OSX Server 5.1.7 iOS issues

[macprobuffalo]

Hello,

I recently setup OS X server on a home network for file sharing, caching, and time machine backup.

There is definitely a problem with sharing files with iOS devices. When accessing the server through Pages or Numbers 50% of the time the device will just hang, the other 50% of the time when I can access the shared volume I get a "request timed out" error when I try to open a file.

If it makes any difference I did not setup a host name for the server as I don't intent to use any of the services that require it. The server is named "Server.local".

All iOS devices are running 9.3.3 and the server runs OS X 10.11.6

I found this thread that talks about how in Server 5.1.5 SMB signing became forced causing issues with iOS sharing. A config file can be edited to fix this issue. Is this the problem I'm having? I would think Apple would have corrected the issue since I am using a newer version of OS X Server

https://discussions.apple.com/message/30218257#30218257

 

[Xgm541]

I'm having issues with 5.1.7 specifically with SMB. Windows machines can no longer connect. If I set server to accept only AFP connections, it works fine. Not sure if your iOS apps look for AFP shares or only SMB, but it might be worth trying that.

 

[macprobuffalo]

For me windows machines work fine with SMB, however a mac running OS X 10.9 refuses to connect with SMB, that machine only works with AFP.

Is iOS sharing working fine for you?

I must say I am a bit disappointed with OS X Server, I was hoping it would be rock-solid like the old seperate OS versions of Server. Before moving server duties to Server 5 I used an old Powermac running Leopard Server - that setup was extremely stable for years.

 

[DJLC]

#1: Expecting OS X Server to be rock-solid is always a mistake.

The SMB implementation is OS X is still crap even though they've deprecated AFP which still works just fine. Apple advises against using a .local domain space for OS X Server w/ Profile Manager, and I presume this also flows down into the new iOS share mount features. I would advise you rename the server using a TLD, make sure DNS is set up right with forward AND reverse zones, and you may need to delete your Profile Manager config and destroy Open Directory and start from scratch.

 

[Xgm541]

I've looked for help on my issue. I've done the SMB config file editing your original post linked to. I've reset server completely by deleting config files (only use it for file sharing anyway...). I messed around with open directory and that ended up breaking my main admin account permissions completely (no access to home directory).

I'm reinstalling OSX completely at this point.

I agree with @DJLC about not expecting OS X server to be rock-solid, but I was literally forced to update an older version due to incompatibility with the latest version of OS X. There was no way for me to choose which version I wanted, it was only 5.1.7 or nothing.

 

[macprobuffalo]

Thanks for the insight.

I'll try the config changes also but if that still doesn't work i'll just continue using the app File Browser, it works alot better than the iOS method anyways.