How to get your Linux-based AFP server to show up correctly in Leopard’s new Finder

My Linux server is running Ubuntu 10.10 and the steps I needed to get it working were slightly different, but generally easier since Netatalk seems to have come a long way since that blog post.

sudo -i
apt-get install netatalk
apt-get install avahi-daemon
cd /etc/avahi/services
wget http://www.disgruntled-dutch.com/media/afpd.service
service netatalk restart
service avahi-daemon restart

Worked for me

Apparently you can even use the new Netatalk as a server for Time Machine!

If you’re on an older version of Ubuntu then you might get an error after installing netatalk like this

Starting Netatalk services (this will take a while): nbp_rgstr: Connection timed out
Can't register cctv:Workstation@*

Unfortunately at this stage the system considers the netatalk installation to have failed. I found that in order to make aptitude happy, I had to do this:

apt-get remove netatalk
apt-get install netatalk

The remove instruction still leaves your edited /etc/netatalk/atalkd.conf in place which netatalk uses upon installation. Everything should work fine and aptitude should now stop moaning every time you use it.

Additionally you may want to disable AppleTalk, which (I think) only older Mac OS versions use.

ATALKD_RUN=no
PAPD_RUN=no

Then restart netatalk.

I was using my laptop and connecting to my iMac across the network and browsing through its files. The connection would occasionally drop and it would sometimes show folder contents as empty when I knew for a fact they were not. The option to share the screen would also disappear at random and occasionally the whole iMac would disappear from Finder.

Much cursing was done.

The problem turned out to have an odd solution. I noticed it was connecting to the shares using the Windows smb protocol rather than AFP (Apple’s File Sharing Protocol) so I disabled smb on the iMac. Now everything works fine. At least until I try to access the iMac from Windows anyway….