Samba (SMB shares)¶

The NAS shares its folders over SMB, the protocol behind Windows file sharing, using Samba. macOS, Windows and Linux all speak it natively. It's how other machines use the files without keeping their own copy: the Docker host mounts the photo library for Immich, and a laptop can open the shared library in Finder.

On the NAS it's set up through OpenMediaVault's web UI (Services → SMB/CIFS), which writes /etc/samba/smb.conf. The settings below are what's worth changing from the defaults.

Shares¶

One share per top-level folder (photos, personal files, the family library, a temporary scratch area), each with its own list of allowed users:

[gallery]
path = /srv/mergerfs/<pool>/gallery/
valid users = "<me>","<family member>"
read only = no
browseable = yes
guest ok = no
inherit acls = yes
inherit permissions = yes

Users are local accounts on the NAS with a separate Samba password (smbpasswd -a <user>, or Users in OMV).

Making Macs happy¶

macOS works best with Samba's fruit module, which stores Finder metadata (tags, resource forks) the way macOS expects and makes browsing large folders much faster:

vfs objects = catia fruit streams_xattr
fruit:aapl = yes
fruit:metadata = stream
fruit:encoding = native
fruit:copyfile = yes          # server-side copy: Finder copies within the NAS don't go over the network
fruit:zero_file_id = yes
server min protocol = SMB2_02
disable netbios = yes

With fruit:time machine = yes on a share, Macs can use that share as a Time Machine destination.

Recycle bin¶

Samba's recycle module turns deletes over SMB into moves, so a file deleted by mistake from Finder or by an app isn't gone straight away:

vfs objects = catia fruit streams_xattr recycle
recycle:repository = .recycle/%U     # one bin per user
recycle:keeptree = yes                # keep the folder structure
recycle:versions = yes                # don't overwrite an earlier deleted copy
recycle:exclude = *.tmp, *.temp, ~$*

OMV can empty each share's .recycle after a set number of days. On plain Samba, a nightly find .recycle -mtime +30 -delete does the same. Leave .recycle out of backups.

Mounting on Linux¶

The Docker host mounts the shares at boot via /etc/fstab:

//<nas>/gallery   /mnt/nas-gallery   cifs   vers=3.0,credentials=/root/.smbcredentials,uid=1000,gid=1000,_netdev,nofail   0 0

username=<user>
password=<password>

• credentials= keeps the password out of fstab, which any user can read.
• uid/gid make the files belong to the user the containers run as.
• _netdev,nofail wait for the network and don't hang the boot if the NAS is down.

Install cifs-utils, then sudo mount -a to test.

Mounting on macOS¶

In Finder press ⌘K and connect to smb://<nas>/<share>. Ticking Remember this password stores it in the keychain. To mount it at every login, drag the mounted share into System Settings → General → Login Items.