MacOS X Filesharing Outside the CS network

Gaining access to files from outside the CS network can also be accomplished using the SAMBA software. However, some additional steps are necessary to set up the proper secure connection between your machine and the department server. The following FAQ is designed to help MacOS X users set up their machines to access share from outside the CS network.

These instructions were contributed by Alex Hartemink.

  1. Install stunnel (this is available from macports)
  2. Create a directory for stunnel with the appropriate (owner/group/permissions): mkdir /opt/local/var/stunnel (root/admin/1777)
  3. Get the CS department client.pem.
  4. Create an appropriate stunnel.conf file.
  5. Place the client.pem (root/admin/600) and the stunnel.conf (root/admin/644) into /opt/local/etc/stunnel.
  6. Ensure that you have a /etc/nsmb.conf file containing these lines: 
    7. 	[default]
	minauth=none
  7. With stunnel running, ensure that you can connect (Apple-K) to your department home directory on an SMB server at localhost.
  8. With stunnel running, place the attached edu.duke.cs.amink.stunnel.plist into /Library/LaunchDaemons.
  9. Reboot and check if stunnel starts automatically; this will allow you to follow the normal sharing procedure.

If you have any further questions, please contact the Lab Staff.