Configure Samba to Work Better with Mac OS X

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Recommended fruit config

Below is a working recommended fruit config:

[Global]
vfs objects = fruit streams_xattr  
fruit:metadata = stream
fruit:model = MacSamba
fruit:posix_rename = yes 
fruit:veto_appledouble = no
fruit:nfs_aces = no
fruit:wipe_intentionally_left_blank_rfork = yes 
fruit:delete_empty_adfiles = yes 

[TimeMachineBackup]
fruit:time machine = yes
#  fruit:time machine max size = SIZE

Beware! This configures VFS objects in the global section, setting vfs objects in a share will *overwrite* the globally configured option, it will NOT supplement them.

Option details

Below are suggested parameters to use in smb.conf file of the Samba server to improve operability with Mac OS X clients. Note that some parameters may not work with your version of Samba - read the smb.conf and vfs_fruit man pages (on Linux) for your system. Other than those shown in the [TimeMachineBackup] share below, I recommend you include all parameters in the [Global] section of smb.conf. For ease of copy > paste, a clean smb.conf section is included at the bottom of this page.

[Global]

Apple extensions ("AAPL") run under SMB2/3 protocol, make that the minimum (probably shouldn't be running SMB1 anyway...) - defaults to SMB2_2 in Samba 4.11+:

min protocol = SMB2 

Apple extensions require support for extended attributes(xattr) - defaults to yes in Samba 4.9+:

ea support = yes

Load in modules (order is critical!) and enable AAPL extensions:

vfs objects = fruit streams_xattr  

How to store OS X metadata:

fruit:metadata = stream

For additional setting see the manpage vfs_fruit.

Server icon in Finder (added in Samba 4.5):

fruit:model = MacSamba

File cleanup:

fruit:veto_appledouble = no
...added in Samba 4.3
fruit:posix_rename = yes 
...added in Samba 4.5
fruit:zero_file_id = yes
..added in Samba 4.8
fruit:wipe_intentionally_left_blank_rfork = yes 
fruit:delete_empty_adfiles = yes 

For Spotlight backend indexing using Elasticsearch (added in Samba 4.12):

[share]
spotlight backend = elasticsearch

See smb.conf for 4.12 for other Elasticsearch parameters. Gnome tracker is still available (= tracker) or no indexing (= noindex), the default.

For Time Machine backup share (added in Samba 4.8):

[TimeMachineBackup]
vfs objects = fruit streams_xattr
fruit:time machine = yes

As far as I know, testparm will not validate vfs_fruit parameters. (my server runs an old version of Samba :-), but after you have built your smb.conf, you can check for errors anyway with #: testparm or #: testparm -v (which will give you the defaults as well.

From Finder, connect to your Samba server using "smb://User@Server". Note that TM backups over smb may now be possible with your server. Other Mac models can be found in "/System/Library/CoreServices/CoreTypes.bundle/Contents/Info.plist". Use "Quick Look", Xcode or plutil to view or convert plist.

File Permission issues

Setting the global option fruit:nfs_aces = no will prevent macOS clients from modifying the UNIX mode of directories using NFS ACEs. An Access Control Entry (ACE) is part of the Access Control List (ACL).