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Netatalk Knowledge Base
Here you can find articles covering topics regarding Netatalk features as well as Mac and Apple II file sharing and networking.
What is Netatalk?
Netatalk is a cross-platform Free and Open Source implementation of AFP (Apple Filing Protocol), the protocol used for file sharing on Apple II, Classic Mac OS, and Mac OS X. At the time of writing, AFP is one of several file sharing protocols with client support in macOS. Most Unix-like operating systems also have 3rd party / open source AFP clients available.
The Netatalk software runs on a NIX host machine (Linux distro, BSD distro, Solaris, or macOS) while a client would connect to the file server via the Network drawer / Locations (on macOS), the Chooser (on Classic Mac OS), or a 3rd party AFP client (GNOME Files, KDE Dolphin, afpfs-ng FUSE client, etc.)
GNOME Files (Nautilus) Example
KDE Dolphin Example (experimental)
macOS 15.1 Network Drawer Example
Examples of clients that Netatalk has been tested with
- AppleShare Workstation 1.1 (AFP 1.1)
- Apple IIgs GS/OS System 6.0.1 (AFP2 .0)
- Apple IIgs GS/OS System 6.0.1 using AFPBridge to connect via TCP/IP (AFP 2.0)
- Apple IIgs ProDOS 8 with 2.0.3 client (AFP 2.0)
- Macintosh System 7.1 with the stock AppleShare Client 3.5 (AFP 2.1)
- Mac OS 8.1 with the stock AppleShare Client 3.7.4 via both AppleTalk and TCP/IP (AFP 2.2)
- Mac OS 9.0.4 with the stock AppleShare Client 3.8.6 via TCP/IP (AFP 2.2)
- Mac OS X 10.1 via TCP/IP (AFP 3.0)
- Mac OS X 10.4 via TCP/IP (AFP 3.2)
- macOS 15.1 via TCP/IP (AFP 3.4)
- macOS 26.2 via TCP/IP (AFP 3.4)
- Ubuntu 24.04 with GNOME 46, Files 46.4 via TCP/IP (AFP 3.4)
- Fedora 43 with KDE Plasma 6.5, Dolphin 25.12 via TCP/IP (AFP 3.4)
Features
Below is an overview of the capabilities and bundled utilities that the latest version of Netatalk provides.
| Feature | Details |
|---|---|
| Host OS Support | Linux (glibc & musl), DragonFlyBSD, FreeBSD, NetBSD, OpenBSD, macOS, OmniOS, OpenIndiana, Solaris 11 |
| Client OS Support | macOS, Mac OS X, Mac OS 8/9, Macintosh System Software 6.0.x/7.x, GS/OS, ProDOS, 3rd party AFP clients |
| AFP Protocol Versions | 1.1, 2.0, 2.1, 2.2, 3.0, 3.1, 3.2, 3.3, 3.4 |
| AFP over TCP | Yes |
| AFP over AppleTalk | Yes (supported on Linux, NetBSD) |
| Macintosh File System Metadata | macOS / OSX extended attributes, Classic Mac OS resource forks |
| Service Discovery | Zeroconf on macOS / OSX, AppleTalk on Classic Mac OS |
| Remote Backups | Compatible with Time Machine on macOS / OSX |
| Indexed Search | Compatible with Spotlight on macOS / OSX, CatalogSearch on Classic Mac OS |
| Macintosh Network Booting | NetBoot 1.0-compatible (usage example: kea-mboot) |
| Apple II Network Booting | Yes: //e and IIGS (via a2boot) |
| AppleTalk Printing to modern printers | Yes (via papd) |
| Printing to LocalTalk printers | Yes (via pap) |
| AppleTalk Time Server | Compatible with Tardis (via timelord) |
| AppleTalk Router | Yes (via atalkd) |
| MacIP Gateway | Yes (via macipgw) |
| Administrative GUI | Webmin module |
External Links
- netatalk.org (original UMich homepage, still online as of Nov 2024)
- Netatalk 1.3.3 era FAQ
- sunsite.org.uk mirror with netatalk-admins ML 1992-2001 archive
- Linux Netatalk-HOWTO ca. 1999
- Exploiting an 18 Year Old Bug
- Fix Time Machine Sparsebundle NAS Based Backup Errors
See also Netatalk Links
Footnotes
This is a mirror of the Netatalk GitHub Wiki
Last updated 2026-02-28
