[Samba] OS X client symlinks

[Todd Thorson]

When you say “real symlinks on OSX” do you mean an “alias” that Finder would create? Or a Unix-type symlink using the “ ln -s file link” command in Terminal?  A Finder alias is not the same as a Unix-type symlink.

My NAS runs Debian Linux with version 4.3.11 of smbd; my clients are all OSX Mojave. 
If I create an alias using Finder on the NAS, it behaves like a normal alias in OSX UNLESS I move the original file on the NAS - in this case, Finder can find the original file, but will not open it unless I select “Show Original”.  
If I create Unix symlink, Finder will open the file UNLESS I move the linked file - in this case Finder CANNOT find the original file - the symlink is broken .

What version of samba do you have?  smbd -V on my NAS
Do you have vfs_fruit, vfs_catia & vfs_streams_xattr compiled in?  smbd -b on my NAS
Check also for the HAVE_AIO_XXX  in the Defines and vfs_aio_xxx in the Build Options. 
What is your smb.conf?