Can I share an external APFS drive over the network?

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Level 1

8 points

Can I share an external APFS drive over the network?

I recently bought a USB 3 external drive and attached it to my primary Mac. I formatted it with disk utility to have one HFS+ and one APFS partition then put 3 volumes on the APFS partition. My secondary Mac can see the HFS+ partition fine. But it does not see the APFS partition or volumes. I also added the volumes to the Shared Folders list in File Sharing system preference on the primary Mac. If I plug the external drive directly into the secondary Mac, it can use the APFS volumes no problem.

primary Mac = iMac 5K on macOS 10.13.2

secondary Mac = MacBook Pro on macOS 10.13.2

external drive = Seagate Backup + 8TB

Do I need to do something else so the secondary Macs can see the APFS volumes?

iMac (Retina 5K, 27-inch, Late 2014), OS X Yosemite (10.10.4), OS X Mail and iCloud

Posted on Jan 4, 2018 5:04 PM

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Answer 1

Barney-15E

Level 10

122,240 points

Jan 4, 2018 6:17 PM in response to capnhi9er

APFS must be shared out via SMB. Not sure if this is your problem, but possibly.

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Answer 2

Barney-15E

Level 10

122,240 points

Jan 6, 2018 1:41 PM in response to capnhi9er

That "tired old Windows protocol" is used by virtually everyone and everything in the world. It doesn't make any sense to maintain a file sharing protocol virtually nobody uses.

You don't need a NetBios name nor a WINS server for SMB. They have nothing to do with one-another. You also should not need to enable an account for SMB sharing. Just check the box at the top of the dialog. You shouldn't enable anything under "Windows Sharing" at all.

Have you tried Connect to Server and enter smb://ip-address-of-the-server (you can find that on the Sharing pane of the server Mac).

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Answer 3

capnhi9er Author

Level 1

8 points

Jan 6, 2018 4:27 PM in response to Barney-15E

I think Apple owes us Mac-only guys a better explanation than that. I had seen that article but got lost trying to track down how to do it once I knew I had to share it under SMB.

Now that you show it to me, my Sharing panel does have that address. I am used to just logging into the Computer Name so I missed the significance of the addresses in what looks like an explanation.

I just hope Apple will provide a complete article on how to share APFS because I bet I am not the only person who will be confused. And maybe then could make SMB shares appear under the computer name the same way AFP shares do.

Anyway, thanks again, you got me running. I appreciate it.

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Answer 4

Barney-15E

Level 10

122,240 points

Jan 6, 2018 4:22 PM in response to capnhi9er

This is all I'm aware of: Prepare for APFS in macOS High Sierra - Apple Support

Yours doesn't show this:

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Answer 5

capnhi9er Author

Level 1

8 points

Jan 5, 2018 10:52 AM in response to Barney-15E

Seems a bit counterintuitive - to use Apple's shiny new file system you have to use a tired old Windows protocol.

I am trying but I am not getting very far. I went to Sharing > Options and turned on SMB and entered the password for the master account. I removed and added the AFPS volumes again. Still nothing visible on the secondary Mac. I went to Network > Advanced > WINS and it shows the same NetBIOS Name as my primary Mac name, WORKGROUP and no WINS Servers. Still nothing visible on the secondary Mac under Network or Finder > Go > Connect to Server > Browse.

I have tried to find more info on the Support site but all the articles relate to either connecting a PC to a Mac or a Mac to a PC. Is there anything useful anywhere about connecting Mac to Mac via SMB?

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Answer 6

capnhi9er Author

Level 1

8 points

Jan 6, 2018 1:39 PM in response to Barney-15E

OK, I accept the point about universality. That is one of the reasons Apple is so successful. They know when to add value uniquely and when to go with the flow. But you will have to agree there is nothing intuitive about this procedure.

Your solution worked!!! (BTW there is no ip address in the Sharing pane. I used the one in Network > Wi-Fi > Advanced > TCP/IP which works.)

Do you know if there is an article on the Support Site (or anywhere else) that explains this procedure in Mac to Mac APFS terms?

Thanks for your help. I could never have done it without you

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