Specifications

3 AFP Service

This chapter describes how to set up and manage AFP

service in Mac OS X Server.

AFP (Apple Filing Protocol) service allows Mac OS clients to connect to your server and

access folders and files as if they were located on their own computers. Non-Mac OS

clients can also connect to your server over AFP using third-party AFP client software.

AFP service uses version 3.2 of AFP, which supports new features such as Unicode file

names, ACLs, and 64-bit file sizes. Unicode is a standard that assigns a unique number

to every character regardless of language or the operating system used to display the

language.

Kerberos Authentication

Apple file service supports Kerberos authentication. Kerberos is a network

authentication protocol developed at MIT to provide secure authentication and

communication over open networks. In addition to the standard authentication

method, Mac OS X Server utilizes Generic Security Services Application Programming

Interface (GSSAPI) authentication protocol to support Kerberos v.5. You specify the

authentication method using the Access pane of the AFP service settings in Server

Admin. See “Changing Access Settings” on page 56. For more information on setting

up Kerberos, see the Open Directory administration guide.