Hello

I’m running Unraid as a central NAS for a mixed environment:

• Kubuntu 24.04 (CIFS mounts via fstab)

• macOS clients (Finder access)

• Windows 11 clients (Explorer access)

All access is via SMB only (no NFS), internal trusted VLAN, no AD/domain.

The data share currently has:

• valid users = user1, user2, user3

• write list = user1, user2, user3

• VFS: catia fruit streams_xattr recycle

• Recycle bin enabled

On Linux, mounts use:

• vers=3.1.1

• authenticated SMB users

• noserverino

• noperm

• systemd automount

Everything works well.

I’m considering simplifying ownership by explicitly adding in the SMB extra configuration, as i noticed this is what the "new permission" tool does:

force user = nobody
force group = users

The goal would be to:

• Keep all files on the array consistently owned by nobody:users

• Avoid mixed ownership

• Stay aligned with Unraid’s “Docker Safe New Permissions” behaviour

However, since there are multiple actual users accessing the same share from Linux/macOS/Windows, I’m unsure whether forcing nobody:users is sensible, or whether it’s better practice to preserve real SMB user ownership.

In a multi-user mixed-client setup like this, is forcing nobody:users generally recommended, or does that remove useful permission separation? Would this cause issues with time machine backups from multiple users.

Appreciate any advice or real-world experience.

I realize that this is an old post. But there is no need to force the nobody:users for most situations. Read this post in a thread where I discuss how SMB, Samba, Unraid, and Windows work together to grant access rather transparently with the default Unraid Samba settings.

https://forums.unraid.net/topic/191221-some-musings-on-smb-and-samba-and-unraid-and-windows/#findComment-1561580

Hope this helps...

Edited April 23Apr 23 by Frank1940