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sharing files across accounts

I'm experiencing difficulties sharing files across accounts on the same Mac. I tried googling the subject and followed their suggestion. But that was unsuccessful. I shared the folder to the another user. Then on that user account, I found it under shared folders which was the only way to access it. So I performed a "get info" on the shared folder, then dragged to the desktop. That worked. However, any new files do not show up as shared even though it's in the shared folder from either user account. There must be an easier way to share files (read/write).

Does anyone have any ideas that work?

Thanks!

Manny

Mac mini, macOS 13.2

Posted on May 19, 2023 12:46 PM

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Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on May 19, 2023 12:56 PM

You have to add an Access Control List (ACL) to the shared folder (and its children) to make it work as a file server.

It is best to create a folder in /Users/Shared.

chmod -R +a "group:<groupName> allow list,add_file,search,add_subdirectory,delete_child,readattr,writeattr,readextattr,writeextattr,readsecurity,file_inherit,directory_inherit" "Path/to/directory/"

You create a group in Users & Groups, then add the users to the group. Change <groupName> in the command to the name of the group you created. Change path/to/folder to the actual path to the folder, /Users/Shared/Files

Then, run the edited command in Terminal.

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6 replies
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

May 19, 2023 12:56 PM in response to Mannyct1

You have to add an Access Control List (ACL) to the shared folder (and its children) to make it work as a file server.

It is best to create a folder in /Users/Shared.

chmod -R +a "group:<groupName> allow list,add_file,search,add_subdirectory,delete_child,readattr,writeattr,readextattr,writeextattr,readsecurity,file_inherit,directory_inherit" "Path/to/directory/"

You create a group in Users & Groups, then add the users to the group. Change <groupName> in the command to the name of the group you created. Change path/to/folder to the actual path to the folder, /Users/Shared/Files

Then, run the edited command in Terminal.

May 20, 2023 4:55 AM in response to Mannyct1

The change mode command sets the POSIX permissions (user/group/other) on items, and with the +a option, adds access control entries.

By default the user mask in macOS creates files with the user as owner, no group, and others (everyone) no access. The ACL overrides the POSIX permissions so others can edit files created by other group members.

Without the ACL, other users could read the files, but they would need to save a copy in order to edit the file.


You can read about it by viewing the manual page,

man chmod

You can also search the internet for Unix POSIX permissions and ACLs

sharing files across accounts

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