Support for Time Machine over SMB

[dp.]

@RMerlin

I use Time Machine for backing up multiple Macs through an ASUS RT-AX56U router, and I've read all of the wrtasus-merlin documtiontation, and one thread on this forum about this topic, but haven't found a definitive answer to this question -

"Does the current version (or a planned future version) of the wrtasus-merlin firmware support Time Machine over SMB, using SMB v2 or v3 with the necessary MacOS extensions?"

As of the release of MacOS 26 Tahoe last week Apple has removed Time Machine over AFP support from its operating system, and will only support Time Machine over SMB.

I also haven't gotten much of a response from ASUS Support on this. I appreciate any information on whether or how this may be supported in wrtasus-merlin.

Thanks.

 

[degrub]

Find this set of posts ?

Time machine support when AFP is removed from macOS?

In the recent macOS Sequoia 15.5 update, Apple has deprecated AFP: 'Apple Filing Protocol (AFP) client is deprecated and will be removed in a future version of macOS.' Currently Time Machine support works only over AFP as Time Machine does not see SMB shares. Is there a plan to support Time...

www.snbforums.com

 

[RMerlin]

I'm not going to implement any Mac-dedicated feature, no.

No idea what Asus' plans are, but I doubt it.

 

[kuchkovsky]

I tried using Time Machine on Asus routers some time ago, but it was too buggy. I recommend using Arq - it works over SMB if you want, stores files in an encrypted format like Time Machine, and it's very reliable. The UI isn't fancy, but it gets the job done.

 

[sfx2000]

I'm not going to implement any Mac-dedicated feature, no.

No idea what Asus' plans are, but I doubt it.

Yep - TimeMachine has matured to a point where the following protocols are not supported...

1) SMB1 - with OSX, if SMB1 was supported by the TM host, it would use it - Apple has, like others, deprecated SMB1 for obvious reasons. SMB2 or later is supported
2) AFP - NetATalk was used for service discovery - this is a legacy protocol that's been around for a long time - Apple killed that off with their ARM based Macs (they do not support AFP, period)
3) Bonjour/Avahi - currently supported by Apple, but there's sketchy support from the Router Vendors as BSP's are what they are - Avahi isn't one package, it's a bit more around services...

FWIW - Synology for their NAS boxes has sorted out most of the issues for DSM7 and later...

 

[sfx2000]

No idea what Asus' plans are, but I doubt it.

The Asus marketing team should perhaps uncheck that feature box - not a big feature for development, but it's something that customers look at...