Datasheet

“main” (Installation and Administration) — 2004/6/25 — 13:29 — page 588 — #614
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With Netatalk, obtain a high-performance file and print server for Ma-
cOS clients. With it, access data on a Linux machine from a Macintosh or
print to a connected printer. Netatalk is a suite of Unix programs that run
on kernel-based DDP (datagram delivery protocol) and implement the Ap-
pleTalk protocol family (ADSP, ATP, ASP, RTMP, NBP, ZIP, AEP, and PAP).
AppleTalk is, in effect, an equivalent to the more familiar protocol TCP
(transmission control protocol). It has counterparts to many TCP/IP-based
services, including services for resolving host names and time synchroniza-
tion. For example, the command aecho (AEP, AppleTalk echo protocol) is
used instead of ping (ICMP ECHO_REQUEST, Internet control message
protocol).
The three daemons described below are normally started on the server:
atalkd (AppleTalk network manager), which corresponds to the pro-
gram ip
afpd (AppleTalk filing protocol daemon), which provides an inter-
face for Macintosh clients to Unix file systems.
papd (printer access protocol daemon), which makes printers avail-
able in the (AppleTalk) network.
Server directories can be exported simultaneously with Netatalk, Samba
for Windows clients (see Section 24.1.1 on page 577), and NFS (see Sec-
tion 21.10 on page 510), which is very useful in heterogeneous network
environments. This centralizes the management of data backup and user
permissions on the Linux server.
There are a number of limitations when working with Netatalk:
Due to Macintosh client restrictions, the user passwords on the server
cannot be longer than eight characters.
Macintosh clients cannot access Unix files with names longer than 31
characters.
File names may not contain colons (:) because they serve as path
name separators in MacOS.
588 24.2. Netatalk