Take Control of Sharing Files in Leopard

Don't buy this book!

Even if you are using Leopard, you should instead buy Take Control of Sharing Files in Snow Leopard. This Leopard book was great when it was released, covering all the latest Leopard details with a 2007 outlook. 2007 was about a century ago in Internet years, so when we created the Snow Leopard edition in 2009, we created it with an eye to including Leopard users. The changes in Mac OS X between Leopard and Snow Leopard are not that large, but the changes in the world overall make the Leopard ebook somewhat obsolete.

More Info
Contents & Intro
FAQ
Blog

Read Me First
Introduction
Quick Start
Share Files on the Same Mac
What Is File Sharing?
Reasons for File Sharing
What You Need to Serve Files
Decide on a File-Sharing Method
Avoid File-Sharing Risks
Share Files
Share Digital Media Files
Access Shared Files
Dismount a Server
Appendix A: Sleep and Sharing Files
About This Book

Read Me First

This book helps you share documents among computers and over the Internet safely, using the file-sharing options available in Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard. This book was written by Glenn Fleishman, edited by Tonya Engst, and published by TidBITS Publishing Inc.

Introduction

In the late 1980s, when only a few million academics and governmental types had easy access to a very slow Internet and even most business users couldn't afford pricey Ethernet gear, we hoi polloi had two ways to share files: sneakernet and snail mail. The algorithm for sneakernet was to insert a floppy disk, copy files to the floppy, eject the floppy, walk (in sneakers) across the room, insert the floppy, and copy files from the floppy. A little tedious, but it got the job done.

For distances beyond the reach of sneakernet, the algorithm changed. Instead of walking across the room, you inserted the floppy in a padded envelope and walked it to the post office or called FedEx.

Even today, sneakernet and snail mail are useful for transferring huge quantities of data—imagine the gigabits you can "transmit" when you send a bunch of hard drives by overnight mail or walk a DVD-R across a room—but most people share files through multiple accounts on the same computer, over local area networks comprised of wired Ethernet and wireless Wi-Fi links, or over the Internet using dial-up modems, broadband connections, and high-speed dedicated lines.

In Take Control of Sharing Files in Leopard, I help you identify the right computer setup for exchanging files among users in your situation, with a particular emphasis on users working on networked computers. I focus on Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard as the hub of these activities, but the principles are the same on all platforms, and many specifics are identical or quite similar in Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger.

I also explain how to connect to a Mac running Leopard from Windows XP and Vista and from Mac OS X 10.2 through 10.4.

Note: To keep this book focused on file sharing, we broke out two related topics into full-length titles of their own:

Quick Start to Sharing Files in Leopard

This book contains many details, not all of which may be relevant to your situation. You do not need to read every word before sharing files, but you should be familiar with the overall process first.

Prepare to share files:

Before you think about the big world of sharing files on a network, you may wish to review techniques for sharing files among users on a single Macintosh. See Share Files on the Same Mac.
Learn how file sharing is different from using disks to copy files from computer to computer or using email attachments to move files around. See What Is File Sharing?.
Review reasons to share files, and see which match your situation. See Reasons for File Sharing.
Decide on the hardware or online service that you'll use as your file sharing server; see What You Need to Serve Files .
Determine which file sharing method makes sense for your goals, budget, and expertise. Learn about Apple Filing Protocol, FTP, Pando, and others. See Decide on a File-Sharing Method .
Take steps to manage security risks by becoming informed about what you expose when you share files over the Internet. See Avoid File-Sharing Risks.

Start sharing files:

Decide which folders and volumes to share, set up accounts for users, and choose their access privileges for viewing, storing, and modifying items. Learn about Apple Filing Protocol, Samba, FTP, and Web particulars for sharing files. See Share Files.
Start sharing photos and music from iTunes and iPhoto; see Share Digital Media Files.

Access shared files:

Access shared files from Mac OS 9, Mac OS X, Windows XP, and Windows Vista. See Access Shared Files.

Update Plans

October 2009 -- We have no plans to update the Leopard edition of this book, but the Snow Leopard edition is now available.

—Tonya Engst

Snow Leopard Data Loss Bug

November 2, 2009 --

Apple has publicly acknowledged a rare but nasty data-destroying bug related to using the Guest account in Snow Leopard. The bug appears to be associated with having a Guest account already set up before you upgrade to Snow Leopard. While there is currently no fix available, we hope to see one in 10.6.2. To learn more, check out my TidBITS article, Apple Acknowledges Guest Account Data Loss Bug. [This bug was fixed in 10.6.2.]

—Doug McLean

Home Sharing vs. iTunes Sharing

October 16, 2009 --

Home Sharing, a new feature in iTunes 9, makes it possible to easily share media among family members (or any group where everyone is authorized on the same iTunes Store account). While the feature is a clear win for sharing iPhone apps, several Take Control authors have been perplexed by Home Sharing, either because the feature didn't perform as they'd expected, or because it's difficult to concisely explain the differences between it and the old iTunes Sharing feature. Thankfully, Take Control author Ted Landau's recent Mac Observer article tackles the subject. If you're interested in gaining a deeper understanding of how to share media in iTunes, check it out!

—Doug McLean

Home Sharing via iTunes

October 1, 2009 --

In this excerpt from Take Control of Sharing Files in Snow Leopard, author Glenn Fleishman discusses a new way to share iTunes Library media, the Home Sharing feature in iTunes 9.

—Tonya Engst

New iDisk Feature for Easier File Transfer

February 19, 2009 --

Earlier this month, Apple announced a new iDisk sharing feature. Working on the www.me.com Web site, a user can select a file stored on their iDisk, and then just fill in a few simple options to send an email message containing a download link for that file and a custom message. All the recipient need do is click the link in the received email message. You can read more about it, and get directions, in Joe Kissell's TidBITS article Apple Adds iDisk Sharing Feature to MobileMe.

—Tonya Engst

Dropbox for Synchronized File Sharing

February 18, 2009 --

Dropbox is a new option that might appeal for sharing files among multiple computers you own and among work groups of varying people. It's an Internet-hosted offering that provides 2 GB of storage for free, and 50 GB for $9.99 per month or $99 per year.

To use Dropbox, you install a small program under Mac OS X or Windows, as well as several flavors of Linux. The program creates a folder where you tell it to that looks just like a regular folder or directory. However, any items placed into, removed from, or modified within that directory are immediately and automatically securely synchronized with all other copies.

For an individual trying to keep certain files up to date among multiple computers, Dropbox is a simple way to avoid having to set up archives. While iDisk within MobileMe ($99 per year for all MobileMe services) can achieve this, it's not a good option for non-Mac users, and it has delays in synchronizing. It's also, frankly, not very clever about how it performs updates.

Dropbox also shines for workgroups. You can, via the service's Web interface, take any folder and share it to a group of people you select. On accepting an invitation to share the folder (via email notification and then the Web site), the folder appears in their Dropbox folder and, again, works like any other folder.

Dropbox also archives files as you modify them, allowing you to download older revisions via their Web site. It also hosts simple photo galleries, and more. You can read more about Dropbox at TidBITS in Dropbox: A Collaborator's Dream.

—Glenn Fleishman

Sharing Update in Mac OS X 10.5.5

September 15, 2008 --

Apple made a minor change to how the File Sharing service displays shared volumes, along with the accompanying explanation, in its Mac OS X 10.5.5 update that incorporated Security Update 2008-006 on 15-Sep-2008. Before this update, the list of Shared Folders excluded Public Folders in other user's home directories. Those now appear.

Apple also improved the text that explains what's shared. An user account with administrative access enabled can access any mounted volume, including the hard drive from which Mac OS X started up. This wasn't indicated prior to 10.5.5, and is a minor security flaw by omission.

The view before 10.5.5:

The view starting with 10.5.5:

—Glenn Fleishman

PureFTPd Manager

June 16, 2008 --

I'm embarrassed to say that I just now noticed that PureFTPd Manager, a Mac OS X package that allows you to install and work with a great FTP server, was updated last fall to work with Leopard. The software, which is donationware, lets you use PureFTPd, a high-quality FTP server with an enormous number of configuration options. PureFTPd Manager gives you a control-panel-like interface to set each of these many options. If you're planning on setting up any Mac as an FTP server, I cannot recommend Leopard's built-in FTP server due to its limitations. PureFTPd I recommend wholeheartedly.

—Glenn Fleishman

Various Sharing Facts & Tips

December 14, 2007 --

I just learned a few facts which might aid readers of this book regarding a few semi-related areas. These are noted below.

Sharing Only Users Limited to AFP

In the current edition of the book, I don't made it clear that Sharing Only users can only access volumes over a network via AFP (Apple Filing Protocol). Only full account users can access volumes via FTP and Samba, as well as AFP.

FTP Doesn't Restrict Access to Shared Folders

While this might be obvious, I never stated in the book that Leopard's FTP server doesn't limit access to those users connecting via FTP to just the volumes and folders specific in the Shared Folders list. FTP doesn't have a mechanism that allows a selection from among multiple volumes. Thus FTP users who connect can traverse all hard drives and mounted volumes on a system through paths that they have at least read-only access to.

This is another reason to not use Apple's FTP server - or to use FTP at all, in my book (figuratively and literally).

Guest Users Have No FTP Access

While mentioned in the book in passing, I have confirmed with Apple that the lack of access to a computer via FTP using the password-free Guest account is not a bug; it's intentional.

—Glenn Fleishman

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Book Info

iPad & Kindle

About the Author

Book Reviews

Reviews of Previous Editions

Author Interviews

Table of Contents

Read Me First

Introduction

Quick Start to Sharing Files in Leopard

Prepare to share files:

Start sharing files:

Access shared files:

Can I read this ebook on an iPad, iPhone, iPod touch, or Kindle?

Ask a Question

Send Us Your Comments!

Update Plans

Snow Leopard Data Loss Bug

Home Sharing vs. iTunes Sharing

Home Sharing via iTunes

New iDisk Feature for Easier File Transfer

Dropbox for Synchronized File Sharing

Sharing Update in Mac OS X 10.5.5

PureFTPd Manager

Various Sharing Facts & Tips

Sharing Only Users Limited to AFP

FTP Doesn't Restrict Access to Shared Folders

Guest Users Have No FTP Access