Ultra4, keeping users?

[zaxxon]

Hi,

I bought an Ultra4, and I would like to move data from a firewire attached DROBO to the Ultra4. I do not want to use iSCSI, but some other FS which I can mount somewhere on the Mac Mini so the files there are viewed transparently. Especially I want to keep the users and permissions just as they are on the DROBO (hfs+). Just to make it clear: I don't need several user-accounts on the Ultra4 and those would then CMD-K connect to some shares! I need a transparent filesystem-mount onto the mini, so software running on the mini can write files there as if it's an internal or FW disk (namely Mail/iCal/Address Book server).

What's the solution to my problem?

Thank you very much for your help!

best regards
simon

[sphardy]

Your request is somewhat confusing - it is entitled "keeping users", but then states "I don't need several user-accounts". Which is it?

Note that due to ReadyNAS being a *network* attached storage device you will have to deal with user accounts and permissions at some level, unlike a directly attached Drobo where permissions etc are inherited from the host mac. Equally any such NAS will be Linux based and so cannot use HFS+ as the file system format (unless you do use iSCSI - which you don't want) so you will be required to ensure appropriate permissions are setup once data is migrated to the NAS.

Options to consider are to use NFS which enables single mount points to be shared between multiple users/computers/services and access controlled via UID and GID values rather than user/password protection - probably the best option if I interpret your question correctly. Else use AFP or CIFS - which requires user/password authentication but note that shares can be automounted with keychain stored credentials so that you do not have to enter user/password info each time.

[zaxxon]

Thanks for being not too confused And sorry for the misleading title..

I want:
a single mount, and Mail/ical/address book Server writing to that mount, preserving the owners of the files (by UID/GID, yes).

So it sounds like NFS is the way to go.
Is my interpretation correct: This way I don't have to setup individual users (like _calendar) but the Mac will write via NFS to the mount/share, using that UID. And also preserving metadata via AppleDouble?

[sphardy]

Personally I think NFS would be the best option for you - I use it extensively myself for similar reasons

Note however that Apple favours the AFP protocol and you may (or may not) hit limitations using NFS that are not necessarily faults of your ReadyNAS. So be prepared that you may need to do some "optimising"/research

Also note that you may still need to concern yourself with accounts on the ReadyNAS to ensure appropriate permissions control. By default all shares are fully "open" when accessed via NFS (permissions for shares are set as 777) and so if you want to restrict this you may need to setup user and/or group accounts as necessary, depending on the actual requirements. This is all standard practice in an NFS environment

[victorhortaliveson]

I'm butting in on your thread topic, but where can I learn some more about " .. Mail/ical/address book Server writing to that mount .."
I realise this is more an OSX issue than a ReadyNAS topic, but I would like to get Mail/ical etc to read/write my own data to a location outside my MBA's SSD - specifically a share on a ReadyNAS.
Do I need a Server to run these programmes ? At the moment I can find no way to point these programmes outside the MBAs SSD.

[sphardy]

It all depends on your need / intent.

All Apple consumer software is heavily geared to running applications locally and storing/accessing data locally. Typically if you want to have such data stored on a remote location, this is done via running an OSX server or some other compatible server/services; that server can then store data wherever you like including on a network share, often via NFS though that is not mandatory, and your mac just caches a local copy.

If however you just have a client machine and want to move the local data storage to a network share, then there are 2 primary options

1. Setup the users home share to be stored on a NAS - again typically via NFS
2. Manually move the appropriate data (all such data is stored in ~/Library) and create a symlink from the original location to the network store.

Note however that this latter option is not guaranteed to work and is unsupported by Apple - also there are numerous examples of Apple preventing applications using network storage though such restrictions can be worked around - and hence the warning in my previous post.

From my personal perspective - Option 1 has some merit, but if you have a good backup regime I don't see the point in option 2 at all. Also there are plenty of online services that work well with macs and allow synchronisation of data across multiple devices while also acting as an additional offsite backup.

For example: I'm a Google Apps user - allows me to use my own domain, syncs calendars, mail & address books etc. I back up regularly to my NAS via time machine and every month or so (as I remember to) I clone my disk to the NAS too. I then run Dropbox on my macs and ReadyNAS so that all documents are synchronised across all clients and this way all my important day to day data is virtually instantaneously backed up both locally and offsite, plus is accessible from everywhere.

[victorhortaliveson]

Thanks.
How do I enable Option 1 without using a Server ? I've tried Option 2 with Office 2011 and it just doesn't work reliably.
I have all my Win user data on a NAS share and back-up by mirroring shares onto another NAS.
Since I had 3 SSDs die on me I have avoided all but system files being on local storage.

[sphardy]

Ummm... Changed your post there...

In System Preferences, right click on the user account and you will get an "Advanced Options" menu. Select that and one of the options in the resulting dialog is the location of the home directory - change it to a network location.

FYI - I haven't done this as, like already mentioned, I don't require this.

[victorhortaliveson]

Yes, I read your post again and looked at option 1. First time through I didn't see it.
I'll give it a try. This will move all local user files to a network location ?
I wonder what OSX will say if the NAS is unavailable.

[sphardy]

Yes, I read your post again and looked at option 1. First time through I didn't see it.
I'll give it a try. This will move all local user files to a network location ?
I wonder what OSX will say if the NAS is unavailable.

I don't think your data will be moved - you would have to do that manually. Maybe it is worthwhile trying with a new account first?

If the the home directory is unavailable then I doubt you will be able to login. If the share becomes unavailable later then in my experience macs handle that quite gracefully - but worst case your account will hang.

[victorhortaliveson]

All my user data is on a ReadyNAS as I am doing everything in Win7 via Parallels, so there is no OSX data to move.

I had a go at this, but have managed to lock myself out of my account ( HaHa - need to crawl before walk etc ).
I guess there must have been some mismatch with the logins and the ReadyNAS user accounts. Duh.
I didn't change any of the default settings on the Advanced Options screen, so I'm trying to login as a member of "staff" with a 501 UUID but my ReadyNAS user settings don't correspond to these.

I think the easiest way forward now is to reinstall everything and start again. Not a problem except timewise.
This time I'll see if I can recreate an OSX user UUID etc that matches my existing ReadyNAS settings.
What fun to have tomorrow.

[sphardy]

Should have thought to say don't set the home directory to a home share on the Readynas without synchronizing UIDs first - readynas permissions on home shares are very restrictive and so this would prevent you logging in

[victorhortaliveson]

Yes, I've found that out it seems.
UUID I can see how to make the same (e.g 1002), but there also seems to be a long multi segment number that was quoted to me by OSX that I can't find on the ReadyNAS. I also found that "staff" was an existing ReadyNAS group, but I couldn't see it listed.
All this is for next time. First I'll reinstall then I'll experiment with the same UUID and group=users.

[sphardy]

UUIDs are not supported on ReadyNAS - that requires LDAP support and is also why you cannot use AFP networking in this scenario. Using NFS Leverages standard UID/GID values only

[victorhortaliveson]

Well, all back to normal. I think this option is a bit too fraught as all I want to preserve off-MBA is the user app data (pics, docs, spreadsheets etc). So it's option 2 I'm looking for after all.

I'll keep using Win7 for these until I can guarantee an OSX alternative.

Thanks anyway.