Automic VaultAutomic Vault

brew

Install netatalk with Homebrew, apk, apt, dnf, MacPorts, Nix

File server for Macs, compliant with Apple Filing Protocol (AFP). Version 4.5.0 via Homebrew; verified 2026-06-22.

Install commandSecurity notes

install

Additional install commands

macOS

Homebrewverified · 100%
brew install netatalk

local Homebrew formula metadata

MacPortsverified · 94%
sudo port install netatalk

MacPorts ports tree · net/netatalk/Portfile · source: api.github.com

Linux

Alpine Linux apkverified · 92%
sudo apk add netatalk

Alpine Linux edge package indexes · netatalk · source: dl-cdn.alpinelinux.org

Debian aptverified · 92%
sudo apt install a2boot

Debian stable package indexes · a2boot · source: deb.debian.org

Fedora dnfverified · 92%
sudo dnf install netatalk

Fedora Rawhide package metadata · netatalk · source: dl.fedoraproject.org

Nixverified · 92%
nix profile install nixpkgs#netatalk

nixpkgs package indexes · pkgs/by-name/ne/netatalk/package.nix · source: api.github.com

Ubuntu aptverified · 92%
sudo apt install netatalk

Ubuntu 24.04 LTS package indexes · netatalk · source: archive.ubuntu.com

overview

Package summary

File server for Macs, compliant with Apple Filing Protocol (AFP)

Commands and aliases

  • a2boot
  • addump
  • aecho
  • afp_lantest
  • afp_logintest
  • afp_spectest
  • afp_speedtest
  • afparg
  • afpd
  • afpldaptest
  • afppasswd
  • afpstats
  • asip-status
  • atalkd
  • cnid_dbd
  • cnid_metad
  • dbd
  • fce_listen
  • getzones
  • macipgw
  • macusers
  • nad
  • nbplkup
  • nbprgstr
  • nbpunrgstr
  • netatalk
  • pap
  • papd
  • papstatus
  • rtmpqry
  • timelord

history

Project history and usage

Netatalk is the open source AFP and AppleTalk file-server suite for Unix-like systems. It lets Unix, Linux, BSD, and macOS hosts serve files to Classic Mac OS, early Mac OS X, modern macOS AFP clients, and some third-party AFP clients.

Project history

Netatalk's own roadmap summarizes major feature history from 1990 through 2013, and later releases continued the AFP server line. The project has moved from classic AppleTalk-oriented service into AFP-over-TCP, macOS interoperability, CNID backends, Zeroconf, Spotlight-style search, and then renewed retro-networking support.

The 3.x series emphasized modern AFP service, including a unified `afp.conf`, filesystem extended attributes, AFP 3.4 compliance, Samba interoperability, and production-server features. The 4.x line brought back AppleTalk support behind explicit build and configuration flags, serving the revived vintage Mac and Apple II networking audience.

Adoption history

Netatalk became important wherever Unix systems needed to look like AppleShare servers. Its official site emphasizes that conforming macOS, Mac OS X, and Classic Mac OS systems can connect out of the box; the 2.2 release notes also describe AppleTalk routing, print serving, PAP printer access, and related tools.

Its modern adoption is split: production AFP servers are narrower because SMB became the dominant macOS file-sharing protocol, but vintage-computing users, retro NAS projects, and mixed Mac labs still need AFP, AppleDouble metadata handling, CNID databases, MacIP, and AppleTalk-era utilities.

Homebrew showed a small but real audience, with 618 stable installs and 5 HEAD installs in the 365-day formula window. That tracks with a specialist server package rather than a general desktop tool.

How it is used

Package users run `afpd` through the `netatalk` service controller, configure shares in `afp.conf`, manage AFP passwords with `afppasswd`, and use bundled diagnostic/test tools such as `afp_lantest`, `afp_speedtest`, and `asip-status`.

Retro-networking users care about whether AppleTalk is compiled and enabled, plus companion daemons and tools such as `atalkd`, `papd`, `nbplkup`, `getzones`, `macipgw`, `a2boot`, and `timelord`. Modern server users care more about authentication, metadata storage, CNID reliability, Zeroconf advertisement, and macOS Finder behavior.

Why package nerds care

Netatalk is packaging as protocol preservation. It keeps AFP and AppleTalk workflows usable after Apple's own platform incentives moved elsewhere, and it packages many small protocol-era utilities that would be painful to rebuild piecemeal.

Timeline

  • 1990: Netatalk roadmap begins its earlier release-history summary.
  • 2.1 series: AFP 3.2 compliance, IPv6 support, and Zeroconf service discovery appear in the roadmap summary.
  • 2.2 series: AFP 3.3 compliance and filesystem change events appear in the roadmap summary.
  • 3.0 series: unified `afp.conf`, extended-attributes metadata backend, service controller daemon, and `afpstats` appear in the roadmap summary.
  • 3.1 series: AFP 3.4 compliance, Spotlight-compatible indexed search, MySQL CNID backend, and Samba interoperability appear in the roadmap summary.
  • September 2024: 4.0.0 release notes document AppleTalk support requiring the `-Dwith-appletalk=true` build option and `appletalk = yes` configuration.
  • January 11, 2025: 4.1.0 news archive announced improved macOS-host interoperability and MacIP Gateway improvements.

Related projects

  • AppleShare
  • Apple Filing Protocol
  • AppleTalk
  • MacIP
  • Samba
  • RetroNAS
  • afpfs-ng

security posture

Risk level: orange

formula declares a Homebrew service.

Risk classifier

orange risk · medium confidence · infrastructure

Why

  • formula declares a Homebrew service

Signals

  • metadata:service

Install behavior

  • No Homebrew post-install hook is recorded in formula metadata.
  • Formula metadata declares a service or daemon block.
  • Homebrew bottle metadata is available for 6 platform targets.
  • Installs with 9 runtime dependencies.
  • Build metadata lists 4 build dependencies.

Recommended review

Before unattended agent use, check whether the tool reads plaintext credentials, writes remote state, publishes artifacts, or shells out to plugins.

local files

Configuration and credential file locations

These source-backed paths show where this package keeps local settings or durable credentials. Automic Vault can use them as review targets for secret scanning, migration, and command approval.

Configuration files

Config paths the tool may read or write during local use.

Unix
afp.conf in the compiled Netatalk configuration directoryextmap.conf in the compiled Netatalk configuration directory

Credential files

Credential-bearing paths to review before unattended agent runs.

Unix
afppasswdafppasswd.srpafppasswd.key in the compiled Netatalk configuration directory

executables

Installed executables

CommandKindExposureNote
a2bootcliglobal executable
addumpcliglobal executable
aechocliglobal executable
afp_lantestcliglobal executable
afp_logintestcliglobal executable
afp_spectestcliglobal executable
afp_speedtestcliglobal executable
afpargcliglobal executable
afpdcliglobal executable
afpldaptestcliglobal executable
afppasswdcliglobal executable
afpstatscliglobal executable
asip-statuscliglobal executable
atalkdcliglobal executable
cnid_dbdcliglobal executable
cnid_metadcliglobal executable
dbdcliglobal executable
fce_listencliglobal executable
getzonescliglobal executable
macipgwcliglobal executable
macuserscliglobal executable
nadcliglobal executable
nbplkupcliglobal executable
nbprgstrcliglobal executable
nbpunrgstrcliglobal executable
netatalkcliglobal executable
papcliglobal executable
papdcliglobal executable
papstatuscliglobal executable
rtmpqrycliglobal executable
timelordcliglobal executable

freshness

Version and freshness

These signals separate page generation age, package-manager activity, and upstream release comparison. Version lag is warned only when an evidence URL and comparable versions are present.

page generated2026-07-08
manager version4.5.0
manager updated2026-06-22
local dataok
upstreamnot checked
latest detectednot detected

https://github.com/Netatalk/netatalk

install metadata

Package metadata

Package keybrew:netatalk
Version4.5.0
Package managerHomebrew
Package manager pagehttps://formulae.brew.sh/formula/netatalk
Homepagehttps://netatalk.io
Repositoryhttps://github.com/Netatalk/netatalk
Upstream docshttps://github.com/Netatalk/netatalk#readme
LicenseGPL-2.0-or-later AND BSD-2-Clause AND BSD-3-Clause AND HPND AND HPND-Pbmplus AND Kazlib AND LGPL-2.0-or-later AND LGPL-2.1-or-later
Source archivehttps://github.com/Netatalk/netatalk/releases/download/netatalk-4-5-0/netatalk-4.5.0.tar.xz
Last updated2026-06-22T14:05:36-07:00
Pulseupdated
Dependenciesberkeley-db@5, bstring, cracklib, iniparser, libevent, libgcrypt, mariadb-connector-c, openldap, talloc
Build dependenciescmark-gfm, meson, ninja, pkgconf
Uses from macOSkrb5, libxcrypt, perl, sqlite
Bottleavailable (on arm64_linux, arm64_sequoia, arm64_sonoma, arm64_tahoe, sonoma, x86_64_linux)
Homebrew post-installnot defined
Servicedeclared
CaveatsAuthenticating as a system user requires manually installing the PAM configuration file to a predetermined location by running: sudo install -d -o $USER -g admin /usr/local/etc mkdir -p /usr/local/etc/pam.d cp $(brew --prefix)/etc/pam.d/netatalk /usr/local/etc/pam.d See `man pam.conf` for more information.

registry facts

Source database details

Source DatabaseHomebrew formula API
Taphomebrew/core
Full Namenetatalk
Version Scheme0
Revision0
Head VersionHEAD
Bottle Stable Root URLhttps://ghcr.io/v2/homebrew/core
Deprecatedno
Disabledno
Keg Onlyno
URL Keys
  • head
  • stable

source database matches

Other package-manager records

Matches are pulled from external package-manager indexes and kept separate from local Automic Vault package links.

Debian apt95%

a2boot 4.2.3~ds-1+deb13u1

AppleTalk Network Suite (Apple II NetBoot)

https://github.com/Netatalk/netatalk

sudo apt install a2boot
  • Section: net
  • Architecture: amd64
  • Source Package: netatalk
  • 5 dependencies
  • normalized package name match
  • Matched by: Netatalk
Debian stable package indexes · deb.debian.org · Debian stable package indexes: a2boot from https://deb.debian.org/debian/dists/stable/main/binary-amd64/Packages.xz
Debian apt95%

atalkd 4.2.3~ds-1+deb13u1

AppleTalk Network Suite

https://github.com/Netatalk/netatalk

sudo apt install atalkd
  • Section: net
  • Architecture: amd64
  • Source Package: netatalk
  • 3 dependencies
  • 4 optional deps
  • normalized package name match
  • Matched by: Netatalk
Debian stable package indexes · deb.debian.org · Debian stable package indexes: atalkd from https://deb.debian.org/debian/dists/stable/main/binary-amd64/Packages.xz
Debian apt95%

libatalk 4.2.3~ds-1+deb13u1

Apple Filing Protocol service (shared library)

https://github.com/Netatalk/netatalk

sudo apt install libatalk
  • Section: libs
  • Architecture: amd64
  • Source Package: netatalk
  • 8 dependencies
  • normalized package name match
  • Matched by: Netatalk
Debian stable package indexes · deb.debian.org · Debian stable package indexes: libatalk from https://deb.debian.org/debian/dists/stable/main/binary-amd64/Packages.xz
Debian apt95%

libatalk-dev 4.2.3~ds-1+deb13u1

Apple Filing Protocol service (development files)

https://github.com/Netatalk/netatalk

sudo apt install libatalk-dev
  • Section: libdevel
  • Architecture: amd64
  • Source Package: netatalk
  • 1 dependencies
  • normalized package name match
  • Matched by: Netatalk
Debian stable package indexes · deb.debian.org · Debian stable package indexes: libatalk-dev from https://deb.debian.org/debian/dists/stable/main/binary-amd64/Packages.xz
Debian apt95%

macipgw 4.2.3~ds-1+deb13u1

AppleTalk Network Suite (MacIP Gateway)

https://github.com/Netatalk/netatalk

sudo apt install macipgw
  • Section: net
  • Architecture: amd64
  • Source Package: netatalk
  • 5 dependencies
  • normalized package name match
  • Matched by: Netatalk
Debian stable package indexes · deb.debian.org · Debian stable package indexes: macipgw from https://deb.debian.org/debian/dists/stable/main/binary-amd64/Packages.xz
Debian apt95%

netatalk 4.2.3~ds-1+deb13u1

Apple Filing Protocol service

https://github.com/Netatalk/netatalk

sudo apt install netatalk
  • Section: net
  • Architecture: amd64
  • 23 dependencies
  • 8 optional deps
  • normalized package name match
  • Matched by: Netatalk
Debian stable package indexes · deb.debian.org · Debian stable package indexes: netatalk from https://deb.debian.org/debian/dists/stable/main/binary-amd64/Packages.xz
Debian apt95%

netatalk-doc 4.2.3~ds-1+deb13u1

Apple Filing Protocol service (documentation)

https://github.com/Netatalk/netatalk

sudo apt install netatalk-doc
  • Section: doc
  • Architecture: all
  • Source Package: netatalk
  • normalized package name match
  • Matched by: Netatalk
Debian stable package indexes · deb.debian.org · Debian stable package indexes: netatalk-doc from https://deb.debian.org/debian/dists/stable/main/binary-amd64/Packages.xz
Debian apt95%

netatalk-tests 4.2.3~ds-1+deb13u1

Apple Filing Protocol service (test tools)

https://github.com/Netatalk/netatalk

sudo apt install netatalk-tests
  • Section: net
  • Architecture: amd64
  • Source Package: netatalk
  • 2 dependencies
  • normalized package name match
  • Matched by: Netatalk
Debian stable package indexes · deb.debian.org · Debian stable package indexes: netatalk-tests from https://deb.debian.org/debian/dists/stable/main/binary-amd64/Packages.xz
Debian apt95%

netatalk-tools 4.2.3~ds-1+deb13u1

Apple Filing Protocol service (administrative tools)

https://github.com/Netatalk/netatalk

sudo apt install netatalk-tools
  • Section: net
  • Architecture: amd64
  • Source Package: netatalk
  • 12 dependencies
  • normalized package name match
  • Matched by: Netatalk
Debian stable package indexes · deb.debian.org · Debian stable package indexes: netatalk-tools from https://deb.debian.org/debian/dists/stable/main/binary-amd64/Packages.xz
Debian apt95%

papd 4.2.3~ds-1+deb13u1

AppleTalk Network Suite (PAP Print Server)

https://github.com/Netatalk/netatalk

sudo apt install papd
  • Section: net
  • Architecture: amd64
  • Source Package: netatalk
  • 5 dependencies
  • 1 optional deps
  • normalized package name match
  • Matched by: Netatalk
Debian stable package indexes · deb.debian.org · Debian stable package indexes: papd from https://deb.debian.org/debian/dists/stable/main/binary-amd64/Packages.xz
Debian apt95%

timelord 4.2.3~ds-1+deb13u1

AppleTalk Network Suite (Timelord Time Server)

https://github.com/Netatalk/netatalk

sudo apt install timelord
  • Section: net
  • Architecture: amd64
  • Source Package: netatalk
  • 4 dependencies
  • normalized package name match
  • Matched by: Netatalk
Debian stable package indexes · deb.debian.org · Debian stable package indexes: timelord from https://deb.debian.org/debian/dists/stable/main/binary-amd64/Packages.xz
Nix95%

netatalk

nix profile install nixpkgs#netatalk
  • normalized package name match
  • Matched by: Netatalk
nixpkgs package indexes · api.github.com · nixpkgs package indexes: pkgs/by-name/ne/netatalk/package.nix from https://api.github.com/repos/NixOS/nixpkgs/git/trees/master?recursive=1
Ubuntu apt95%

netatalk 3.1.18~ds-1build4

Apple Filing Protocol service

https://github.com/Netatalk/netatalk

sudo apt install netatalk
  • Section: universe/net
  • Architecture: amd64
  • 25 dependencies
  • 10 optional deps
  • normalized package name match
  • Matched by: Netatalk
Ubuntu 24.04 LTS package indexes · archive.ubuntu.com · Ubuntu 24.04 LTS package indexes: netatalk from https://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/noble/universe/binary-amd64/Packages.gz
apk95%

netatalk 4.5.0-r0

Open Source AFP fileserver

https://netatalk.io/

sudo apk add netatalk
  • License: GPL-2.0-or-later
  • Architecture: x86_64
  • Source Package: netatalk
  • 1 dependencies
  • 1 provides
  • normalized package name match
  • Matched by: Netatalk
Alpine Linux edge package indexes · dl-cdn.alpinelinux.org · Alpine Linux edge package indexes: netatalk from https://dl-cdn.alpinelinux.org/alpine/edge/community/x86_64/APKINDEX.tar.gz
apk95%

netatalk-dev 4.5.0-r0

Open Source AFP fileserver (development files)

https://netatalk.io/

sudo apk add netatalk-dev
  • License: GPL-2.0-or-later
  • Architecture: x86_64
  • Source Package: netatalk
  • 1 dependencies
  • normalized package name match
  • Matched by: Netatalk
Alpine Linux edge package indexes · dl-cdn.alpinelinux.org · Alpine Linux edge package indexes: netatalk-dev from https://dl-cdn.alpinelinux.org/alpine/edge/community/x86_64/APKINDEX.tar.gz
apk95%

netatalk-doc 4.5.0-r0

Open Source AFP fileserver (documentation)

https://netatalk.io/

sudo apk add netatalk-doc
  • License: GPL-2.0-or-later
  • Architecture: x86_64
  • Source Package: netatalk
  • normalized package name match
  • Matched by: Netatalk
Alpine Linux edge package indexes · dl-cdn.alpinelinux.org · Alpine Linux edge package indexes: netatalk-doc from https://dl-cdn.alpinelinux.org/alpine/edge/community/x86_64/APKINDEX.tar.gz

package graph

Links come from deterministic package relationships, av.db category and tag curation, ecosystem matches, and package hub membership.

Related tools

  • cracklibRuntime dependency declared by Homebrew.
  • libeventRuntime dependency declared by Homebrew.
  • libgcryptRuntime dependency declared by Homebrew.
  • mariadb-connector-cRuntime dependency declared by Homebrew.
  • openldapRuntime dependency declared by Homebrew.
  • cmark-gfmBuild dependency declared by Homebrew.
  • mesonBuild dependency declared by Homebrew.
  • ninjaBuild dependency declared by Homebrew.

Same workflow

  • copypartyShares av.db curated category or tags: cli, file-server, file-sharing, networking.
  • dufsShares av.db curated category or tags: cli, file-server, file-sharing, networking.
  • webdavShares av.db curated category or tags: cli, file-server, file-sharing, networking.
  • btpdShares av.db curated category or tags: cli, file-sharing, networking.
  • gtk-gnutellaShares av.db curated category or tags: cli, file-sharing, networking.
  • ncdcShares av.db curated category or tags: cli, file-sharing, networking.

source trail

Generated from repository data

This page is generated by av-web from the private package SQLite artifact built by scripts/generate-pkg-sqlite.py.

Used sources

  • Geiger risk classifier
  • Nucleus package database
  • av.db category and tag curation
  • cross-ecosystem install command graph
  • curated configuration and credential file locations
  • curated package history
  • external package-manager database matches
  • package relationship graph
  • package version freshness
  • package-page enrichment