When integrating Linux Samba servers with macOS environments, traditional network discovery methods often fall short of Apple's native user experience expectations. Bonjour (Apple's implementation of Zeroconf) provides automatic service discovery without manual configuration.

Before implementation, ensure your Debian system has:

• Samba 4.9+ (supports built-in mDNS publishing)
• Avahi-daemon (the Linux Zeroconf implementation)
• Properly configured firewall (UDP port 5353 open)

1. Install Required Packages

sudo apt update
sudo apt install samba avahi-daemon libnss-mdns

2. Configure Samba for mDNS Announcement

Edit your smb.conf (typically at /etc/samba/smb.conf) and add these parameters in the [global] section:

[global]
   server min protocol = SMB2
   server max protocol = SMB3
   mDNS name = register
   multicast dns register = yes

3. Avahi Service Configuration

Create a new service file at /etc/avahi/services/samba.service:

<?xml version="1.0" standalone='no'?>
<!DOCTYPE service-group SYSTEM "avahi-service.dtd">
<service-group>
  <name replace-wildcards="yes">%h SMB</name>
  <service>
    <type>_smb._tcp</type>
    <port>445</port>
  </service>
  <service>
    <type>_device-info._tcp</type>
    <port>0</port>
    <txt-record>model=Xserve</txt-record>
  </service>
</service-group>

Multiple Share Announcements

For announcing specific shares with friendly names:

<service-group>
  <name>Marketing Files</name>
  <service>
    <type>_smb._tcp</type>
    <port>445</port>
    <txt-record>path=/shares/marketing</txt-record>
  </service>
</service-group>

After restarting both services (sudo systemctl restart smbd nmbd avahi-daemon), verify with:

avahi-browse -a -t

Common issues and fixes:

• If services don't appear, check firewall: sudo ufw allow 5353/udp
• For name conflicts, set netbios name in smb.conf
• Increase logging with log level = 3 mdns:5 in smb.conf

For environments where Avahi isn't preferred, consider wsdd (Web Services Discovery Daemon):

sudo apt install wsdd
sudo systemctl enable --now wsdd

---

While Samba works perfectly for file sharing between Linux and macOS systems, native Bonjour (mDNS) discovery would significantly improve the user experience for Mac clients. Unlike Windows networks that use NetBIOS, macOS prefers zero-configuration networking through multicast DNS.

We'll need these packages on Debian:

sudo apt update
sudo apt install -y avahi-daemon libnss-mdns samba

Create a new service definition file:

sudo nano /etc/avahi/services/samba.service

Add this XML configuration (adjust for your setup):

<?xml version="1.0" standalone='no'?>
<!DOCTYPE service-group SYSTEM "avahi-service.dtd">
<service-group>
  <name replace-wildcards="yes">%h SMB</name>
  <service>
    <type>_smb._tcp</type>
    <port>445</port>
  </service>
  <service>
    <type>_device-info._tcp</type>
    <port>0</port>
    <txt-record>model=RackMac</txt-record>
  </service>
</service-group>

Ensure your smb.conf has these parameters:

[global]
   server string = %h server (Samba %v)
   netbios name = FILESERVER
   workgroup = WORKGROUP
   wins support = yes
   local master = yes
   preferred master = yes
   os level = 35

[shared]
   path = /srv/samba/shared
   browsable = yes
   read only = no
   guest ok = yes
   force user = nobody

Restart services and check status:

sudo systemctl restart avahi-daemon smbd nmbd
sudo systemctl enable avahi-daemon
avahi-browse -a -t

On macOS terminal, verify discovery works:

dns-sd -B _smb._tcp

For better identification in Finder's Network view, add these TXT records:

<txt-record>sys=waMa=0,adVF=0x100</txt-record>
<txt-record>dk0=adVF=0x100,adVU=0xffff</txt-record>
<txt-record>machine=Macmini7,1</txt-record>

If services don't appear:

1. Check firewall rules for mDNS (UDP 5353) and SMB ports
2. Verify multicast is enabled on your network
3. Inspect logs with journalctl -u avahi-daemon -f

For persistent hostname issues, set in /etc/avahi/avahi-daemon.conf:

[server]
host-name=fileserver
use-ipv4=yes
use-ipv6=yes
enable-dbus=yes