Follow this instruction if you want to use an Ubuntu server as macOS TimeMachine backup volume.
Install netatalk
Following steps are essentials from this instruction.
Install dependencies via apt-get
# apt-get install build-essential libevent-dev libssl-dev libgcrypt-dev libkrb5-dev libpam0g-dev libwrap0-dev libdb-dev libtdb-dev libmysqlclient-dev avahi-daemon libavahi-client-dev libacl1-dev libldap2-dev libcrack2-dev systemtap-sdt-dev libdbus-1-dev libdbus-glib-1-dev libglib2.0-dev tracker libtracker-sparql-0.16-dev libtracker-miner-0.16-dev
Download latest version of netatalk
$ cd /tmp
$ wget http://downloads.sourceforge.net/project/netatalk/netatalk/3.1.8/netatalk-3.1.8.tar.bz2
$ tar xvf netatalk-3.1.8.tar.bz2
$ mv netatalk-3.1.8 /opt/netatalk
$ cd /opt/netatalk
Build netatalk
$ ./configure \
--with-init-style=debian-sysv \
--without-libevent \
--without-tdb \
--with-cracklib \
--enable-krbV-uam \
--with-pam-confdir=/etc/pam.d \
--with-dbus-sysconf-dir=/etc/dbus-1/system.d \
--with-tracker-pkgconfig-version=0.16
$ make
# make install
Configure netatalk
First create user “timemachine” then run:
$ nano /usr/local/etc/afp.conf
[Global]
hostname = FileServer
[Time Machine]
path = /var/data/Alex/Sicherung/MacAlex/TimeMachine
spotlight = no
time machine = yes
valid users = timemachine
vol size limit = 512000
# chown timemachine /var/data/Alex/Sicherung/MacAlex/TimeMachine
$ service netatalk start
# update-rc.d netatalk defaults
Connect to Time Machine on Mac
Just use default way to add a new backup volume to Time Machine. Connect with user “timemachine” and password “***********“.