Editing Netatalk

{{Short description|Free, open-source implementation of the Apple Filing Protocol}}
{{Infobox software
| name                   = Netatalk
| logo                   = File:Netatalk logo.svg
| caption                =
| author                 = [[University of Michigan]]
| developer              = [https://netatalk.io/contributors Contributors to the Netatalk project]
| released               = {{start date and age|df=yes|1990}}
| latest_release_version = {{wikidata|property|preferred|references|edit|Q1235942|P348|P548=Q2804309}}
| latest_release_date    = {{wikidata|qualifier|preferred|single|Q1235942|P348|P548=Q2804309|P577}}
| programming language   = {{#statements:P277|from=Q1235942}}
| operating_system       = {{#statements:P306|from=Q1235942}}
| genre                  = {{#statements:P279|from=Q1235942}}
| license                = {{#statements:P275|from=Q1235942}}
| website                = {{#statements:P856|from=Q1235942}}
| repo                   = {{#statements:P1324|from=Q1235942}}
}}
'''Netatalk''' (pronounced "ned-uh-talk")<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.umich.edu/~rsug/netatalk/faq.html |title=Netatalk FAQ |author=<!--Not stated--> |date=19 February 1996 |website=Research Systems Unix Group |publisher=The University of Michigan |archive-date=23 December 1996 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/19961223055550/http://www.umich.edu/~rsug/netatalk/faq.html | access-date=11 January 2023 |quote=How do I {{sic|nolink=y|reason=error in source|pronouce}} netatalk? Ah, good question! The unenlightened often mis-pronounce this word \'net-'a-to.k\. The correct {{sic|nolink=y|reason=error in source|pronouciation}} is \'ned-*-to.k\ (the 't' is soft, like d, and the first 'a' is a schwa).}}</ref> is a [[Free software|free]], [[Open-source software|open-source]] implementation of the [[Apple Filing Protocol]] (AFP). It allows [[Unix-like]] operating systems to serve as file servers for [[Apple Macintosh|Macintosh]] computers running [[macOS]] or [[Classic Mac OS]].

Netatalk was originally developed by the '''Research Systems Unix Group''' at the [[University of Michigan]] for [[Berkeley Software Distribution|BSD-derived Unix systems]]<ref>{{cite web | url=http://netatalk.sourceforge.net/ | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070127103530/http://netatalk.sourceforge.net/ | archive-date=2007-01-27 | title=Netatalk - Networking Apple Macintosh through Open Source }}</ref> and released in 1990. Apple had introduced [[AppleTalk]] soon after the release of the original Macintosh in 1985, followed by the file sharing application [[AppleShare]] (which was built on top of AFP) in 1987. This was an early example of [[zero-configuration networking]], gaining significant adoption in educational and small to mid size office environments in the late 80s. Netatalk emerged as a part of the software ecosystem around AppleTalk.

In 1986, [[Columbia University]] published the ''Columbia AppleTalk Package'' (CAP), which was an open source implementation of AppleTalk originally written for BSD 4.2, allowing Unix servers to be part of AppleTalk networks.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://github.com/mabam/CAP/blob/master/README | title=Mabam/CAP | website=[[GitHub]] }}</ref> CAP also had its own implementation of AFP/AppleShare, but Netatalk appearing in 1990 claimed better performance due to software design advantages.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.umich.edu/~rsug/netatalk/faq.html#1.8 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20011126202953/http://www.umich.edu/~rsug/netatalk/faq.html#1.8 | archive-date=2001-11-26 | title=Netatalk faq }}</ref> CAP and Netatalk were also interoperable, the latter being able to be run on an AppleTalk backend provided by CAP.

As part of transitioning the software into an open source community project, the codebase was moved to [[SourceForge]] for [[revision control]] in July 2000, then re-licensed under the terms of the [[GNU General Public License]] with version 1.5pre7 in August 2001.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://sourceforge.net/p/netatalk/mailman/message/7656969/ |title=Netatalk-devel Mailing List |author=<!--Not stated--> |date=28 August 2001 |website=SourceForge |access-date=11 January 2023 |quote=As of 1.5pre7, netatalk is now being distributed under the GNU Public License (GPL). Versions up to 1.5pre7 can still be modified under the BSD License, and all terms of the BSD License that do not conflict with the GPL are still in force.}}</ref>

Since Classic Mac OS uses a [[resource fork|forked file system]], unlike the host operating systems where Netatalk would be running, Netatalk originally implemented the [[AppleSingle and AppleDouble formats|AppleDouble]] format for storing the resource fork separately from the data fork when a Mac OS file was transferred to the Unix-like computer's file system. This was required in order not to ruin most files by discarding the resource fork when copied to the Netatalk served [[AppleShare]] volume. With the release of Netatalk 3.0, the backend was re-implemented to use the [[extended file attributes|Extended Attributes]] format that Apple had introduced with Mac OS X for backwards compatibility with Classic Mac OS resource forks.

== Development history ==
The original developer of Netatalk was Wesley Craig at the University of Michigan. In 1997 Adrian Sun created a popular fork, coding the initial implementation of the then-new ''AppleShare IP'' (AFP over TCP/IP) network layer.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.zettabyte.net/netatalk |title=Netatalk Faq-O-Matic |author=Bill McGonigle |date=2 March 2001 |website=Netatalk Faq-O-Matic |publisher= |archive-date=2 March 2001 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20010302141254/http://cgi.zettabyte.net/fom-serve/netatalk/cache/1.html | access-date=12 January 2023 |quote=Over the past couple years Adrian Sun has pretty much taken over the application development and has added a slew of new features, including AFP over TCP and bug fixes.}}</ref> By the time the project started transitioning into an open source model in 2000, the "ASUN" fork had been merged back into Netatalk proper.

In October 2004 Netatalk 2.0 was released, which brought major improvements, including: support for Apple Filing Protocol level 3.1 (providing long UTF-8 filenames, file sizes > 2 [[gigabyte]]s, full [[Mac OS X]] compatibility), [[CUPS]] integration, [[Kerberos (protocol)|Kerberos V]] support allowing true "[[single sign-on]]", and a more reliable file and directory ID database backend. 

Since version 2.0.5 in 2009, Netatalk supports the use of [[Time Machine (macOS)|Time Machine]] over a network in a similar fashion to [[Apple Inc.|Apple]]'s own [[Time Capsule (Apple)|Time Capsule]]. With version 2.2 released in July 2011, Netatalk introduced support for AFP protocol level 3.3, the penultimate revision of the protocol.

Version 3.0 of Netatalk was released in July 2012 and added [[INI file|ini]] style configuration, and Mac OS X compatible Extended Attributes as default, while removing AppleTalk networking support.

Netatalk 3.1, released in October 2013, added [[Spotlight (software)|Spotlight]] support in addition to improved [[Server Message Block|SMB]] interoperability.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://netatalk.sourceforge.net/3.1/ReleaseNotes3.1.0.html|title=Netatalk Release Notes|access-date=2014-01-02}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.ixsystems.com/documentation/freenas/11.2/sharing.html#apple-afp-shares|title=11. Sharing|at=11.1. Apple (AFP) Shares|work=FreeNAS® 11.2-U3 User Guide|access-date=2014-01-02}}</ref> A subsequent bugfix release added support for AFP level 3.4 (introduced in [[OS X Mountain Lion]]) which is the final revision of the protocol from Apple.

Netatalk 4.0 was made available in September 2024, bringing back the support for AppleTalk removed in 3.0, while introducing support for tunneling TCP/IP traffic to [[MacIP]], which allows LocalTalk-only Macs to connect to the Internet.

At the time of writing, Netatalk runs on the [[Linux]], [[FreeBSD]], [[OpenBSD]], [[NetBSD]], [[Solaris (operating system)|Solaris]], [[illumos]], and macOS operating systems.

== AppleTalk ==
In all Netatalk versions except the 3.x release series, the [[AppleTalk|AppleTalk (DDP)]] protocol suite is used to allow Unix-like operating systems to serve also as print ([[AppleTalk#Printer Access Protocol|PAP]] via a [[CUPS]] backend) and time (Timelord)<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.cs.mu.oz.au/appletalk/readmes/TMLD.README.html |title=Mac Time Client/Server |author=<!--Not stated--> |date=19 February 1996 |website=The University of Melbourne |archive-date=3 March 2001 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20010303220117/http://www.cs.mu.oz.au/appletalk/readmes/TMLD.README.html | access-date=12 January 2023 |quote=The tardis/Timelord package allows the Macintosh time to be set over an AppleTalk network from a Macintosh or UNIX/CAP based time server.}}</ref> servers for Macintosh computers.

Networked [[Apple IIe]] and [[Apple IIGS]] computers can be [[network booting|netbooted]] from a Netatalk shared volume. Additionally, a suite of tools for inspecting and manipulating AppleTalk networks, as well as printing to LocalTalk connected printers from modern systems is included.

== Commercial use ==
Netatalk is (or was previously) integrated into a range of [[Network Attached Storage|NAS]] solutions, including Buffalo NAS systems, [[Exanet]] ExaStore,<ref>{{cite mailing list|url=https://sourceforge.net/p/netatalk/mailman/message/11716235/|access-date=2019-02-17|title=Netatalk / Re: &#91;Netatalk-admins&#93; Video Editing|author=P. V. Anthony|date=2005-09-19|mailing-list=netatalk-admins}}</ref> [[Iomega]]'s Home Media Network Hard Drive,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://iomega.nas-central.org/wiki/Serial_port_%28Home_Media%29|title=Serial port (Home Media)|website=NAS-Central Iomega Wiki|access-date=2019-02-17|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180817110954/http://iomega.nas-central.org/wiki/Serial_port_(Home_Media)|archive-date=2018-08-17}}</ref> IXsystems TrueNAS, LaCie NAS OS, Lime Technology unRAID,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://wiki.unraid.net/Release_Notes|title=Release Notes|website=unRAID Wiki|access-date=2019-02-17}}</ref> Napp-it,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://napp-it.org/extensions/afp_en.html|title=napp-it // webbed ZFS NAS/SAN appliance for OmniOS, OpenIndiana and Solaris : Extensions|access-date=2019-02-17}}</ref> Netgear ReadyNAS, QNAP NAS, Synology DiskStation, Thecus NAS,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.thecus.com/Downloads/beta/N0204_FW_3.00.10.1.txt|title=N0204 beta firmware V3.00.10.1|website=Thecus|access-date=2019-02-17}}</ref> and more.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.netafp.com/status-of-netatalk-and-afp-support-by-nas-vendor-update-625/|title=Status of Netatalk and AFP support by NAS vendor, update|author=Ralph Böhme|date=September 22, 2011|access-date=2019-02-17}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.netafp.com/status-of-netatalk-and-afp-support-by-nas-vendor-322/|title=Status of Netatalk and AFP support by NAS vendor|author=Ralph Böhme|date=January 18, 2011|access-date=2019-02-17}}</ref>

In 2010, a company called NetAFP run by a group of Netatalk maintainers started providing commercial support for enterprise deployments of Netatalk.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.netafp.com/netatalk-support/ |title=NetAFP Netatalk Support |date=15 August 2010 |website=NetAFP |publisher= |archive-date=15 August 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100815022514/http://www.netafp.com/netatalk-support/ | access-date=11 January 2023}}</ref> The company merged with German [[Samba (software)|Samba]] vendor ''SerNet'' in December 2013, signaling the end of commercial support for Netatalk in favor of [[Server Message Block|SMB]], which Apple had made the primary file sharing protocol with the release of [[Mac OS X Mavericks]] that same year.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.sernet.de/en/news/news-detail/sernet-extends-apple-support-netatalk-joins-sernet |title=SerNet expands Apple Support – NetAFP joins SerNet |author=Ralph Böhme |date=11 December 2013 |website=SerNet |publisher=SerNet Service Network GmbH | access-date=11 January 2023 |quote=SerNet is joined by Ralph Böhme from NetAFP to further strengthen the SAMBA team. Böhme is the main developer of Netatalk, a free AFP implementation for Linux servers. [...] "Many users and manufacturers use Netatalk as Linux servers for Apple clients. Over the next two years, they need to migrate to SMB," says Ralph Böhme.}}</ref> The NetAFP website was shut down in early 2022.

== Logo ==
[[File:Netatalk Logo (1996).gif|thumb|Netatalk Logo, captured from the University of Michigan's website in 2000]]
While a project at the University of Michigan, Netatalk's logo was the head of the [[BSD Daemon]] on a [[Network topology#Daisy chain|daisy chained]] serving tray, mimicking the icon design language that Apple used for AppleTalk and AppleShare in Classic Mac OS.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://rsug.itd.umich.edu/software/netatalk.html | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190314055621/http://rsug.itd.umich.edu/software/netatalk.html | archive-date=2019-03-14 | title=Research Systems Unix Group: Netatalk }}</ref>

Coinciding with the release of Netatalk 2.0, the logo was stylized into the Daemon head silhouette with overlaid [[networking cable]]s logo that the project is presently using.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://netatalk.sourceforge.net/ | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040825081434/http://netatalk.sourceforge.net/ | archive-date=2004-08-25 | title=Netatalk - Networking Apple Macintosh through Open Source }}</ref>

== See also ==
{{Portal|Free and open-source software}}
* [[Samba (software)]]
* [[Mac OS X Server]]

==Notes==
{{Notelist}}

==References==
{{Reflist|30em}}

==External links==
* {{#statements:P856|from=Q1235942}} Official website
* {{#statements:P1324|from=Q1235942}} Official repository
* [https://netatalk.io/stable/htmldocs/ Official manual]
* [http://www.tldp.org/LDP/lame/LAME/linux-admin-made-easy/netatalk-file-and-print.html Macintosh-style File and Print Services with Netatalk] - from the Linux Documentation Project
* [https://web.archive.org/web/19961220161411/http://www.umich.edu/~rsug/netatalk RSUG Netatalk page in 1996] (archive.org)
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20190314055621/http://rsug.itd.umich.edu/software/netatalk.html RSUG Netatalk page in 2002] (archive.org)

[[Category:Network protocols]]
[[Category:Free software programmed in C]]
[[Category:Apple II software]]
[[Category:Macintosh software]]
[[Category:Software that uses Meson]]