In 2018 I got a flashy new MacBook Pro. Using the macOS integrated backup solution Time Machine I wanted to build an open source Apple Time Capsule.
Apple Mac OSX doesn’t allow you to use a network share as a backup location.
The steps described below are tested on Debian Stretch but might also work on other Debian based distributions like Ubuntu.
Step 1
Netatalk, the open source deployment of Apple Filling Protocol (AFP) has to be installed.
sudo apt-get install netatalk libc6-dev avahi-daemon libnss-mdns
Step 2
Edit the hosts line in /etc/nsswitch.conf with the editor of your choice. I am using vi.
sudo vi /etc/nsswitch.conf
The line should be adjusted as followed:
hosts: files mdns4_minimal [NOTFOUND=return] dns mdns4 mdns
Step 3
Create the file /etc/avahi/services/afpd.service
sudo vi /etc/avahi/services/afpd.service
and fill it with this content:
<?xml version="1.0" standalone='no'?><!--*-nxml-*-->
<!DOCTYPE service-group SYSTEM "avahi-service.dtd">
<service-group>
<name replace-wildcards="yes">%h</name>
<service>
<type>_afpovertcp._tcp</type>
<port>548</port>
</service>
<service>
<type>_device-info._tcp</type>
<port>0</port>
<txt-record>model=TimeCapsule</txt-record>
</service>
</service-group>Step 4
Now add the shares for the backups. Edit /etc/netatalk/AppleVolumes.default and add the parameter tm.
sudo vi /etc/netatalk/AppleVolumes.default
I have created a timemachine share for my wife and I.
# The line below sets some DEFAULT, starting with Netatalk 2.1.
:DEFAULT: options:upriv,usedots,tm
# By default all users have access to their home directories.
/mnt/timemachine/paul "TimeMachine Paul"
/mnt/timemachine/helen "TimeMachine Helen"
# End of File
Step 5
Finally, Netatalk has to be adjusted.
sudo vi /etc/default/netatalk
Edit the folowing variables:
ATALKD_RUN=no
PAPD_RUN=no
CNID_METAD_RUN=yes
AFPD_RUN=yes
TIMELORD_RUN=no
A2BOOT_RUN=no
Now just restart the services for Netatalk and Avahi.
systemctl restart netatalk.service
systemctl restart avahi-daemon.service
Final notes
Each user must be a real user on your linux server (i.e. useradd paul ).
You may have to create and change ownership of the directories (i.e. mkdir -p /mnt/timemachine/paul && chown paul:paul /mnt/timemachine/paul ).
Now you should be able to access the shares from timemachine.
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