Version History

Release 5.95 (Build 240910)

• Added full support for macOS 15 Sequoia.
• The timing behavior when accessing values from the Open Directory database has been changed. The ensures better performance and avoids possible deadlocks with slow database connections.

Release 5.9 (Build 240731)

Added support for alternative preview versions of upcoming operating systems. Users of Intel-based Macs or users who don’t test beta operating systems won’t need this specific build.

Release 5.9 (Build 240614)

• Added preliminary support for future versions of macOS.
• Added more user guidance when attempting to use specific mount points for the macOS automounter which could be inaccessible due to System Integrity Protection.
• When using up-to-date versions of macOS, all statistics features of the NFS server will become visible again. Apple has fixed a defect in System Integrity Protection which mistakenly blocked access to the data in specific operating system releases.
• Fixes a possible issue where a race condition could cause the feature to remove outdated versions of the privileged helper program to fail.

Release 5.8 (Build 240116)

• Added new features for authorization of privileged operations. The application will now allow authentication of administrative users in additional special cases previously not permitted:
  • authorization within a running login session of a non-administrator
  • authorization by administrators with empty passwords in operating system versions that don’t block this generally
  • authorization in cases where multiple users are logged in, but the affected user is not on the frontmost console session
• Administrators can return to the previous stricter authorization policies if needed.
• Added new feature to detect volumes with file systems which are not supported by Apple’s NFS server as early as possible (only on macOS 13 and later).
• Code to support early beta versions of macOS 14 Sonoma has been removed. In particular, the changed data protection policy for the macOS automounter has been updated.
• Modernized organization of language support files.

Release 5.71 (Build 230814)

• This version adds updated information about a defect in Apple’s NFS server (FB9102622) which could prevent sharing of subfolders on secondary volumes in specific versions of macOS.
• Updated support for future versions of macOS.

Release 5.7 (Build 230619)

• Added support for new NFS client option in macOS 13 and later: when reading files in memory-mapped mode, the client can generally consider such an access uninterruptible, regardless of mount options trying to override this.
• Added preliminary support for future versions of macOS.

Release 5.63 (Build 230522)

This is a routine update, reflecting minor changes in the latest versions of macOS 13 Ventura.

Release 5.62 (Build 230221)

• Added new workarounds for the continuing quality problems of macOS 13.

Release 5.61 (Build 221220)

• Added new release notes regarding known defects of the NFS server of macOS Ventura.
• Added protection against operating system defects of macOS 13.1. The application also provides additional user guidance for situations where such defects cause issues.
• Added protection against cases where the application is configured for automatic software update checks, but is operated with a network firewall that doesn’t allow the necessary Internet connections. In specific cases, this could result in intermittent program termination instead of an error message.

Release 5.6 (Build 221021)

• Added full support for macOS 13 Ventura.
• This version shows better responsiveness in situations when the application had contact with an NFS server which was subsequently shut down.
• Fixes a compatibility issue with recent versions of macOS. The feature to remove old versions of the privileged auxiliary tool will now show the correct status information instead of “unknown” on the affected systems.

Release 5.5 (Build 220609)

• Added preliminary support for future versions of macOS.
• Added support for the general mount option not to follow symbolic links at an NFS mount point.
• Added new button in the overview of active NFS connections to show selected mount points in the Finder.
• The user interface for licensing and product activation was slightly revised.

Release 5.4 (Build 211019)

• This version adds full support for macOS 12 Monterey.
• All statistics features for client and server have been completely rewritten, because Apple has removed all related application program interfaces (APIs) from macOS.
• Added new client settings specific to macOS 12, specifying a timeout for initial mount requests and and a timeout for quick-mount requests initiated by autofs where the maximum number of retry attempts is zero.
• Added new server setting specific to macOS 12, controlling whether the NFS server should support data-less objects in APFS file systems.
• This version fixes a problem where NFS Manager could show partially incorrect instructions when it detects that third-party applications try to damage the installation of the privileged helper utility.

Release 5.3 (Build 210621)

• Added preliminary support for future versions of macOS.
• Added support for general mount option to always update file access times even if this is causing bad performance.
• Fixed a problem where an incorrect file name suffix could be used when saving configurations in XML format.

Release 5.2 (Build 210510)

• Added support for macOS 11.3.
• Uses clearer wording to describe demonstration mode.
• The application has been made more robust against bugs in other third-party applications that misidentify the security component of NFS Manager as possible adware.

Release 5.1 (Build 201118)

• Added support for future versions of macOS.
• Added new user guidance for cases where a remote NFS server check cannot run successfully because the client Mac prefers IPv6 instead of IPv4 to contact the server.
• The user guidance for cases where Apple’s NFS server rejects a share for privacy reasons has been redesigned.

Release 5.0 (Build 201021)

• Added full support for macOS 11.0 Big Sur.

Release 4.92 (Build 200827)

• Because Apple appears to have given up the development of macOS 10.15, all workarounds for issues with its NFS features have been finalized in NFS Manager. macOS Catalina is now considered fully supported by NFS Manager, although the use of this OS version is not recommended. The graphical interface of NFS Manager and its reference manual make users aware of possible defects in the operating system.
• Added further support for future operating system versions.
• Added tip in the reference manual about recommended NFS options when connecting to typical Linux servers or NAS devices.
• Fixed a problem where an incorrect nfsd security policy warning could be shown for macOS Catalina when the table of exports was already open while the application was started.

Release 4.91 (Build 200820)

• Preliminary support for future operating system was modified to react on forthcoming changes.
• Parts of the user interface for product activation and registration management have been redesigned.

Release 4.9 (Build 200701)

• Added preliminary support for future operating systems.
• The application now accepts that its icon can be replaced by the Finder. This will no longer raise a security warning.

Release 4.8 (Build 191112)

This is a maintenance update which fixes a problem on computers with a specific upgrade history where the privacy settings may not have been shown correctly, because macOS did not grant the application permission to determine the true privacy configuration. Only specific systems running macOS Catalina had been affected.

Release 4.76 (Build 191108)

• This version adds support for unexpected changes in macOS 10.15.1 Catalina.
• The warnings about critical issues with macOS Catalina have been tightened.
• The privacy warnings when sharing external disks with macOS Catalina now automatically disappear after the related approvals have been established.
• The application now suggests a possible workaround for the current limitations of the Catalina kernel when trying to share multiple folders per volume.
• This versions fixes a problem where volumes in HFS+ format could not be selected when defining NFS shares via volume UUIDs instead of Unix paths.

Release 4.75 (Build 191004)

This version adds support for expected changes in future versions of macOS.

Release 4.74 (Build 190806)

This is a maintenance release which only affects users of macOS Sierra and users testing beta releases of future operating system versions.

• Added a workaround for a defect of macOS Sierra which could cause the application to quit while integrating the privileged component.
• Added several temporary changes for future versions of macOS.

Release 4.73 (Build 190626)

Added preliminary support for future versions of macOS.

Release 4.72 (Build 190218)

This is a maintenance update which adds a workaround for a defect in macOS Mojave which can hang the operating system for 7 minutes if an application asks the operating system for the complete list of group accounts in a configuration with a network directory service. All user and group panels show only cached accounts now. The complete list of accounts can be retrieved on demand by clicking an extra button in the panels.

Release 4.71 (Build 190124)

This is a maintenance update which fixes an issue with specific combinations of operating system versions and server configurations where a modification of NFS share settings might not have taken effect until the next restart of the computer.

Release 4.7 (Build 181107)

• Added new feature to display the internal status and the complete set of options effective for an active NFS mount.
• Added small modifications to user guidance necessary for full compatibility with macOS 10.14.1 and later.
• The distribution package supports new security features of macOS Gatekeeper.
• Enhanced reliability when retrieving the set of share definitions from a remote NFS server in IPv4/IPv6 dual stack networks.
• This version tries to avoid hangs during application startup in cases where the local DNS server returns outdated information about the set of addresses used by the local computer.

Release 4.6 (Build 180912)

• This version adds full support for macOS 10.14 Mojave.
• Fixes a problem with the English user interface where a duplicate “to” was displayed in dialogs that ask for privileged operations.

Release 4.51 (Build 180731)

Added further preliminary support for future versions of macOS. Users of macOS Sierra or macOS High Sierra don’t need this update.

Release 4.5 (Build 180702)

• Added preliminary support for future versions of macOS.
• Support for OS X El Capitan has been removed.
• The buffer size and read-ahead parameters for NFS client communication now offer larger sizes, reflecting operating system development in the last years.
• Several images have been added to the documentation.
• Fixed a problem where the application always indicated an operating system issue after all NFS share entries have been removed.

Because Apple does not fix several critical defects and design flaws in the macOS user interface for the authorization of privileged operations, NFS Manager switches to a redesigned security architecture. As in classic versions of Mac OS X, it is now necessary to launch the application in the login session of an administrative user account (which is the default setup for Macs) if privileged operations should be used. Fast User Switching can be used to operate the application while using other user accounts.

• Added new feature to allow administrative users to authorize privileged operations via Touch ID.
• Added new feature to remove outdated versions of security components of previous generations of NFS Manager.
• Added new technology to avoid a defect of macOS where the application lost keyboard focus when a password needed to be entered for a privileged operation if multi-tier privilege separation was in use.
• Added new technology to avoid a defect of macOS where the user interface is no longer localized correctly when a password needs to be entered for a privileged operation if multi-tier privilege separation is used.
• Added new technology to avoid a design flaw of macOS where no appropriate application icon can be shown when a password needs to be entered for a privileged operation if multi-tier privilege separation is used.
• Added new technology to avoid a defect of macOS where the layout of authentication panels was incorrect, leading to clipped messages in user dialogs to authorize privileged operations.
• Added new technology to avoid a defect of macOS where the operating system asks for permission to add a helper application when it actually removes a helper application.
• Features to customize the authorization policy for privileged operations via the security database of the operating system had to be removed.

Release 4.41 (Build 180412)

Added new user interface to the product activation feature in order to be compliant with the General Data Protection Regulation of the European Union (EU Regulation 2016/679).

Release 4.4 (Build 170918)

• Adds full support for macOS 10.13 High Sierra.
• Adds a new mount setting enforcing the use of Extended Attributes and named forks over NFSv4 which is necessary due to a change in the default policy of macOS 10.13. (Available for High Sierra only.)
• Adds a new client setting to override the default domain name when mapping account identities from an NFSv4 server. (Available for High Sierra only.)
• Added an assistance mode for product registration.
• Many small changes in the user interface.

Release 4.31 (Build 170609)

NFS Manager has been unlocked to allow beta-testing with pre-release versions of macOS 10.13 High Sierra.

Release 4.3 (Build 170412)

• Added support for Macintosh computers with Touch Bar.
• Added new option to prefer the numeric display of client addresses for NFS server user statistics.
• Added new option to prefer the numeric display of user IDs for NFS server user statistics.
• Added new controls for NFSv4 mount options to define the permitted encryption types for Kerberos sessions. (Only available with macOS Sierra.)
• The application has been made robust against problems with third-party file systems that don’t provide a “from” specifier for active mounts.
• Corrected an issue where the address column in NFS server user statistics could remain empty for clients where DNS reverse lookup failed.
• Corrected a problem where exported CSV documentation files might not have reported the complete set of fields for automount entries and automounter options.

Release 4.21 (Build 160711)

With specific network configurations, one of the environment checks performed by NFS Manager could result in an unusually long delay before opening the first control window of the application. Version 4.21 addresses this issue and is only needed by users who experienced this problem with release 4.2.

Release 4.2 (Build 160706)

• Added preliminary support for macOS 10.12 Sierra.
• Added a workaround for cases where lists of NFS shares presented by the user interface could remain empty for servers with multiple IP addresses due to poor API support of the operating system.
• Many small changes to the user interface.
• Most links to external information sources in the user interface and online help are now using encrypted HTTPS communication.
• Fixed a problem where the first document window could show “(null)” as the computer name and suppress display of automounts from the local directory node if the first active network interface was connected to a network segment where neither Bonjour nor other DNS services were enabled.
• Fixed a problem with the product activation feature for orders that used specific Asian characters with combining marks did not work as expected.

Release 4.1 (Build 160524)

• Added new feature to quickly access recent servers in the panel for static mounts.
• Added preference setting to enable automatic notification for software updates of the application.
• Added new registration features for licensing with immediate gratification and volume licensing.
• The DNS environment check during the first launch of the application has been removed because most users with network configuration problems don’t have the background knowledge to understand the error description.
• A modified version of the DNS confidence check can now be accessed via the configuration menu.
• The interface for the selection of mount points has been optimized for unexperienced users.
• Web communication during software update checks is now fully compliant with Apple’s new App Transport Security guidelines.
• The overview table reflecting the actual NFS shares hosted on the local machine no longer uses OS X’s main host name to determine current status, but the preferred name of the primary network interface. This avoids unexpected delays on systems with multi-homed configuration or fake /etc/host entries.

Release 4.0 (Build 150928)

• Added support for OS X 10.11 El Capitan. This is now the minimum OS version to run release 4 of NFS Manager.
• The application was revised completely to use the latest Apple technologies.
• The user interface was carefully modernized, keeping the overall style of previous versions.
• Importing configuration files of NFS Manager 2 (Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger and previous versions) is no longer supported.

Release 3.91 (Build 150720)

• This version re-adds former support for 32-bit processors with Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard.
• Fixes a problem where loading NFS server configuration settings from an archived file could result in wrong port settings for the main nfsd server or for mount requests if a binary (non-XML) file format was used.
• Fixes a problem where removing all contents of a numeric option field in the user interface could result in partial failure of the currently running operation.
• Fixes a timing problem where applying changes to NFS shares could result in an incorrect warning message that the OS might not have accepted the change.

Release 3.9 (Build 141218)

Due to changes in European legislation on value added tax, the application had to be re-released with modified pricing information. Support for 32-bit processors was removed. Current customers don’t need to update, customers using the application with Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard on a 32-bit computer must not use this update.

Release 3.9 (Build 131007)

This version adds full support for OS X Mavericks. In particular, the following new mount and automount options can be defined when using OS X 10.9 or later:

• Kerberos connection options can be set individually for specific mount or automount entries, overriding the default configuration. The Kerberos realm, the principal and the service principal can be specified.
• The automounter can be configured to ensure that “set user ID” privileges should always be ignored, no matter what individual options or default settings regarding this feature have been established for NFS client connections.

Release 3.8 (Build 130726)

• Added client setting for OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion to change the policy when optimizing NFS automount operation for mobile or desktop systems.
• Added server setting for OS X 10.8 to match the sender transport protocol of the lock service with the protocol of the NFS service.
• Added NFS share setting for OS X 10.8 to enforce file name mangling to 255 bytes maximum length when using NFSv3.
• The reference manual has been revised completely and uses a new design.

Release 3.71 (Build 130211)

• This version contains an updated version of the reference manual and minor changes in the English translation of the user interface.
• Added a workaround for a compatibility problem between the OS X automounter and OS X directory services which could cause the read-only option for automount entries to be silently ignored.

Release 3.7 (Build 120711)

• This version adds support for the operating system OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion. As usual, there are critical issues when using the first immature versions of the OS. Please read the Release Notes of NFS Manager before planning to use this operating system.
• Added support for one-click registration.
• Added full support for current operating system features like Resume and high-resolution displays.
• By user request, the reference manual now contains additional tips for sharing files for media players.
• The column to display the mount point path was reinstated in the table of automount entries. Users of previous application versions may have to readjust position and width of the new column.
• The tables to display automount and share configuration now have an additional status display showing the number of entries.
• User errors in the definition of share entries are now handled more gracefully when shared folders have been renamed or deleted.
• In addition to storing all NFS configuration aspects to archive files, the application now supports exporting all data to neutral files in CSV format (comma-separated values). The exported files can be used for documentation purposes in database, spreadsheet, or other applications.
• A new DNS check was implemented to detect typical configuration errors in the domain name setup of the local network which could prevent NFS components of the operating system not to work correctly.
• Corrects a problem where automount options of the NFS client to create an automatic mount point could change unexpectantly after archiving and reloading configuraton settings.

IMPORTANT: Due to changes imposed by Apple’s “Gatekeeper” feature, the security component of the application works slightly different. If you are using two or more of our following system utilities, you should update them all in parallel in order to avoid mutual conflicts: NFS Manager, Sync Checker, TinkerTool System Release 2. For detailed information, please see the chapter Release Notes in the reference manual.

Release 3.6 (Build 110709)

• This version adds support for the operating system Mac OS X 10.7 Lion. Please read the Release Notes. Higher level components of the first releases of Mac OS X Lion might not be mature enough yet to use NFS features of the lower system levels under all circumstances. Data loss can occur.
• Support for Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard has been removed. Mac OS X 10.6 is now the minimum requirement to use the application.
• All components of the application now support full 64 bit operation.
• The user interfaces to log in to directory services have been modified to match the design of current Mac OS X versions.
• The internal architecture to communicate with Apple Open Directory Services has been redesigned in order to use the latest Mac OS X technologies.
• When using Lion, the following new features of the operating system can be accessed via NFS Manager:
  • Support for NFS version 4 (client only).
  • Support for NFS over IPv6 (client only).
  • Configuration of callback features for NFSv4 operation.
  • Specific selection of TCP or UDP protocols for the different NFS sub-services.
  • Opportunistic fetching of attributes via ACCESS calls.
  • Disabling quota operations for specific mounts.
  • Disabling extended attributes and fork features for NFSv4 access.
  • Enabling Access Control Lists (“ACL permissions”) for NFSv4 access.
  • Replacing POSIX permissions by ACL permissions during NFSv4 access.
  • Using Unicode Normalization Form C for the encoding of names during NFS communication.

Release 3.5 (Build 101109)

• Added a new option for NFS mounts on Snow Leopard to enforce display of the mounts in the Finder. This can be used as a workaround for the undocumented policy of Apple’s automounter to always hide NFS automounts in Mac OS X 10.6.
• The user interface and the reference manual now better differentiate between NFS browsing policies in the original NFS implementation by SUN, and NFS browsing as implemented by Apple.
• The program now saves the previous NFS share definition to a backup file when repairing the NFS server setup by cleaning the configuration.
• This version updates the security component to perform privileged configuration tasks.
• Corrected a problem where an active “deadtimeout” mount option did not become visible when displaying the current automount setup.
• Corrected a problem where blanks at certain positions in the NFS configuration file could cause NFS Manager to ignore specific or all NFS settings of the local computer.

Release 3.4 (Build 100730)

• Added new Find panel to search for automount, mount, or share entries.
• Added new menu item to enforce a re-read of NFS configuration data from the operating system or remote directory nodes.
• The automount table has been redesigned to use two separate columns for servers and share paths.
• It is now possible to sort automount entries by server or by share path.
• The tables to inspect active shares offered by NFS servers can now be resized relative to each other.
• Corrected a problem where automount entries could not be saved onto an Open Directory node when they didn’t specify any mount options.
• Corrected a user interface problem where warning messages regarding incorrect NFS share definitions could appear at the wrong location.
• Corrected a problem where a misleading warning message about a possible version conflict was recorded in the administrator’s system log.

Release 3.31 (Build 100316)

This version enhances compatibility with upcoming versions of Mac OS X Snow Leopard.

Release 3.3 (Build 091030)

• This version completes full support for Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard.
• Added option pane to control settings of the network automounter of Mac Mac OS X.
• Added mount option to hide an NFS mount in the Finder.
• Added mount option to automatically disconnect a server after it has been reported unresponsive for a specific time period.
• Added mount option to suppress user interface messages that an NFS server is unresponsive if the server is reporting jukebox errors.
• Added server configuration option to advertize NFS shares in the local Bonjour domain only.
• Added server configuration option to define the hash table size for the list of NFS shares.
• Added NFS status server configuration option to reject requests for simulated crashes.
• Added feature to detect and repair a broken NFS server configuration if the server has been setup incorrectly with third-party tools or by manual intervention.
• The security architecture has been modified to fulfill the latest security guidelines for Mac OS X Leopard and Snow Leopard.
• The graphical user interface has been enhanced.

Release 3.2 (Build 090825)

• Added preliminary support for Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard. Full support will be added when Apple releases specific documents currently withheld.
• Corrected a problem where short IPv4 addresses were sometimes misinterpreted in input fields if they had the meaning of a network address.

Release 3.1 (Build 080422)

• Because Mac OS X 10.5.3 is fixing most of the problems of the Leopard NFS server implementation, some workarounds in the software could be deactivated.
• Input sheets receiving textual input have been optimized to complete all edit operations before the sheet is closed.
• A problem has been corrected where automount entries with numeric options might not have been re-read correctly by the application after those options had been set to non-default values.

Release 3.0 (Build 080226)

The application was redeveloped completely for Mac OS X 10.5 because Leopard uses a different NFS implementation. All aspects of the application have changed.

Notes on previous releases of NFS Manager dating back further are no longer part of this documentation. If you need this information, please download NFS Manager 2.94a from the official web site.