Symlink does not work for shared folder between Mac and Linux

FYI, the Linux mount command still references "cifs", but should be able to connect to current SMB version shares. Check out the man pages for "mount.cifs" which mentions being able to connect using a specific version of SMB.

From Debian 9 Stretch man mount.cifs:

vers=
           SMB protocol version. Allowed values are:

           ·   1.0 - The classic CIFS/SMBv1 protocol. This is the default.

           ·   2.0 - The SMBv2.002 protocol. This was initially introduced in Windows Vista Service Pack 1, and
               Windows Server 2008. Note that the initial release version of Windows Vista spoke a slightly different
               dialect (2.000) that is not supported.

           ·   2.1 - The SMBv2.1 protocol that was introduced in Microsoft Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008R2.

           ·   3.0 - The SMBv3.0 protocol that was introduced in Microsoft Windows 8 and Windows Server 2012.

           Note too that while this option governs the protocol version used, not all features of each version are
           available.

I know years ago I had trouble even connecting to an SMB share created on a Mac (from both Linux and even a newer version OSX). It definitely does not surprise me that a Mojave share could be problematic. If Apple implements something differently in their version of SMB, then Linux won't know how to handle it (or the other way around). Perhaps there is something in the way APFS handles things that isn't translating properly with the SMB share.

I use the NFS Manager.app to export NFS shares. It is a GUI front end.

R

AFP might work as expected between 2 Macs, but CIFS/SMB is a Microsoft protocol, and does not need to support Mac or Linux file system constructs.

I do not think CIFS (and maybe not SMB) know what a symlink is, and thus do not have a file sharing network protocol for presenting that information on the client system.

But since CIFS is an older file sharing protocol, you should at least try specifying mount -t smb ...

You might try NFS. If the Linux system has the file system (or at least the directory tree) exported, from your Mac you could try

/net/linux.system.network.name/path/to/symlink/file

I have not played with NFS exporting anything from macOS, so your mileage may vary, but it may be possible. MrHoffman would have a better clue if you can catch his attention, or try Google.

What was once called SMB was briefly called CIF a dozen-or-so years back, and is now called SMB again.

If whatever you're using calls itself CIFS, it's ancient. It's also badly insecure, if it's really CIFS (or SMB1).

Or somebody hasn't been keeping up on the shifts in terminology. Which is quite possible.

The SMB2 protocol supports symbolic links with NTFS, though whether any other implementations also do?

There are folks that have gotten this to work, and some a long time ago.

I just did some experiments with my Synology (a Linux based NAS)

Finder -> Go -> Connect to server -> smb://synology.local

Synology

drwxr-xr-x  1 raharris users     0 Jun 29 09:01 tmp.dir.real
lrwxrwxrwx  1 raharris users    12 Jun 29 09:01 tmp.dir.symlink -> tmp.dir.real
-rw-r--r--  1 raharris users    29 Jun 29 09:02 tmp.file.real
lrwxrwxrwx  1 raharris users    13 Jun 29 09:02 tmp.file.symlink -> tmp.file.real

macOS Mojave

drwx------  1 raharris  staff  16384 Jun 29 09:01 tmp.dir.real
drwx------  1 raharris  staff  16384 Jun 29 09:01 tmp.dir.symlink
-rwx------  1 raharris  staff     29 Jun 29 09:02 tmp.file.real
-rwx------  1 raharris  staff     29 Jun 29 09:02 tmp.file.symlink

I do not know if the Synology smb server (most likely running Samba) decided to just say it was a regular directory and a regular file, or if macOS's home grown SMB client decided to make the symlinks look like regular dir and file.

I then did this between 2 Macs, and in this case symlink information was transferred. Of course as this was Mac to Mac both using Apple's home grown SMB server and client, we do not know if Apple slipped some additional protocol messages into the mix so that macOS specific features could be transferred.

Finder -> Go -> Connect to server -> smb://El_Capitan_Mac.local

macOS El Capitan (HFS+ file system)

drwxr-xr-x  2 raharris  staff   68 Jun 29 09:12 tmp.dir.real/
lrwxr-xr-x  1 raharris  staff   12 Jun 29 09:12 tmp.dir.symlink@ -> tmp.dir.real
-rw-r--r--  1 raharris  staff   29 Jun 29 09:12 tmp.file.real
lrwxr-xr-x  1 raharris  staff   13 Jun 29 09:12 tmp.file.symlink@ -> tmp.file.real

macOS Mojave (APFS)

drwxr-xr-x 1 raharris staff 16384 Jun 29 09:12 tmp.dir.real/
lrwxr-xr-x 1 raharris staff    12 Jun 29 09:12 tmp.dir.symlink -> tmp.dir.real
-rw-r--r-- 1 raharris staff    29 Jun 29 09:12 tmp.file.real
lrwxr-xr-x 1 raharris staff    13 Jun 29 09:12 tmp.file.symlink -> tmp.file.real

Double check your SMB version on both ends. You want at least version 3 or you'll have all kinds of problems.

See if the "mfsymlinks" mount option improves things

It isn't a question of anything being out of date. If there is a discrepancy in how the two sides are configured, they may connect with an older protocol as a fallback. SMB is very picky. I don't know what you mean about "severe flaws". SSHFS should work fine.

HWTech: that’s reasonable text. CIFS is from the SMBv1 era. Disappointed that SMBv1/CIFS is the default, though. Microsoft has been actively trying to kill all use of SMBv1, and for good reason. It’s insecure.

Programmers need to eat too.

The app does have a trail period. Once you set up your shares, they run forever and you can edit to see how the shares are done.

R