoMeNuehm »

Actually it is supposed to read "...I am NOW about migrating.." instead of "...I am not about migrating..." -- my bad
Qnap TS251b4g
QTS 4.5.2
torch1
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Re: NFS: Qnap server / macOS client

Post by torch1 »

Have you considered using SMB instead of NFS?
AnnoMeNuehm
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Re: NFS: Qnap server / macOS client

Post by AnnoMeNuehm »

Yes, but in my purely macOS & iOS environment, and with smb's limitation regarding filenames, directory hierarchies et al, as well as from a performance perspective I ruled out smb.
Qnap TS251b4g
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torch1
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Re: NFS: Qnap server / macOS client

Post by torch1 »

Hmm...I have MacOS, iOS & Linux (various NASes, Rpi) and have not had any problems with SMB. Note that Files (iOS) supports SMB too. ( https://osxdaily.com/2019/11/04/how-con ... files-app/ )
You may have to tweak your NASes ( https://wiki.samba.org/index.php/Config ... h_Mac_OS_X ) and your Mac clients ( man nsmb.conf ) to get optimal performance.
atelier522
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Re: NFS: Qnap server / macOS client

Post by atelier522 »

torch1 wrote: Fri Feb 26, 2021 1:58 am You may have to tweak your NASes ( https://wiki.samba.org/index.php/Config ... h_Mac_OS_X ) and your Mac clients ( man nsmb.conf ) to get optimal performance.
Thanks torch1 for your suggestion.

since we not yet switched from AFP to SMB, which will happen soon, I'd like to have some tips for setting up SMB "for optimal performance" on server and clients.
Do you have suggestions, a link to detailed settings declarations? - I'm not that deep into these settings and don't want to create more problems than before …

Thanks!
AnnoMeNuehm
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Re: NFS: Qnap server / macOS client

Post by AnnoMeNuehm »

torch1 wrote: Fri Feb 26, 2021 1:58 am Hmm...I have MacOS, iOS & Linux (various NASes, Rpi) and have not had any problems with SMB. Note that Files (iOS) supports SMB too. ( https://osxdaily.com/2019/11/04/how-con ... files-app/ )
You may have to tweak your NASes ( https://wiki.samba.org/index.php/Config ... h_Mac_OS_X ) and your Mac clients ( man nsmb.conf ) to get optimal performance.
Issue with smb is that on my afp volumes there are a certain degree off folder hierarchy to be found, as well as some macOS-specific characters both within the file- as well as the folder names.

We have already tried several times to facilitate smb instead of afp, but up until today it is not really working for us. And migrating all the files and folders to a smb-compatible structure & format is a tedious undertaking, which is not worth the effort.
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torch1
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Re: NFS: Qnap server / macOS client

Post by torch1 »

Big Sur does not officially support AFP (no results on the MacOS UG: https://support.apple.com/guide/mac-help/welcome/mac ) while SMB is supported, so I think it is only a matter time before you have to do the difficult work of converting to SMB.

You could try asking the question on the samba list serve - they (the developers) may be able to suggest something: https://lists.samba.org/mailman/listinfo/samba
AnnoMeNuehm
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Re: NFS: Qnap server / macOS client

Post by AnnoMeNuehm »

torch1 wrote: Fri May 14, 2021 2:43 am Big Sur does not officially support AFP (no results on the MacOS UG: https://support.apple.com/guide/mac-help/welcome/mac ) while SMB is supported, so I think it is only a matter time before you have to do the difficult work of converting to SMB.

You could try asking the question on the samba list serve - they (the developers) may be able to suggest something: https://lists.samba.org/mailman/listinfo/samba
As far as I am aware of this only holds true for macOS providing NFS services (exporting NFS shares), not for macOS consuming these.

After serveral days of researching The Net, common sense appears to be that AFP is still the protocol to go to when operating a pure macOS client environment, and that only in cases where Windows is part of the environment, SMB might be the better choice.

But with a NAS as a central file server, capable of providing file sharing services via AFP, NFS, and SMB, all the different client OS can be servered according to their respective "needs".
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torch1
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Re: NFS: Qnap server / macOS client

Post by torch1 »

Revisions to AFP stopped with OS X 10.8 (Lion) in 2012.
Apple does not even list AFP on its Network address formats https://support.apple.com/guide/mac-hel ... 0/mac/11.0
Caveat emptor :-)
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