SMB & Time Machine

SMB & Time Machine Services

Our network file sharing (SMB) is central to the Flora Family homelab, providing shared access for group projects, personal file storage, and macOS backups via Time Machine. This configuration is managed at /etc/samba/smb.conf.

Global Configuration

• Workgroup: FloraFamily
• Networking: Bound strictly to the private subnet 192.168.13.0/24 for security.
• Authentication: Integrated with JumpCloud LDAP for centralized user and group management.
• Protocol: Restricted to SMBv2 and SMBv3 for security and performance.

macOS Optimization (vfs_fruit)

Sharing files with Macs is optimized using the fruit VFS module. This allows Samba to behave like a native Mac server, supporting resource forks, extended attributes, and Finder specific icons (modeled as MacSamba).

Available Shares

General Purpose Shares

• int13: Shared group storage for standard projects. Inherits permissions (0660/2770) for the int13 group.
• flora: Main family share for shared documents and media. Restricted to the flora group.

Personal Shares

• christopher & erin: Private personal folders mapped to individual home directories. Restricted to their respective owners.

Time Machine

• timemachine: A dedicated macOS backup target located at /main/shares/timemachine. It uses the fruit:time machine = yes flag to identify itself to macOS as a valid backup disk. Restricted to members of the timemachine group.

Configuring macOS for Time Machine

To use the timemachine share as a backup target for a Mac, follow these steps:

1. Connect to the Share

1. Open Finder.
2. In the menu bar, select Go > Connect to Server... (or press Cmd+K).
3. Enter the server address: smb://terra.flora.family/timemachine
4. Click Connect and authenticate using your JumpCloud credentials.

2. Select the Backup Disk

1. Open System Settings (or System Preferences) on your Mac.
2. Navigate to General > Time Machine.
3. Click Add Backup Disk... (or Select Disk...).
4. Select the timemachine network share from the list.
5. When prompted, choose to use your existing JumpCloud credentials to allow Time Machine to connect automatically in the future.

Tip: Initial backups can be large. It is recommended to perform the first backup while connected via Ethernet.

Source Reference: The primary configuration for these services can be found on the server at /etc/samba/smb.conf.