[Samba] VFS module - symlinks on MacOS

[Kees van Vloten]

Op 18-06-2024 om 12:25 schreef Dan Greenfield via samba:
> Hi, having written a VFS module, I’d like to have a MacOS client read symlinks that were created on the Linux backend.
>
> I do not want to be storing Minshall+French symlinks. I want real symlinks on the backend filesystem, and for the MacOS client to be creating real symlinks.
> https://wiki.samba.org/index.php/UNIX_Extensions#Minshall.2BFrench_symlinks
>
> Is there any support for this, or will I need to write something that automatically translates Minshall+French style into real symlinks?
>
> Kind regards,
>     Dan
>
Unix-extensions for SMB 3 are not available yet.

The current plan (as I learned at SambaXP) is that Linux SMB-clients 
will store Minshall+French (or alike) symlinks on the SMB-server. That 
means that if your client has /home mounted over SMB, it use a secondary 
location on the server (for example /srv/smbserver/home). Then you can 
mount it at /home on the server by using SMB as well and you get the 
interpreted (real) symlinks on your /home.

In other words, SMB Unix-extensions will not allow the same scenario as 
with NFS, where a mounted /home on the client can be the local /home on 
the server and be viewed on client and server as the same thing.

- Kees.