afp

OS X Mavericks switches to SMB2 networking

The Apple Filing Protocol (AFP) was Apple's default networking protocol in the classic Mac OS as well as in OS X, but it has fallen out of favor with the advent of SMB2 in the upcoming OS X Mavericks.

Server Message Block (SMB) is a file transfer protocol that has been the main networking protocol for Windows-based systems. Having different default protocols has made the use of both Windows and Mac systems on the same network frustrating, since until Apple introduced native SMB support in OS X, users had to rely on third-party SMB support for sharing files with … Read more

Tackle OS X file sharing not allowing additional users

The default file-sharing protocol for OS X is Apple's "Apple Filing Protocol" (AFP) service, which is the primary service enabled when you select File Sharing in the system preferences. Enabling this will allow Macs on the same network to discover and connect to shared folders on the system, but there may be times when an error will occur that prevents users from logging on. When this happens, the client systems attempting to connect will get an message that states "this file server will not allow any additional users to log on."

This error happens because … Read more

Methods for copying files between Macs

If you have only one computer there may not be much need for file sharing; however, in many homes people have multiple systems and may wish to transfer files between them, either on the same network or in two different locations. There are a variety of ways to do this, but ultimately there are three basic transfer options: direct networking, Internet services, and the use of local devices.

Direct networking Direct networking uses standard sharing protocols such as AFP, SMB, or FTP on a basic TCP/IP connection to view and copy files. It can be done over Wi-Fi or … Read more

How-To: Quickly Share folders in OS X

OS X is by default set up so each local account can have quick network access to the account's home directory as well as locally attached filesystems to which the user has access. While this is convenient for the home user, there may be times when you would like to quickly share files with other people on the network, without either granting them access to your full user directory or continually moving files to the "Public" folder in your user account.… Read more

Security fix released for Apple AirPort Extreme Base Station

Apple released on Wednesday a security update for the AirPort Extreme Base Station with 802.11n.

The Firmware 7.3.1 update addresses the Apple Filing Protocol (AFP) vulnerability detailed in CVE-2008-1012.

Apple said there is an input validation issue in the way AirPort Extreme Base Station validates AFP requests. A maliciously crafted AFP request may cause file sharing to become unresponsive. This issue does not affect Time Capsule or AirPort Express.

The update for the Fast Ethernet version of Airport Extreme and the Gigabit Ethernet editions is available on from Apple support. Earlier this week Apple released an update … Read more