AFP_SIGNATURE.CONF(5)

💖 afp_signature.conf — the little file that gives your server its one-of-a-kind ✨signature✨

okay bestie, this is a page from the Netatalk AFP Fileserver Manual (the AFP_SIGNATURE.CONF(5) one, iykyk) and it's literally all about the config file that afpd uses to keep track of your server's signature 🎀

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🌸 NAME 🌸

afp_signature.conf — the configuration file used by afpd to specify the server signature 💅

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✨ DESCRIPTION ✨

so here's the tea, bestie: afp_signature.conf is the configuration file that afpd uses to store a server signature automatically. no manual labour required, she handles it herself 🫶

the configuration lines are composed like this:

"server-name" hexa-string

let's break it down because we are not skimming:

• the first field is the server name. server names must be quoted if they contain spaces — so "My Server", not My Server, okurrr? 💀
• the second field is the hexadecimal string of 32 characters for a 16-byte server signature, periodt.

now for the rules of the house 🏠:

• all leading spaces and tabs are ignored
• blank lines are ignored
• the lines prefixed with # are ignored
• any illegal lines are ignored

she's lenient, she's chill, she just ignores what she doesn't vibe with 💜

so what even is the server signature? it's a unique 16-byte identifier used to prevent users from logging on to the same server twice. it's basically her government name so nobody gets confused, no cap 🌈

history lesson real quick, because the glow-up is iconic: Netatalk 2.0 and earlier generated a server signature by using gethostid(). which led to a whole problem where multiple servers could end up with the same signature, because the hostid is not unique enough. tragic. 💀

Current netatalk generates the signature from random numbers and saves it into afp_signature.conf upon initial startup. for subsequent starts, it's read from this file. she's random, she's unique, she's main character energy 👑

NOTE: This file should not be thoughtlessly edited or copied onto another server. 🚨

If you want to set the signature intentionally, use the option signature = in afp.conf. In this case, afp_signature.conf is not used.

like, genuinely, don't just copy-paste this file around. two servers with the same signature is giving chaos, not giving slay 😭

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🦋 EXAMPLES 🦋

🎀 Example: afp_signature.conf

# This is a comment.
"My Server" 74A0BB94EC8C13988B2E75042347E528

look at her. a comment that does nothing (iconic), a quoted server name with a space in it (correct), and a 32-character hex string (perfect length, obsessed) ⭐

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👑 SEE ALSO 👑

afpd(8), afp.conf(5), asip-status(1)

go read those too, bestie, they're the friend group 🌸

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💜 AUTHOR 💜

Contributors to the Netatalk Project (https://netatalk.io/contributors) 🫶

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and that's the whole page fr fr 💖 this gem is from Netatalk 4.5.1 in the Netatalk AFP Fileserver Manual — so if you're running that version, you're literally on the same page as us, bestie. mwah, go forth and have a uniquely-signatured server ✨💅🎀